Paris, 15 May 2025. "What we are witnessing is a race to the finish line on the part of Israeli leaders. They see a window of opportunity in taking the whole of the West Bank and silencing opposition to their project at the same time," says Mouna Dachri, author of the report and program officer at the FIDH Maghreb and Middle East desk.
In early 2025 a FIDH delegation met with member organisations of the federation in Israel and Palestine (Al-Haq, B’Tselem, and Adalah), as well as with local advocates, civil society organisations, and victims. In total 42 individual and collective interviews were conducted. All were eager to testify on what was collectively seen as a rapidly aggravating occupation and apartheid crimes in the West Bank and the climate of violence and fear instilled by Israeli authorities and settlers.
This report delivers the main techniques of power deployed by Israel, notably since 7 October, to assert control over the West Bank and Israeli-Palestinian society:
(1) Settler violence in occupied territories, assisted by military inaction or even direct support, resulting in a sort of "gazafication" of the West Bank. Sarit Michaeli, B’Tselem’s international advocacy lead, told the delegation: "Settlers are now wearing uniforms and dedicating their time to attacking Palestinians, with official military backing for their actions. The Israeli police are failing to do their job, using every tactic to avoid protecting Palestinians. This systemic failure perpetuates a cycle of abuse and leaves Palestinian communities vulnerable and without recourse."
(2) Apartheid enacted with spatial distinctions and differing judicial regimes between Israeli, Palestinians and Palestinian Citizens of Israel. The Israeli administration has extended nearly all aspects of Israeli law to settlers and settlements, effectively annexing them to the State of Israel. This de facto annexation has created a system of institutionalized separation and discrimination – a system of apartheid. The regime operates under two distinct legal systems within the same territory, where an individual’s rights are determined by their nationality. While Palestinians are subjected to military law since 1948, settlers enjoy all the rights afforded to Israeli citizens living within Israel’s pre-1967 borders, and in some instances, they are granted even greater privileges.
(3) Systematic and institutionalized oppression against individuals and organisations. A representative from The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) told the delegation "the number of unlawful arrests increased, arrests are often carried out with brutal force in the middle of the night, and without proper legal justification, and solely based on social media posts in the majority of cases, some just for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, or even for sharing verses from the Quran."
According to Mouna Dachri, "Stopping Israeli colonial apartheid politics is now a dire emergency. Those politics are fueled by a messianic settler movement within Israeli society. This movement works hand in hand with the military to encroach and ultimately expel Palestinians now at the highest rate since 1967."
"What is unfolding before our eyes in Gaza is nothing short of genocide, alongside the ongoing colonial expansion in the West Bank. As established in our report, the internationally recognized right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is being systematically undermined. Without decisive action — including an arms embargo, the suspension of economic and financial agreements, and targeted sanctions against those responsible for these crimes, Palestinians will remain at the mercy of an international community paralyzed by its inaction." says Yosra Frawes, head of FIDH Maghreb and Middle East and North Africa desk.
"We must cast away for good all the political credit given to Israel and the Palestinian Authority off the back of the Oslo Accord. None of it is operational anymore and political leaders worldwide must face this reality and react now." declares Alexis Deswaef, FIDH vice-president and member of the FIDH delegation in Israel-Palestine.
Read the full report below (in English):