The UN human rights office issued a warning on Wednesday about escalating violence by Israeli settlers across the West Bank, pressing for international intervention to halt Palestinian deaths and curb settlement activities that have hit unprecedented peaks.

United Nations data shows 18 Palestinians lost their lives this year in events tied to settler assaults, exceeding the total of 17 recorded throughout 2025.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that settlers and Israeli security forces frequently coordinate in targeting communities, assaulting residents, seizing property, and damaging religious sites such as mosques.

The office observed that settler aggression and moves resembling annexation of Palestinian lands have grown more severe in the two years following the International Court of Justice decision from July 2024, which deemed Israel's presence in the West Bank unlawful and called for its end. Israel dismissed that ruling as biased and incorrect at the time.

West Bank Tensions Escalate Further

Clashes in the West Bank have risen sharply since the Gaza conflict began in October 2023, with the UN, advocacy organizations, and Palestinian authorities documenting a notable increase in settler incidents.

In mid-July, the security cabinet endorsed 1.3 billion shekels to create 34 fresh settlements. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described the decision as historic while pushing for complete incorporation of the territory. Most nations, UN entities, and Palestinians regard these outposts as violations of international rules, though Israel maintains a different view.

Israel points to ancient and historical connections to the area, viewing it as disputed land with longstanding Jewish presence spanning millennia.

Roughly 700,000 settlers reside alongside 2.7 million Palestinians throughout the West Bank and east Jerusalem.