DaysofPal – The United Nations has reported that October saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since recordkeeping began, with 264 incidents documented over the course of the month.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday that the figure, based on data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), represents a sharp escalation in settler violence against Palestinians.
Highest Monthly Toll in Two Decades
“OCHA recorded 264 attacks last month, resulting in Palestinian deaths, injuries, or property damage,” Haq said, adding that this was the highest monthly figure in nearly 20 years.
According to UN data, since 2006, there have been around 6,900 settler attacks against Palestinians, with nearly 1,500, or 15%, occurring in 2025 alone. These assaults have led to the displacement of 3,200 Palestinians, the killing of many others, and the loss of livelihoods for hundreds more.
The attacks, Haq added, often target Palestinian farmlands, olive trees, vehicles, homes, and essential infrastructure.
OCHA data also shows that 42 Palestinian children have been killed by settlers in the West Bank this year, one out of every five Palestinian fatalities recorded in the territory.
Haq reminded Israel of its obligations under international law, saying, “The UN’s mission is to monitor and report violations and to submit them to UN bodies and the Security Council.”
The surge in settler and military attacks has accompanied a wider Israeli escalation across the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 8, 2023.
Organized Israeli Violence in the West Bank
The West Bank has witnessed what Palestinian and UN officials describe as organized Israeli violence. Over the past week alone, the Israeli army killed three Palestinians and arrested around 60 others. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three victims were children under 16, executed in al-Yamoun near Jenin and al-Judeira near occupied Jerusalem.
Demolitions and forced relocation have persisted in the interim, especially in Area C, which accounts for roughly 60% of the West Bank.
The UN Human Rights Office has warned of mass demolition orders in the community of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills, calling them part of a systematic Israeli policy to empty the land of its Palestinian residents.
In a statement, the office said the demolition orders threaten a new wave of forced displacement for 35 extended families who have lived in Umm al-Khair since being expelled from their lands in the Negev during the 1948 Nakba.
The residents have long been subjected to discriminatory land-use rules imposed by Israel’s Civil Administration, while Israeli settlers are allowed to expand nearby settlements and establish new outposts linked to the settlement of Karmiel.
UN human rights official Ajith Sunghay said, “The case of Umm al-Khair exemplifies a growing wave of Israeli measures aimed at consolidating its annexation of the West Bank, particularly Area C, in violation of international law.
Time is running out, the international community must act to protect the residents of Umm al-Khair from imminent forcible transfer and further dispossession.”
340 Attacks on Palestinian Olive Farmers
In a related development, Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, reported that 340 assaults have been carried out by the Israeli army and settlers against Palestinian olive pickers across the West Bank since October.
Of these, 278 were committed by settlers and 62 by Israeli forces. The assaults ranged from physical violence and shootings to movement restrictions, intimidation, and arrests.
Shaaban said the highest number of attacks occurred in Ramallah (107 incidents), followed by Nablus (94) and Hebron (38). He added that there were 92 cases of farmers being harassed or blocked from their groves and 59 incidents of direct physical assault.
Human rights monitors warn that this rise in settler violence, alongside Israeli military operations and demolitions, points to a coordinated campaign of land seizure and population displacement across the West Bank, mirroring Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza.
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