Israeli forces have uprooted hundreds of olive trees in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of land seizures that rights groups and humanitarian organisations say are systematically displacing Palestinian communities. The destruction of olive groves — a vital source of income and a cultural symbol for Palestinian families — has been documented by AFP and follows a pattern of accelerating pressure on villages across the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

A new report released by the West Bank Protection Consortium, a coalition of international humanitarian organisations, adds a deeply troubling dimension to that picture. Researchers documented at least 16 cases of conflict-related sexual violence attributed to Israeli settlers and soldiers, drawing on interviews with 83 Palestinians from 10 communities in the Jordan Valley, the South Hebron Hills, and the central West Bank. The report, titled Sexual Violence and Forcible Transfer in the West Bank: How the Exploitation of Gender Dynamics Drives Displacement, concludes that sexualised abuse is being used not only as an act of violence but as a tool of demographic pressure.

"The evidence shows how sexualised violence is used to pressure communities, shape decisions about remaining or leaving their homes and land, and alter patterns of daily life," the report states. More than 70 percent of displaced people interviewed said that threats to women and children — particularly the risk of sexual violence — were the decisive reasons for leaving. Families have responded by sending women and children away early, and in some cases resorting to early marriage to reduce exposure to harm. Researchers warn that the true scale of abuse is likely underreported due to stigma and fear.

Interviewees described incidents ranging from sexualised insults and indecent exposure to forced stripping, physical assault, and the sharing of degrading images. The report notes that Israeli soldiers present during some of these incidents did not intervene or investigate. The findings come days after the Israeli military authorised five soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility to return to reserve duty, after charges against them were dropped. Amnesty International condemned the reinstatement as "yet another unconscionable chapter in the Israeli legal system's long-standing history of granting impunity to perpetrators of grave crimes against Palestinians."

Taken together, the destruction of agricultural land and the documented use of gender-based violence point to what humanitarian organisations describe as a multi-pronged strategy to make Palestinian presence in the West Bank untenable. The findings are likely to intensify international scrutiny of Israeli operations in the territory at a time when displacement there has already drawn sharp criticism from United Nations experts.