Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians reach record number in October, UN says

The UN, Palestinians and most countries regard settlements as illegal under international law

Smoke rises at the scene of a clash between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters who went out to pray on their land, threatened by Israeli settlement expansion, in Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 7, 2025. REUTERS

Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during October, marking the biggest monthly total since United Nations officials began tracking such incidents in 2006, the UN said on Friday.

In a statement warning against the sharp rise in violence, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the attacks, which resulted in casualties and property damage, amounted to an average of eight incidents per day.

"Since 2006, OCHA has documented over 9,600 such attacks. About 1,500 of them took place just this year, roughly 15 per cent of the total," the UN body said in a statement.

Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but successive Israeli governments have expanded settlements rapidly, fragmenting the land.

The United Nations, Palestinians and most countries regard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this. Over half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank.

OCHA also said that according to OCHA-confirmed data as of Wednesday, 42 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year.

"That means one in every five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2025 has been a child," OCHA said.

Israel's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The West Bank attacks came despite a US-brokered ceasefire in the war in Gaza in October, which has calmed most fighting and led to the return of hostages.