Israel is accused of working to eliminate the conditions that allow Palestinians to live as a community in the occupied West Bank, according to a major new report from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
The report, titled The Elimination Project, was shared with the Guardian ahead of its publication and marks B'Tselem's most comprehensive study of the territory since the organisation was founded in 1989.
Economic Pressure and Falling Living Standards
B'Tselem says Israel is 'dramatically intensifying its attacks on every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank, from access to work and schooling to medical treatment and family visits'.
The organisation argues that these actions are 'governed by a coherent organising logic' made up of five domains: violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic suppression, social and political destruction, and ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover.
The report links much of this pressure to what B'Tselem calls 'full economic strangulation' imposed since 2023, which it says has cut off livelihoods and damaged agricultural and civilian infrastructure.
West Bank unemployment rose from 13.1 per cent in 2022 to 31.3 per cent in 2024, according to figures cited in the report and published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in September 2025 he would use every tool available 'to prevent the danger of a Palestinian state, including bringing about the collapse of the Palestinian Authority ... through economic strangulation'.
A Blueprint Dating Back to 2017
B'Tselem traces the ideology behind these policies to a document Smotrich published in 2017, before entering government, known as the Decisive Plan.
Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director, described the document as a 'blueprint' for what the organisation says has become a policy of 'victory by settlement', adding that the pace of change accelerated sharply after October 2023.
Kareem Jubran, who led the report's field research, said the findings pointed to a single underlying goal. 'When you look at the picture from above, it leads to one conclusion, that the main goal is to eliminate Palestinians as a collective,' he said.
The report comes days after UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband accused Israeli settlers of carrying out ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and said the Israeli government was turning a blind eye to their actions. The UK government has also said Israel's actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.
Together, the developments highlight growing international pressure over Israel's West Bank policies.
The immediate focus is likely to remain on conditions on the ground, including settlement expansion, movement restrictions, access to land and essential services, and the treatment of Palestinian communities.
B'Tselem's report is also likely to add to calls for governments and international organisations to scrutinise Israel's policies in the territory more closely.
For Israel, the report adds to mounting criticism over its approach to the West Bank, while for Palestinian officials and rights groups, it provides further documentation of what they describe as a systematic effort to make Palestinian life increasingly difficult.
COGAT has been approached for comment on the allegations. The report's findings are based on B'Tselem's assessment of conditions in the West Bank and its interpretation of Israeli policies.
