'The settlers are in control': How the West Bank is being ethnically cleansed

Key Points:

• Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank have severely increased travel times, turning a 50km journey from Ramallah to Nablus from one hour into half a day or more, reflecting the growing control and restrictions imposed by Israeli settlers and authorities.
• Israeli settlers, often armed and backed by a new Settlement Administration controlled by far-right politicians like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have expanded settlements and outposts aggressively, leading to violent attacks on Palestinian villages, destruction of property, and forced displacement.
• Since October 2023, over 59 Palestinian communities have been driven out, with more than 1,000 Palestinians killed, including children, as settler violence escalates alongside increased funding and legal support from the Israeli government for settlement expansion.
• The Palestinian Authority is seen as collaborating with Israeli forces, failing to protect Palestinians from settler violence, while Palestinians resist through protests and community defense despite brutal repression and a lack of international enforcement of legal protections.
• The spirit of Palestinian resistance endures in villages like Burqa, where despite ongoing settler harassment and land seizures, local communities maintain a strong cultural and historical connection to their land, symbolized by memorials to martyrs and the enduring image of Handala, a symbol of steadfastness.