The United Nations issued its strongest warning in months on Wednesday over the situation in the occupied West Bank, saying that Israeli settler violence and territorial annexation have reached record levels and that the entire occupied Palestinian territory is at risk of a wider escalation. In a statement, the UN human rights office declared that “with Israeli settler attacks and the creation of settlements and outposts reaching record levels, third States must act urgently and in unison to halt the ongoing killing and dispossession of the Palestinian people and to end the Israeli occupation.” Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the office was alarmed by the Israeli government’s announcement of a further increase in settlements and outposts, and by open calls from Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, accompanied by threats to “turn the West Bank into another Gaza.”

Addressing the Security Council on Tuesday, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Ramiz Alakbarov, described the situation in the occupied West Bank as “rapidly deteriorating.” He told the council that in the past week alone, escalating violence had caused civilian casualties, displacement, damage to property and growing insecurity, with Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian communities, homes, places of worship and civilian infrastructure persisting at alarming levels. Alakbarov called on the Israeli government to take immediate and effective measures to prevent settler violence, protect Palestinian communities and ensure that all perpetrators are held accountable, while also condemning Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

The toll of the violence since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 has been severe. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented more than 1,330 incidents involving Israeli settlers since the start of 2026, resulting in Palestinian casualties and property damage. According to UN data, at least 77 Palestinians, including 18 children, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers this year. Since the previous Thursday, eight Palestinians, including a boy, and two members of the Israeli armed forces were reported killed. In the same period, homes, mosques, trees and agricultural facilities were burned or vandalised, some completely destroyed, and at least 10 Palestinian families were displaced.

Wednesday’s condemnation comes two years after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, to be illegal and requiring Israel to end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible. The continued violence and settlement expansion, UN officials warn, is compounding the already grave conditions across the occupied Palestinian territory, with a wider escalation increasingly likely unless immediate steps are taken to reverse course.