The West Bank is at a breaking point, with settler violence reaching unprecedented levels, the Security Council heard today.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the 15-member Council that the situation in the West Bank is the result of "decades of unresolved conflict that has deepened the unlawful Israeli occupation, driven the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse and undermined the prospects for an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State".
Mr. Alakbarov echoed many Council speakers in stressing the need to implement Council resolution 2803 (2025) , which endorses the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, under which a limited ceasefire was established in the enclave, as well as the New York Declaration , a landmark agreement aimed at advancing an independent State of Palestine.
West Bank Palestinians Uprooted by Settler Violence, Demolitions, Evictions
Since the start of the year, he said, Israeli authorities have approved or advanced about 12,360 housing units in the occupied West Bank and significant resources are being allocated to settlement expansion, including $431 million to support 34 new settlements.
So far in 2026, 76 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, he said, including 18 children. Three Israelis were killed in confrontations with Palestinians. Some 3,800 Palestinians, nearly half of them children, were displaced due to settler violence, demolitions and evictions. "Many incidents occurred in the presence of Israeli forces," he emphasized.
"All perpetrators of such crimes must be brought to justice," he stressed, underscoring that from 5 to 7 August, Israeli forces conducted a large-scale operation in Qalandia refugee camp, resulting in dozens of Palestinians injured and extensive property damage. He also expressed concern that on 27 July, Israeli forces entered the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Kalandia Training Centre without authorization.
Tensions rose in East Jerusalem on 23 July, during Tisha B'Av, when organized Israeli visits to Haram al-Sharif, including by an Israeli minister, renewed concerns over the status quo at the holy sites. Compounding these pressures, Israel is withholding $6 billion in clearance revenues, preventing the Palestinian Authority from paying salaries and delivering basic services.
Childhood Unsafe, Especially for Boys
"The fundamental spaces of childhood - the home, the school and the community - are becoming increasingly unsafe," Hannan Sulieman, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), told the Council. Asking members to imagine raising children in Gaza and the West Bank, she said the UN verified 174 Palestinian children killed in the West Bank between January 2024 and July 2026.
Boys comprise most of those children killed and injured, she said. Some had been shot - even while running away - and parents are increasingly withdrawing their children from school because they cannot keep them safe.
"Exposing a child to violence, raids and intimidation takes a profound psychological toll," she added, spotlighting the plight of the 800,000 children in the West Bank, and more specifically, at least 355 Palestinian children currently held in detention facing harsh conditions, mistreatment and inadequate nutrition.
She emphasized that UNICEF and its partners remain on the ground to support displaced families and those in need of emergency food assistance, cash aid, medical support, safe water and psychosocial services. "But humanitarian assistance can only mitigate the consequences; it cannot remove the causes."
Illegal Measures Entrench Occupation, Speakers Stress
Against that backdrop, she urged the Council to protect children. The administrative detention of children must end, she said, calling for conditions of detained Palestinian children to be brought into line with international standards. Member States should also use their influence to prevent further displacement in the West Bank "and signal zero tolerance for violence against children and communities", she stressed.
"Recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and communities, in some cases alongside Israel Defense Force personnel, are appalling," said the United Kingdom's speaker, expressing alarm that Israel had approved 104 settlements in four years, an increase of 80 per cent. Latvia's delegate, calling the latest developments "alarming" and "appalling", urged Israel to end its settlement policy and ensure accountability for attacks on civilians.
"We cannot ignore what is happening," said France's delegate, adding that Israeli settlement activity is increasing in "absolute disregard" of international law. France and its European Union partners, he said, have enacted sanctions against the entities and individuals responsible. "We will take additional measures - including sanctions and trade measures - to address the situation," he added. In that vein, Denmark's delegate, Council President for August, in her national capacity, said: "We urge businesses to be aware of the potential legal, financial and reputational risks associated with bidding for these contracts."
Also expressing concern over rising settler violence targeting Palestinian civilians - "including Christian communities" - the representative of Greece added that the withholding of Palestinian tax revenues is placing the Palestinian Authority under "unsustainable" financial strain. Pakistan's representative pointed to a "clear pattern of coordinated, illegal measures designed to entrench the occupation, alter the demographic and territorial realities on the ground and undermine the prospects of a Palestinian State".
United States Hails Gaza Progress, as Russian Federation Points to 'Stalled' Ceasefire
"The West Bank is approaching a point of no return," warned the representative of the Russian Federation, adding that "practical implementation of the American peace plan for Gaza has essentially stalled". Spotlighting Israel's recent, public rejection of this road map, he underscored that the success of any Middle East peace initiative "will be measured by the achievement of its chief goal - the creation of a single, independent and contiguous State of Palestine".
The representative of the United States, urging the Council to show strong support for the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, said that both are working to advance the peace plan endorsed by resolution 2803 (2025). Welcoming progress that these two bodies have achieved thus far, she spotlighted the "milestone" reached in July when Hamas "finally, and for the first time, committed to an actionable plan for its disarmament".
Bahrain's representative highlighted her country's steadfast efforts to bring peace and stability back to the Gaza Strip, including under the auspices of the Board of Peace. However, citing the seizure of land and the demolition of homes and schools in the West Bank, she agreed that such actions are only threatening prospects for peace. Somalia's delegate said that increasing violence and terrorism by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians is "undermining the very foundations of Palestinian life in the West Bank."
Echoing other speakers, representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia expressed concern over the effects of violence on children, with the latter emphasizing the need to balance Israeli security with Palestinian civilians' right to safety and freedom from suffering.
"Schools must be free from fear and intimidation," stressed Panama's delegate. The representative of China described it as "shocking" that the UNRWA training centre had been forcibly stormed on two occasions. "The lives of the Palestinian people are just as precious as those of all other people," he said.
Annexation Under Way, State of Palestine Warns, Demands Path to Freedom
"We need to end this evil system imposed on us," said Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine. "Through the theft of our financial resources to the attack against our institutions, Israel is seeking the collapse of the Palestinian Authority in the hope that this would precipitate the transfer of Palestinians outside of Palestine," he emphasized. Throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, annexation is under way. Palestinians are now confined to 30 per cent of the Gaza Strip, 40 per cent of the West Bank and 13 per cent of East Jerusalem.
Turning to the Comprehensive Peace Plan and the New York Declaration, he said the two pacts rely on "no occupation, no annexation, no displacement", but Israel is "fully committed to pursuing all three at all costs". The future of the region cannot be decided by "colonial appetite or hegemonic aspirations". He called on the international community to set a path for Palestinian freedom, self-determination and independent statehood.
Israel, Denouncing Council Bias, Cites Enforcement against Jewish Extremism
In turn, Israel's representative said that "while Israeli extremist attacks are declining, Palestinian terrorist attacks are rising, making up the majority of attacks in Judea and Samaria". The Council is "focusing on one side of the violence while ignoring the other". He detailed Israel's efforts to strengthen enforcement against Jewish extremism and said its leaders have made extremist violence "a priority for our Government".
When speaker after speaker refers to "settler violence", it is "an insult to thousands of years of continuous Jewish history in the land of Israel", he said. "Jews have never been - and will never be - 'settlers' in Judea and Samaria." Those committing violence are a "tiny fraction" of the people living there. When speakers use the term "settler violence", it "denies our connection to the land of Israel, distracts from constant terrorist attacks against Israelis and collectively labels entire innocent communities for the crimes of the marginal extremist minority".
