WEST BANK, (PIC)
The United Nations said Israeli policies in the West Bank have forcibly displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians since the beginning of 2025 amid escalating demolitions and settler violence.
Deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, Farhan Haq, said around 40,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes and lands since the beginning of 2025 due to mounting pressure, repeated home demolitions, and ongoing attacks targeting Palestinian communities.
According to UN data, the first week of this May alone witnessed a sharp escalation in efforts to target the Palestinian presence in the West Bank, with 42 additional Palestinians displaced, including 24 children.
UN sources said armed settler attacks have become a daily threat across towns and villages in the occupied territory, often carried out under the protection of Israeli forces. The assaults reportedly include property destruction, physical attacks, and the demolition of homes and vital infrastructure relied upon by Palestinian families.
Haq said the policies amount to a broader strategy aimed at altering the demographic and geographic reality of the occupied Palestinian territories through pressure on the indigenous Palestinian population.
He stressed that the continued forced displacement of civilians violates international law, which prohibits the transfer of populations under military occupation.
