Israeli settler attacks surging: displacement and steps to annex intensify in the occupied West Bank [EN, AR]

UN Human Rights in Occupied Palestinian Territory

Ramallah, 27 October 2025 – Ongoing attacks by illegal Israeli settlers, often supported and joined by Israeli security forces, continue to instil fear, destroy homes and livelihoods, and force Palestinians out of their lands in the occupied West Bank. These actions advance Israel’s stated policy to consolidate annexation in clear violation of international law.

Several attacks over the weekend reflect the persistentPalestinian precarity in the face of Israeli settler violence.

The olive harvest

On 24 October, a video verified by the UN Human Rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory shows an Israeli settler, joined by Israeli security forces , together severely assaulting a 58 -year-old olive farmer in Nahhalin , Bethlehem.

The Israeli military said the incident is being investigated. However, settlers and Israeli security forces have so far enjoyed complete impunity for attacks against Palestinians, even deadly ones.

Attacks against Bedouin communities

Settler violence is escalating far beyond the olive harvest season, making life impossible for Palestinians in many communities across the occupied West Bank and leaving them with no genuine choice but to leave their homes.

In another grave incident on Saturday, 25 October, a mob of masked Israeli settlers first attacked Palestinians picking olives in Mikhmas, then set fire to six Palestinian homes in the nearby Khallet As Sidra, a Bedouin Palestinian community northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.

According to monitoring by the UN Human Rights office, the community, like many others in the West Bank, has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli settlers over the past two years to force residents to leave and expand illegal outposts in the area.

Recently, all Palestinian women and children relocated from Khillet As Sidra for safety reasons, and the men stayed to prevent seizure of their homes by settlers. The Saturday arson reportedly engulfed several of the homes held by the remaining men. During the attack, settlers also injured five Palestinian men and two Israeli women solidarity activists.

As Israel escalates its campaign of forced transfer to clear large swaths of the occupied West Bank from Palestinian residents, entire Bedouin communities have been displaced over the past two years. According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) , about 3,200 Palestinians from dozens of Bedouin and herding communities have been forcibly displaced by settler violence and movement restrictions since 7 October 202 3, mostly from Area C .

Consolidating annexation

Over the past year, there have been 84 new settleroutposts compared to 49 the year before , according to data from the Israeli NGO Peace Now. This marks a rapid escalation compared to the yearly average of eight outposts in the past decade.

In association, settler violence is also surging with 757 attacks recorded in the first half of 2025 alone – 13 per cent higher than the same period last year. Most attacks have been recorded in Area C , which is increasingly being emptied of Palestinians. However , the UN Human Rights office has also been increasingly documenting attacks in Area B, indicating an ever-shrinking space for Palestinians.

The International Court of Justice concluded that the occupation must end, and Israel must withdraw from all the Occupied Palestinian Territory, both the West Bank and Gaza. This includes immediately dismantling all settlements and evacuating all settlers.