UN warns West Bank settler violence hits all-time high
Violence in the occupied West Bank is worsening as the Israeli Government continues to approve new settlements while settlers and Israeli security forces have “often” acted together to attack local Palestinian communities, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned on Wednesday. As of 24 July, the agency reports that 76 Palestinians and one Israeli have died this year in settler attacks, according to a press release. Since Friday, eight Palestinians, including a boy, and two members of the Israeli military have also been killed in the region. Nearly 700 Palestinians in nine communities in the West Bank were displaced as a result of settler attacks in the first four months of 2026. The office is urging third States to act urgently and in unison to end the Israeli occupation.
The number of settler attacks has increased each year since 2023 following the Hamas attacks on southern Israeli communities, rising to 1,835 last year, according to the UN’s humanitarian aid office (OCHA). There were about 190 attacks per month in the first four months of 2026, putting the West Bank on a trajectory to reach more than 2,000 attacks by the end of the year. Alongside security forces, Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with financial incentives from the government, frequently attack families, burn mosques and destroy and confiscate property, OHCHR reported. Movement restrictions preventing Palestinians from accessing essential services are now tighter than ever. The escalation follows years of documented tensions in the territory.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani voiced alarm over the Israeli Government’s announcement to further increase the number of settlements and outposts. She also cited open calls by Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, accompanied by threats to turn the West Bank into another Gaza. Speaking from Jerusalem on Friday, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov called the continued loss of life in the West Bank “deeply alarming.” He urged Israel to hold perpetrators accountable and all actors to pursue a two-State solution. In September, the General Assembly endorsed the New York Declaration, calling for a two-State solution, though Israel and the US voted against it.
The escalating violence comes two years after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in an advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal, and that countries should not recognise Israel’s actions related to the occupation. Israel quickly condemned the ruling. Briefing the Security Council in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Alakbarov noted that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently announced the approval of several new settlements, which the peace coordinator called “illegal under international law.”
“There is no military or violent solution to this conflict,” Mr. Alakbarov said. He added: “I call upon all parties to take urgent steps to reverse the dangerous trajectory in the West Bank.”