UN Official Says West Bank Settlement Expansion Must Be Treated as Emergency as Settler Violence Rises

UN Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov told the Security Council on Tuesday that the West Bank must be "treated as an emergency," citing $431 million allocated by Israeli authorities in mid-July for 34 new settlements and roughly 12,360 housing units advanced or approved this year, 7,200 in Area C and 5,160 in East Jerusalem 123. He reported more than 1,430 settler incidents documented in 2026 affecting roughly 260 Palestinian communities, 76 Palestinians killed this year including 18 children, and about 3,800 Palestinians displaced, with settler attacks increasingly reported in Areas A and B rather than only Area C 234. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hannan Sulieman told the council 174 Palestinian children have been verified killed since January 2024 and at least 355 remain in Israeli military detention, the highest total in eight years 45. US representative Jennifer Locetta pointed to increased Israeli law-enforcement and military measures against settler violence while opposing annexation, and Israel's Danon said his government is "expanding" enforcement against Jewish extremism while criticizing the council for not addressing attacks on Israelis 1. Alakbarov also disclosed the first-ever seizure of privately owned Area A land for settlement road infrastructure near Qabatiya and said agricultural and pastoral outposts now exert effective control over nearly 20 percent of the West Bank, calling the pattern a form of "de facto annexation." UN figures separately counted three Israelis killed in West Bank confrontations this year against the 76 Palestinian deaths 234.