UN warns of rising Israeli violence in West Bank as Palestinians face surge in attacks

The UN humanitarian office documented 29 attacks by settlers in the West Bank from November 11-17, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Friday.

“Our humanitarian colleagues warned that the level of violence there remains deeply concerning, with casualties, property damage, displacement, loss of livelihoods and a strong sense of insecurity for Palestinian civilians,” he said.

According to Dujarric, the number of Palestinian children martyred in the West Bank in 2025 has reached 50. “Overall," he said, "more than 200 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the year."

“We continue to call for the protection of civilians,” Dujarric said, adding that “war-like tactics must not be tolerated as the new normal in the West Bank.”

Zionist regime’s military raids and settler assaults have surged in the West Bank since Zionist regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. The attacks also intensified during the Palestinian olive harvest in October and early November and have continued since.

On Friday, settlers set fire to cars in the town of Huwara in the northern West Bank, sending flames and thick smoke into the night sky.

Additional settler attacks were reported in Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron, where armed groups stormed residential areas, burned homes, and destroyed property.

In a post on X, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the violence “systematic terrorism” and part of a “dangerous and ongoing escalation” aimed at enabling ethnic cleansing. It called for urgent international protection for civilians in the occupied territory.

On Monday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the violence was being carried out by “a small extremist group.”

Last year, Zionist regime’s minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, announced that administrative detention would no longer be used against Zionist settlers, limiting one of the regime’s only tools for detaining settlers while employing it widely against Palestinians.