OHCHR Report on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/HRC/61/70)

4 February 2026

Advance edited version

Note: Excerpts from the report are reproduced below; footnotes and hyperlinks are available in the PDF version of the report.

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

I. Introduction:

1. The present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 58/28, contains an update on implementation of the provisions of the resolution between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025. It is based on monitoring and information-gathering conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and on information provided by government sources, United Nations entities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The report should be read in conjunction with the related reports of the Secretary-General and of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

2. The report also contains an update on unlawful Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and their acute impact on the individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people. During the reporting period, the Government of Israel took concerted measures to consolidate its annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, through the authorization and expansion of settlements, outposts and associated infrastructure, permitting encroachment of settlement activity into Area B, facilitated by the transfer of governance powers in the occupied West Bank from the military to Israeli civilian authorities. Compounded by accelerating settler violence, frequently assisted or facilitated by Israeli security forces personnel, the actions of Israel led to the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities and deepened an overwhelmingly coercive environment facing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This coercive environment, founded on Israeli legal, administrative and spatial systems of domination and oppression of Palestinians, was further worsened by the acute fragmentation of areas inhabited by Palestinian communities brought about by Israeli laws, policies and practices. Israeli laws, policies and practices, which have been in place for prolonged periods, in some cases for decades,  amount to a deliberate policy of physical and juridical separation intended to maintain the oppression and domination of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Acts committed with the intention to maintain such a policy amount to a violation of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. In addition, the forcible displacement of Palestinians from several parts of the occupied West Bank, in particular East Jerusalem and Area C, including by rendering them unviable for Palestinian life, amounts to unlawful transfer. Such acts appear to aim at permanent displacement, raising concerns over ethnic cleansing.

3. The report further contains an update on the unlawful Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan

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V. Conclusions and recommendations

44. The reporting period saw the acceleration of settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, which deepened the coercive environment that simultaneously displaced an unprecedented number of Palestinians and facilitated the further entrenchment of unlawful settler presence. The continuing transfer of power from the Israeli military to civilian authorities, the accelerated imposition of legislative and administrative measures to appropriate Palestinian land and facilitate Israeli settlement, increasingly indistinguishable State and settler violence against Palestinians, and a range of discriminatory policies and practices that severely hampered the everyday life of Palestinians amounted to an institutionalized regime of systematic discrimination, oppression and violence by Israel against Palestinians, violating article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid.

45. The displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank represented the mass expulsion of Palestinians on a scale previously unseen, amounting to unlawful transfer that is prohibited under international humanitarian law. The displacement in the occupied West Bank, which coincides with the extensive displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, at the hands of the Israeli military appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.

46. The implementation of Israeli laws, policies and practices in the contexts described in the present report is reshaping the physical and demographic reality in the occupied West Bank, consolidating the unlawful annexation by Israel of large parts of this territory and denying Palestinians their right to self-determination in a future contiguous Palestinian State.

47. The systematic failure by Israel to prevent or punish settler attacks was a key driver of the worsening coercive environment of violence, discrimination and oppression. The failure of Israeli security forces to act in relation to, and the apparent involvement of its officials in, settler violence amounts to a violation of the obligations of Israel as an occupying Power to protect the inhabitants of the occupied territory from all acts and threats of violence and to ensure public order and safety.

48. Further to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, the continuing presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, and Israel must withdraw from the territory as rapidly as possible. It must cease immediately all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers. As indicated by the International Court of Justice, States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation.

49. On the basis of the findings presented in the present and previous reports, the High Commissioner recommends that the Israeli authorities:

(a) Immediately and completely cease and reverse the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and all other related activity, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolutions 497 (1981) and 2334 (2016);

(b) Evacuate all Israeli settlers;

(c) End its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and, in the meantime, uphold all its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law;

(d) Rescind all policies and practices that contribute to a coercive environment that induces the forcible transfer of Palestinians, and ensure the safe and sustainable return of all displaced communities;

(e) Cease the appropriation of land in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and return it to its previous inhabitants;

(f) Cease all forced evictions, house demolitions and reallocation of land to Israeli settlements;

(g) Prevent by all means at its disposal and punish attacks by settlers against the life or bodily integrity of Palestinians and against their property;

(h) Immediately cease all discriminatory practices that violate international human rights law, including breaches of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

(i) Uphold the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, including by ceasing internationally wrongful acts and making reparations for such acts.

50. With respect to third States, the High Commissioner recalls the conclusion of the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 that States are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He also calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel that facilitate violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.