New York, March 17 (SANA) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the Israeli occupation to immediately halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, warning that current policies are driving large-scale displacement of Palestinians and raising concerns over forced demographic changes.
In a new report covering a 12-month period ending in late October, the UN said that accelerating settlement activity and moves toward annexing large parts of the occupied West Bank have led to the displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians, describing the scale of displacement as “unprecedented.”
The report highlighted a sharp increase in settlement construction, noting that Israeli authorities have advanced or approved plans for 36,973 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem and around 27,200 units across the rest of the West Bank. It also documented the establishment of 84 new settlement outposts, bringing the total number to more than 300.
According to the report, the West Bank has witnessed a marked escalation in violence, with at least 1,045 Palestinians killed—including civilians—by Israeli occupation forces or settlers since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
The UN stressed that these practices violate international law and warned that continued expansion of settlements could further destabilize the situation, urging immediate international action to protect Palestinian civilians and uphold legal obligations in the occupied territories.
Kh.A
