Human Rights Watch says IDF complicit in settler violence that displaced West Bank Bedouin communities

Human Rights Watch says Israeli forces either took part in or failed to stop settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank that displaced hundreds of people from several Bedouin communities last fall.

Settler violence surged after the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, leading to the complete uprooting of at least seven Palestinian Bedouin communities and displacement from several others, according to the New York-based rights group.

Settlers launched another wave of attacks late last week after a 14-year-old Israeli boy was killed in what Israeli authorities say was a terror attack. The United Nations’ human rights office yesterday called on Israeli security forces to “immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians.”

The Human Rights Watch report released today focused on the earlier rash of violence. The rights group says Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians, stole their belongings and livestock and threatened to kill them if they did not leave permanently. The settlers also destroyed homes and schools.

The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.