UN sounds alarm over record Palestinian displacement, surge in illegal settler attacks in West Bank

Speaking at a UN news conference on Friday, Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq relayed findings from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stating that more than 1,000 Palestinians had been displaced since the beginning of the year in “Area C” of the West Bank.

The area, which makes up around 60 percent of the territory, remains under near-total Israeli control, including through strict police presence as well as illegal planning and construction.

Haq said the majority of those displaced had lost their homes to demolitions carried out by Israeli officials on the grounds that the structures “lacked” Israeli-issued building permits, which Palestinians are almost never able to obtain.

He emphasized that the scale of the displacement recorded this year represented the second-highest annual figure since OCHA began tracking such data in 2009.

The world body also raised serious concerns over ongoing violence by illegal Israeli settlers.

‘Devastating humanitarian impacts’

According to OCHA’s documentation, settler attacks against Palestinians have continued at high levels throughout the year, producing what Haq described as “devastating humanitarian impacts.”

On average, five settler attacks have been recorded every day so far this year.

Calling for urgent action, Haq stressed the need to protect Palestinians throughout the occupied territory, including in East al-Quds.

He urged measures to halt punitive and other unlawful demolitions and to prevent further attacks by settlers, reiterating the UN’s concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground.