OHCHR warns of 'wider pattern' of rising Israeli violence in West Bank
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The UN rights office warns of escalating Israeli settler and military violence in the West Bank, highlighting killings, demolitions, and forced displacement.
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A boy inspects burnt copies of the Quran inside a mosque that was torched and defaced by Israeli settlers overnight, in the West Bank town of Deir Istiya, occupied Palestine, on November 13, 2025 (AP)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued a warning over intensifying violence in the occupied West Bank, citing a surge in settler-led attacks and complicity of Israeli occupation forces.
Critical surge in violence
In a November briefing, the OHCHR condemned “abhorrent” scenes of masked Israeli settlers carrying out arson attacks against Palestinian villages. The agency voiced deep concern that these incidents are part of a “wider pattern” of escalating violence, raising serious questions about accountability and protection under occupation.
According to the OHCHR, the attacks underscore a deteriorating security environment, especially as settler violence appears to be emboldened, in some cases with support or acquiescence from Israeli security forces.
Displacement, demolitions, forced transfer
The rights office also highlighted a growing strategy of dispossession and displacement. OHCHR pointed to the construction and expansion of illegal settler outposts, the demolition of Palestinian homes, and a campaign that risks consolidating “annexation".
These practices, it warned, are deeply at odds with international law.
The surge in violence has come at a significant human cost. The OHCHR reported a sharp rise in killings, harassment, and displacement among Palestinian communities. Earlier this year, the agency had already condemned “unlawful lethal force” by Israeli occupation forces in areas such as Jenin, warning that many victims of Israeli violence were unarmed.
The Office emphasized that "Israel", as the occupying power, has an obligation under international law to protect Palestinians.
Read more: Over 2,300 Israeli settler, IOF attacks targeted W. Bank in October
Palestinian child succumbs to injuries
Palestinian child Aysam Jihad Labib Naser, mentioned in the OHCHR report, was martyred on Tuesday, a month after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli occupation forces in olive groves near the West Bank village of Beita. At the time of the attack, eyewitnesses described how the child began convulsing and suffocating when the IOF started dispersing olive pickers with gas grenades, despite eyewitnesses saying the pickers posed no danger to the soldiers.
"They simply threw gas in every direction," one eyewitness said
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, reiterated that attacks against Palestinians and their property must stop, and those responsible must be held to account.
"Israel" must end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including by ceasing immediately all new settlement activities, and evacuating all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory, the report added.
"Palestinians’ right to self-determination must be realized," the report underlined.
Read more: 'Israel' detains US teen for 9 months, forces confession under threat
