Settler violence in the West Bank "reached unprecedented levels during the reporting period, often in the presence of Israeli forces", the UN's Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the Security Council on Monday 28 September. The meeting was the Council's quarterly review of resolution 2334, which calls for an end to settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
According to the UN's official meeting coverage, he reported 630 settler attacks in the period, in which 11 Palestinians were killed and 344 people were displaced across 17 communities. He also reported the seizure and demolition of 536 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank, displacing 73 people, including 34 children.
On settlement building, he reported approvals for 4,570 housing units in Area C and 3,515 in East Jerusalem, and tenders for 2,240 units in Area C, including 1,234 in the E1 area near Jerusalem. The Council heard that the E1 plan represents "an existential threat to the two-State solution". He also described seizure orders for privately owned land in Area A near Qabatiya, south of Jenin, for a road linking two recently approved settlements, which he called "the first reported seizure of Area A land explicitly for settlement infrastructure."
On Gaza, he described a "highly fragile ceasefire", with Israeli forces continuing military operations west of the so-called "Yellow Line", killing 360 Palestinians during the reporting period according to the meeting coverage.
What it means for operators
The UN has not published the start and end dates of the reporting period in the meeting coverage, so treat the figures as a trend rather than a weekly rate. The direction is clear: settler violence at unprecedented levels, often with Israeli forces present, continued demolitions, and settlement infrastructure now reaching into Area A near Jenin.
Timing matters. A civil society briefer at the same meeting, peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah, urged the Council to protect Palestinian farmers "during the coming olive harvest". Teams moving through Area C, the Jenin area or routes near the E1 corridor east of Jerusalem should plan for road closures, checkpoints and sudden confrontations, and should check the FCDO's current Palestine travel advice before every move.
