A former Prime Minister of Israel says the nation is waging a "state-funded campaign of ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Ehud Olmert, who held the role from 2006 to 2009, is a former member of the ruling Likud party, though he left in 2005.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 with settlements on the land, which are considered illegal under international law, a key point of contention in the conflict.
Critics have said that Palestinians living there also live under what amounts to apartheid, as settlers are governed by civil law while Palestinians are subject to military law and have their movements restricted.
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Settler violence has surged in recent years, with the former Prime Minister arguing that this is being allowed by the state and amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Writing in Haaretz, Mr Olmert said: "The State of Israel is conducting an organised, systematic, state-funded campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Not in the Gaza Strip, not in southern Lebanon, not in Syria, but in areas of the West Bank that are under the exclusive security control of the state and its security and law enforcement apparatus.
"At the forefront of this campaign are the prime minister, defence minister Israel Katz and the rest of the cabinet, of course. The drive behind these acts is reflected in the statements and actions of senior ministers who seek the full annexation of the West Bank without their Palestinian inhabitants remaining there. I am referring specifically to Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and the other ministers who support, through word and deed, policies that amount to the expulsion of Palestinian residents."
He goes on to describe "pogroms, children and adults injured in and outside their homes, fields and property set ablaze, and large-scale theft" in the occupied territory.
Mr Olmert states that while he believes war crimes have been committed in Gaza, he does not believe that Israel's government has pursued a policy of genocide.
He states that while "crimes that cannot be ignored or denied" took place, he does not believe there was a government policy behind them.
However, he goes on to say that those conclusions "do not apply to what has been happening in the West Bank in recent years and especially in recent months".
Mr Olmert writes: "Here, I do not hesitate to assign direct and immediate responsibility to the government for war crimes and ethnic cleansing directed against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have no involvement in terrorism, directly or indirectly.
"The thousands of settlers involved in these crimes could not act without the assistance, protection, backing and funding provided by government agencies at both the local and national levels."
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