UN says illegal Israeli settler attacks hit highest monthly toll in nearly 20 years

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN warned Friday of a sharp rise in illegal Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, marking the highest monthly toll in October in nearly two decades.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Farhan Haq reported "a sharp rise in settler violence against Palestinians, both in frequency and severity," during a news conference, adding: "Last month, OCHA recorded 264 settler attacks that caused casualties, property damage or both."

He noted: "That's the highest monthly toll in nearly two decades of record keeping, averaging more than eight incidents every single day since 2006."

According to OCHA, more than 9,600 such attacks have been documented, with about 1,500 occurring this year alone — roughly 15% of the total, he said.

Emphasizing the "severe" impact on the humanitarian situation since October 2023, Haq said: "More than 3,200 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler violence and related access restrictions. Entire herding communities have been completely depopulated. People have been killed, hundreds injured, including with live fire, and many more have lost access to their livelihoods."

Haq also cited OCHA data showing that "the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year has reached 42," meaning "one in every five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2025 has been a child."

Israeli attacks have escalated across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, killing more than 1,066 Palestinians and injuring 10,300 others, according to Palestinian figures.

According to the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli forces and illegal settlers carried out 766 attacks against Palestinians, their homes, property, and sources of livelihood across the West Bank in October alone.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.