UN rights report condemns displacement of Palestinians in West Bank

Palestinians mourn at the funeral of four members of the Odeh family who were killed in their car by Israeli security forces during an army operation in Tammun, West Bank, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

GENEVA — The UN human rights office on Tuesday expressed concerns about possible “ethnic cleansing,” denouncing an acceleration of Israeli settlements and displacements of thousands of Palestinians in large parts of the occupied West Bank that has grown “more relentless” in recent months.

A new report from the office of Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, covers a yearlong period through the end of October and warns of expanded settlements in large parts of the West Bank and the forced displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians.

Since then, “the pace of the concerted efforts by the Israeli government to seize as much Palestinian land as possible — with as few Palestinians in it as possible — is only becoming more relentless,” Ajith Sunghay, the head of the rights office in occupied Palestinian areas, told a UN briefing in Geneva.

Sunghay said Israeli security forces “have continued to kill Palestinians with impunity,” have launched daily raids across the West Bank, and increased movement restrictions in the territory that have impeded access to health care, jobs, education and other basic services.

“Yet Israeli settlers are roaming free with complete impunity, often armed, forcing Palestinian family after Palestinian family off their lands,” Sunghay said.

Türk, in a statement, alleged that Israeli authorities were “playing the central role in directing, participating in or enabling this conduct,” and the report denounced harassment, intimidation and destruction of farmland and homes of Palestinians.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in Geneva didn’t immediately comment.

Much of the displacement of thousands has taken place in the northern West Bank, where Israel launched a broad military offensive in early 2025. Israel’s government says the operation is aimed at stamping out militant groups active in the area.

The report says the displacement “appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.”

At the same time, Israel’s hard-line government has pressed ahead with an increase in new Israeli settlements across the West Bank. The international community overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal, though the Trump administration has been more tolerant of the construction. Israel’s government is dominated by settler leaders and their political allies.

The rights office, which falls under the secretariat of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said that Israeli authorities approved or moved forward on nearly 37,000 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem and more than 27,000 elsewhere in the West Bank.

Türk called for an immediate halt to the settlements and a reversal of their impact, along with the evacuation of all settlers and “an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territory.”

The construction boom has been accompanied by an increase in settler violence against Palestinians. Israeli leaders have portrayed the violence as the work of a tiny minority, but Palestinians and human rights groups say the Israeli army has done little to prevent the attacks and note that settlers are rarely held accountable.

Earlier this month, three Palestinians were killed in a violent clash with settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah, and in a rare rebuke, the Israeli military strongly condemned the settler violence.

While outside the period covered by the UN report, the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of “exploiting the atmosphere of war” and the lack of international attention to issues in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence and forced displacement.

Jamey Keaten, The Associated Press