The UN deputy coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Ramiz Alakbarov, warned on Tuesday that the acceleration of settlement activity, the escalation of settler violence and the displacement of Palestinians are pushing the occupied West Bank toward de facto annexation and undermining prospects for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state.
Speaking during a UN Security Council session on developments in the West Bank, Alakbarov said the continuation of the status quo was increasing instability and moving the prospects for a negotiated end to the conflict further away.
Deaths, displacement and escalating settler violence
The UN official said 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, had been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the beginning of 2026, while 3 Israelis, including two security personnel, had been killed in clashes with Palestinians and a car-ramming incident.
According to Alakbarov, 127 Palestinian communities have experienced total or partial displacement since January 2023, with 47 of them completely evacuated, affecting more than 6390 Palestinians. He added that about 3800 Palestinians had been displaced during 2026 alone, roughly half of them children, as a result of settler violence and demolition and eviction operations.
He said the United Nations had documented more than 1430 incidents involving Israeli settlers since the beginning of the year, resulting in injuries, property damage or both, and affecting about 290 Palestinian communities. He described the level of settler violence as unprecedented.
Alakbarov said the Nablus governorate in the northern West Bank was among the worst-affected areas. He pointed to an attack by settlers on the village of Tell, southwest of Nablus, on 24 July, which killed 4 Palestinians and two members of the Israeli security forces, as well as attacks on the villages of Urif and Surra that caused injuries and extensive damage to Palestinian property.
He added that settler attacks, which had previously been concentrated in Area C, had spread to Areas B and A. In New York, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the organization had documented about 1400 incidents of violence involving Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, stressing that the seizure of Palestinian land there was illegal.
Settlement plans and the transfer of powers
On settlement activity, Alakbarov said Israeli planning authorities had approved about 12,860 housing units in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 7200 units in Area C and 5160 units in East Jerusalem.
He added that on 14 July, the Israeli government announced the allocation of about 431 million dollars to support the establishment of 34 new settlements that had already been approved during the year, with the funds to be directed toward infrastructure and prefabricated housing. He noted that Israeli officials had described the decision as a step to strengthen control over the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Alakbarov also addressed the continued transfer of planning, administrative, land and heritage responsibilities in the West Bank from the military administration to Israel’s civilian authorities. He said the Israeli army had issued an unprecedented order to confiscate private land in Area A near Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin, to build a road linking the Nofit and Emek Dotan settlements, which are among the 34 settlements recently approved.
He stressed that this was the first reported case of land being explicitly confiscated in Area A to serve settlement infrastructure. He also cited Israeli monitoring organizations as saying that agricultural and herding outposts exercised de facto control over about 20% of the West Bank.
Military operations and concerns over holy sites
Alakbarov said Israeli military operations and the restrictions imposed were obstructing civilian life and humanitarian work, particularly in refugee camps. He said Israeli forces had conducted a large-scale operation in the Qalandia refugee camp between 5 and 7 August, injuring dozens of Palestinians and arresting more than 60 people, in addition to causing extensive property damage.
In occupied East Jerusalem, the UN official said a large-scale, organized Israeli visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on 23 July, marking the so-called anniversary of the “destruction of the Temple” and attended by an Israeli minister, had renewed concerns about preserving the status quo at the holy sites.
Diverging positions at the Security Council
During the Security Council session, Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour called for help for the Palestinian state to end the occupation and urged the council to act, enforce international law, prevent its resolutions from being ignored and end impunity. He accused Israel of creating an environment conducive to settler violence and impunity, saying that annexation was taking place throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian people will not surrender.
In contrast, the Israeli representative said attacks by what he called “Palestinian extremists” were increasing, while Israeli attacks were declining. He denied that Israel was occupying Palestinian territories, saying it had a “historical right to live in the West Bank.” He also accused the Security Council of focusing on only one side of the violence and said his country was intensifying efforts to prevent what he called “Palestinian terrorism” from reaching civilians.
The French representative described settler violence in the West Bank as an unacceptable terrorist act, while also calling for an end to attacks targeting Israeli civilians. The UK representative described settler attacks on Palestinian villages as “horrific” and called on Israel to protect civilians and fulfill its obligations under international law.
The Russian representative warned that the West Bank was on the verge of reaching a point of no return, saying that settlement expansion and settler violence could lead to regional destabilization.
