Published On 8/11/2025
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Last update: 03:29 (Mecca time)
Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in October, the United Nations said on Friday, marking the highest monthly number since UN officials began tracking such attacks in 2006.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned, in a statement, of the sharp increase in the pace of violence, saying that these attacks, which resulted in deaths, injuries and property damage, amounted to an average of 8 incidents per day.
“Since 2006, we have documented more than 9,600 attacks of this type. Nearly 1,500 of them occurred this year alone, which is approximately 15% of the total,” the office said.
The West Bank, inhabited by about 2.7 million Palestinians, represents a major focus in efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state, but successive Israeli governments have expanded settlements there at a rapid pace, leading to the division of lands.
The United Nations, the Palestinians, and most countries consider these settlements illegal under international law.
More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank.
The office said that its data indicate that 42 Palestinian children were killed at the hands of Israeli forces in the West Bank from the beginning of this year until Wednesday.
He added, “This means that one in every 5 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2025 was a child.”
The Israeli mission to the United Nations has not yet responded to a request for comment by Reuters.
The attacks in the West Bank come despite a US-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza war in October, which stopped most of the fighting and led to the return of Israeli prisoners.