Israeli settler attacks, displacements increase in the occupied West Bank: OCHA

The United Nations humanitarian agency has warned about a sharp increase in the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces and violent assaults by extremist settlers across the occupied Palestinian lands. 

A recent report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that at least five households in the occupied Jordan Valley have been displaced by demolitions by Israeli authorities after already being displaced by settler violence in February.

The demolition displaced five households, comprising 33 people, including 19 children and six women. 

They had been forcibly displaced in early February 2025 from the Ein al Hilwa - Wadi al Faw community, also in the northern Jordan Valley, due to settler violence, it said.

The UN agency found that more than “100 structures were demolished by Israeli authorities across the West Bank since March 25.  

Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunams of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

UNRWA: Israel has displaced 40,000 Palestinians, annexing West Bank

UNRWA has warned that the Israeli regime’s forces in the occupied West Bank have displaced 40,000 Palestinians.

Elsewhere in the report, OCHA said Israeli settlers had stepped up their attacks against residents and stormed several Palestinian towns in the West Bank in recent weeks. 

“Nearly half of over 40 settler attacks documented in the last two weeks affected Bedouin and herding communities,” it said, adding that they included arson and break-ins.

During the same period, at least 44 settler attacks on Palestinians took place, resulting in casualties or property damage across 35 Palestinian communities.

“These attacks led to the injury of 25 Palestinians, including five children and one foreign national. Two Israeli children were also injured by Palestinians in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians,” it added.

Israeli forces have dramatically escalated their demolition campaign across the occupied West Bank, marking one of the highest recorded levels in recent years. Hundreds of Palestinian structures have been destroyed in a short span, displacing dozens of families and raising serious humanitarian and legal concerns.

The United Nations organization for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, recently warned that Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank have displaced 40,000 Palestinians and the regime is systematically annexing the territory.

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