The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has reported a disturbing surge in Israeli settler violence, forced displacement, and settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank, warning that these campaigns threaten the future of Palestinian communities.

Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, emphasized that the fate of Gaza and the West Bank are inseparable, noting that the ceasefire in Gaza on October 10 must not be used as an opportunity to tighten Israel’s occupation elsewhere. Friedrich wrote on social media platform X: “A drawdown in Gaza should not become an opportunity to tighten the grip of occupation elsewhere.”

The UN agency highlighted a sharp escalation in settler attacks and illegal settlement expansion, which have pushed vulnerable Palestinian communities off their lands under increasingly coercive conditions — a trend experts warn could pave the way for de facto annexation.

According to Palestinian sources, since October 2023, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank, resulting in 33 deaths and the forced displacement of 33 Bedouin communities. In addition, northern refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams have been emptied, with residents strictly prevented from returning.

The violence in the West Bank accompanies the devastating toll of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 68,200 people and injured more than 170,300 since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The occupied West Bank has also seen a surge in lethal attacks, with at least 1,056 Palestinians killed, around 10,300 injured, and more than 20,000—including 1,600 children—detained during the same period, according to official Palestinian figures.

Friedrich reaffirmed UNRWA’s readiness to work with all parties to ensure a comprehensive outcome that can form the cornerstone of peace and stability for the entirety of the occupied Palestinian territory.

“These attacks are not isolated incidents—they reflect a systematic policy aimed at displacing Palestinians and erasing their presence from their historic lands,” Friedrich said.

UNRWA and human rights organizations continue to call on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing campaigns of violence and displacement, and to protect the rights and dignity of Palestinians across the occupied territories. (ILKHA)