Reshaping the West Bank by “displacing” Palestinians

JVL Introduction

Palestinians are experiencing “new facts on the ground” with a vengeance.  The whole of the West Bank has been reshaped; movement across the West Bank has become even more difficult. We have seen demolitions in Al Shams (Tulkarm) and Jenin refugee camps and now in Herbron too. 127 Palestinians communities have been completely or partially forced from their land, some hanging on to an existence on the edges of towns, others living with relatives. We have seen settler violence escalate exponentially with near total impunity.

Israel’s (possibly) outgoing government has been determined to make as many of these changes as possible during its term of office.  Even if Eisenkot leads a new coalition after the 27th October elections, the best that can be hoped for is an easing of the worst restrictions, perhaps a few more settlers punished but all the Jewish politicians offer nothing to Palestinians in “the only democracy in the Middle East” where nearly half of the people living under Israeli control have no vote in those elections and exit polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party looks likely to  be the largest in the Knesset with around 27 seats.

Journalist Peter Oborne recently returned from spending several weeks in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and was horrified by the level of deterioration even from his last visit just six months ago. Here he is interviewed on what he saw on Double Down News.

This reporting project by +972 Magazine and Local Call traces these changes through the lives of Palestinians living all across the territory. Their stories reveal how Israel’s occupation has become more intrusive, how the boundaries between settlers and the military have been increasingly blurred, and how the cumulative pressures of the past four years have reshaped everyday life. They also tell a story of a people struggling to preserve a sense of normalcy, protect their families, and remain on their land, even as the space in which they can safely live continues to shrink

This article was originally published by +972 Magazine in partnership with Local Call on Mon 26 Oct 2026. Read the original here.