Hundreds of Palestinians have been driven off their land by Israeli settlers in recent weeks in the worst such violence since 2023, the UN has revealed.
In dozens of attacks, the settlers broke into Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, assaulted residents, stole livestock and vandalised property, leaving 42 people injured, said the UN's humanitarian affairs office.
The attacks were accompanied by Israeli army raids in the West Bank, which sometimes went after Palestinians who fought back against the settlers.
The surge in settler violence left 694 Palestinians displaced from their homes last month – by far the worst month since October 2023, when the war in the Middle East erupted, according to the UN.
Settling occupied land is considered illegal under the laws of war. But the Israeli government, which has settlers sitting in the Cabinet, has defied outrage to approve a major expansion of housing on ultra-sensitive land east of Jerusalem.
Abuses are rarely punished by Israeli authorities and the surge comes despite a promised crackdown last year, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog described settler violence as “shocking and serious”.
Some Israeli hardliners dream of re-establishing outposts in Gaza, where earlier settlements were dismantled in 2005.
On Thursday, the Israeli army said hundreds of people had tried to approach the border fence between Israel and Gaza, some of whom entered the Palestinian territory. Israeli media said right-wing activists had planned an event called Reconnecting to the Gaza Strip.
The army said it “strongly condemns actions that divert the attention of commanders and soldiers from their primary mission”.
The UN said the Israeli army's operations in the West Bank killed three Palestinians, including a child, in the past two weeks. It said Israeli movements have “significantly expanded beyond the northern West Bank to include the central and southern governorates”.
Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of aid agency UNRWA, last week described the situation in the West Bank as an “underreported silent war”.
The Israeli army typically describes its raids in the West Bank as anti-terrorist operations.
