UN reports rising settler violence and Palestinian deaths in West Bank
Settler attacks, outpost expansion and Palestinian deaths in the West Bank climbed through 2025, with OCHA counting 690 Palestinian fatalities by Sept. 30.
The United Nations counted 690 Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank by 30 September 2025, including 131 children. The same snapshot counted 38 Israeli fatalities, among them 4 children and 19 members of Israeli forces, and put 667 Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces, 12 by Israeli settlers and 11 by Israeli forces or settlers.
That was up from OCHA's 31 January 2025 snapshot, which documented 555 Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank, including 102 children, and 27 Israeli fatalities, including 3 children and 15 members of Israeli forces. That January tally also listed 3,570 Palestinian injuries, including 692 children.
OCHA's separate review of settler attacks from January 2023 through December 2025 found assaults and access restrictions drove casualties, property damage and displacement. Repeated attacks hit olive trees, homes, livestock, tractors, cars, mosques and farmland, with residents in Al-Mughayyir, Deir Dibwan, Burqa, Jinsafut, Kafr Qaddum, Ibziq and Maghayyir ad Deir facing vandalism, arson, intimidation, road closures and pressure linked to nearby outposts. A Palestinian farmer stood beside an olive tree cut by Israeli settlers in Jinsafut, while residents of Maghayyir ad Deir were displaced after attacks and the establishment of a settlement outpost near their homes.
In August 2025, settler attacks had risen sharply after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and were averaging more than two incidents a day in 2025. Dozens of settlers from the illegal outpost of Or Nahman attacked Palestinian farmers and set fire to vehicles and property. In 2026, Palestinians in Al-Mughayyir saw more outposts appear around the village in recent years.
In June 2025, the UK, Australia, Canada, France and Norway imposed sanctions on networks involved in financing and enabling settler violence in the West Bank. On 10 August 2025, the Israeli government justified its actions as legitimate security measures to counter Palestinian terrorism, while Palestinians said the violence was being encouraged by far-right elements in the current government. OCHA's May 2026 report recorded 22 Palestinian Bedouin families, 137 people including 81 children, forcibly displaced from the Jiljiliya area after a massive settler attack.
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