UN Warns of Ethnic Cleansing in West Bank

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - A fresh report from the United Nations human rights office has warned that Israel's accelerating expansion of unlawful settlements and annexation of large parts of the West Bank is driving "unprecedented" displacement.

The UN urged Israel to immediately halt its dramatic settlement expansion in the West Bank, where it has raised concerns of "ethnic cleansing" with more than 36,000 Palestinians displaced in a single year. "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 report said.

The report covers the 12 months up to 31 October 2025 and points to the advancement or approval by Israeli authorities of just under 37,000 housing units in settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and around 27,200 in the rest of the West Bank. An unprecedented 84 settlement outposts were also established across the occupied West Bank, "bringing the total number to more than 300", the report said.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law, alongside roughly three million Palestinians. Violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

There has been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the territory since the start of the Iran war, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations, with at least six Palestinians killed since the start of March. According to a tally compiled by French news agency AFP, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

The UN rights office documented 1,732 incidents of settler violence resulting in casualties or property damage over the reporting period, compared to 1,400 during the previous 12-month period. "Settler violence continued in a coordinated, strategic and largely unchallenged manner, with Israeli authorities playing the central role," the report said.

UN rights chief Volker Turk called on Israel to "immediately and completely cease and reverse the establishment and expansion of settlements" and enable the return of displaced Palestinians. The report also decried advancing settlement plans that heighten the risk of displacement faced by thousands of Palestinians from Bedouin communities located northeast of East Jerusalem, stressing that unlawful transfer of protected persons constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, constituting a war crime.

Source : RFI.fr