UN warns of ‘ethnic cleansing’ as 36,000 Palestinians displaced in West Bank

WEB DESK: The United Nations has issued a stinging rebuke to the Israeli government, demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as a “dramatic” and “unprecedented” expansion of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank.

According to AFP, a harrowing new report from the UN rights office suggests that the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians over the past year may now amount to a concerted policy of ethnic cleansing.

The findings, which track the twelve months leading up to late 2025, paint a portrait of a territory in the grip of systematic upheaval. According to the report, more than 36,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes in a single year a scale of mass expulsion previously unseen in the region.

The UN maintains that such actions constitute an “unlawful transfer” and a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

This surge in displacement has been mirrored by an aggressive spike in settlement activity. Israeli authorities have reportedly advanced or approved over 64,000 housing units across occupied East Jerusalem and the wider West Bank.

Furthermore, an additional 84 settlement outposts were established during the reporting period, bringing the total number of these unauthorised outposts to more than 300.

A ‘climate of impunity’ and rising violence

The human cost of this expansion has been devastatingly high. Since October 2023, at least 1,045 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers. The UN rights office documented over 1,700 incidents of settler violence, ranging from property damage to fatal assaults, noting that these attacks often occur in a “coordinated and strategic” manner while authorities largely fail to intervene.

UN Rights Chief Volker Türk has called for the immediate reversal of all settlement activity and the evacuation of settlers from the territory. He warned that the current trajectory not only destroys the prospect of a viable Palestinian state but risks the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The report highlights a particularly grim escalation since the commencement of the Iran war on February 28, with at least six Palestinians killed in the weeks following the outbreak of wider regional hostilities.

As international attention remains fixed on the broader conflict, the UN warns that the “forced transfer” of protected persons in the West Bank is accelerating under the cover of regional chaos, threatening the permanent erasure of Palestinian communities.