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"Displaced Communities, Forgotten People" report
We are publishing a new report that exposes the devastating consequences of settler terrorism and Israeli state policies, including the complete expulsion of seven shepherding communities, displacing over 1,000 individuals.
The “Displaced Communities, Forgotten People” report is the product of a collaborative effort between Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Over the past two years, we have researched, documented, and accompanied Palestinian shepherding communities in the occupied West Bank. Today, we are publishing a new report that exposes the devastating consequences of settler terrorism and Israeli state policies, including the complete expulsion of seven shepherding communities, displacing over 1,000 individuals.
In early 2023, we launched a project aimed at exploring the impact of Israeli farming outposts on Palestinian shepherding communities in Area C of the West Bank. This area, which is under full Israeli control, is central to Israel’s efforts to expel Palestinians. Living within a small region east of Alon Road, several Palestinian communities have endured decades of settler violence, military blockades, economic suffocation, and severe restrictions across all aspects of life. As part of our project, we visited the area dozens of times, gathering testimonies, conducting one-on-one interviews, holding rights workshops, offering first aid training, and operating our mobile clinic.
Every single community living in the area when we began the project has since been displaced.
The report’s main conclusion is that Israel is responsible for the war crime of forcible transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank—a crime carried out with its full support, by its representatives and citizens. The government’s deep involvement, the methods employed, and the systematic, recurring nature of these actions across multiple locations all point to the conclusion that, in certain areas of the West Bank, Israel is engaging in practices of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
Although our project focuses on one specific region, Israel’s policies and settler practices are being carried out in other areas of the West Bank as well. As a result, there are growing concerns that these actions, which have already led to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities, could evolve into a long-term government strategy of ethnic cleansing aimed at removing Palestinians from all of Area C—comprising 60% of the West Bank—and potentially extending even further.
Personal Health and Community Resilience
Although our project focuses on one specific region, Israel’s policies and settler practices are being carried out in other areas of the West Bank as well. As a result, there are growing concerns that these actions, which have already led to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities, could evolve into a long-term government strategy of ethnic cleansing aimed at removing Palestinians from all of Area C—comprising 60% of the West Bank—and potentially extending even further.
Personal Health and Community Resilience
The research presented in the report determines that the actions taken by Israeli citizens and authorities severely and systemically harmed the personal health and resilience of Palestinian shepherding communities. Individual and community health does not exist in a vacuum—it is largely shaped by social determinants of health. Palestinians’ years-long exposure to systematic violence and various forms of oppression by both Israeli authorities and settlers has harmed residents physically and mentally. The ongoing violence has led to a decline in food security, produced severe housing conditions, eroded emotional resilience, and caused prolonged and severe feelings of personal insecurity, uncertainty, and chronic stress.
The displaced communities have been directly affected in all areas of health. Settler attacks, home invasions, and assaults on herds have become routine, creating a constant sense of insecurity. Anxiety and stress have become a constant part of daily life. The destruction of livelihoods and restricted access to grazing land have forced families to sell much of their herds and reduce food consumption, significantly undermining their food security.
As a result of the expulsion, the social fabric of these communities has disintegrated. Communities have scattered, social ties have been severed, and families have been left to fend for themselves. The community’s cohesion, once a vital source of resilience, was severely damaged and, in some cases, collapsed entirely. This harm is not incidental—it is strategic, with a clear objective: to make life unbearable until all Palestinian presence is eradicated from Area C.
“We have lost our sense of security, and when you lose your security, you lose your happiness and peace of mind. I swear, sometimes, when things get worse, I can’t even bring myself to eat, even when I’m hungry. The situation is terrible, especially when you lose your sense of security—there’s no room for joy. My mind is always filled with sad thoughts, because the worst feels like it’s yet to come.” (Suleiman Ka’abna, July 2023)
For decades, Palestinians have warned of the looming threat of ethnic cleansing—and now, it has become a reality. Shepherding communities cannot endure this relentless struggle for survival any longer. Urgent action is needed to stop Israel’s annexation policies, ethnic cleansing, and military-backed settler violence. Israel must comply with its legal duty to protect the millions of Palestinians living under its occupation, particularly shepherding communities. We must act now to safeguard the rights of all Palestinian residents, prevent further forced displacement, stop the settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing, dismantle all settler outposts, and guarantee the safe return of Palestinian shepherding communities to their homes, ensuring they can live with dignity on their lands.