The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
West Bank settler violence must end with accountability, says UN rights office
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
“When it comes to the West Bank, attacks by settlers are continuing,” said Thameen Al-Keetan, OHCHR spokesperson.
Speaking in Geneva, he maintained that since war erupted in Gaza following Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel, “Israeli security forces and settlers killed 1,010 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. And this figure includes 215 children.”
A new report from the UN human rights office into settlement expansion in the West Bank highlights how new demolition orders impacting longstanding Palestinian communities there threaten more with forced displacement.
This includes Umm Al Khair residents, a community of 35 extended families living there since their expulsion from their lands in Negev during the mass forcible displacement of Palestinians in 1948 to1949, which is known as the Nakba, OHCHR said.
Residents of Umm Al Khair have long faced “discriminatory” land regulations and demolitions imposed by Israel, which regards their housing as illegal because they lack building permits which are “almost impossible” for them to obtain, OHCHR alleged.
According to the UN rights office, Israeli settlers have built new outposts connected to the nearby Carmel settlement and expanded their footprint in the occupied territories. In September, they allegedly erected an outpost in the centre of Umm Al Khair “and intensified harassment” of Palestinian residents to force them to leave.
And although a Jerusalem court issued a temporary injunction stopping construction and barring settlers from entering the outpost, “authorities have taken no action to enforce the court order, in stark contrast to the frequent and swift demolitions of Palestinian structures,” OHCHR maintained.
“The attacks have been increasing and we have seen that recently especially with the olive harvest season. These must stop and there must be accountability,” Mr. Al-Keetan told journalists.
“There must be accountability for settlers and for members of Israeli security forces who are involved in these attacks. And of course, we refer back to the ruling by the International Court of Justice that it's very crucial for the unlawful Israeli presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to end.”
Gaza update
In Gaza, as a fragile ceasefire between Hamas fighters and Israel holds, thousands of schoolchildren have reportedly returned to in-person classes, while aid teams continue to push for greater humanitarian access.
“Hundreds of thousands of families face the onset of winter without essential protection from the elements,” said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In an update on Friday it highlighted the UN Secretary-General’s warning that the despite improved aid access, “[the UN is] far from [having] what is necessary to eliminate famine quickly and to create the conditions for the people in Gaza to have the very, very minimum that is necessary for dignity in life”.
The UN aid office also noted continuing reports of military activity in the shattered enclave along with “daily detonations” of residential buildings in areas where the Israeli military remains deployed, especially eastern Khan Younis and eastern Gaza City.
Asked about plans for an international stabilization force in Gaza, OHCHR’s Mr. Al-Keetan insisted that any such force “must respect international law and international humanitarian law”. The right to Palestinian self-determination throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories must also be respected, he continued.
“Whether there is a ceasefire or not, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law must be respected and civilians must be protected and human rights of people – of Palestinians in Gaza - do not change, whether there is a ceasefire or not.”
ends
STORY: Gaza, West Bank comment - OHCHR
TRT: 2 min 54s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 7 NOVEMBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speaker:
- Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying.
- Wide, podium speakers, UN Information Service Geneva Press room, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR: “When it comes to the West Bank, attacks by settlers are continuing, unfortunately. We have verified that since 7 October 2023 as of 5 November 2025, Israeli security forces and settlers killed 1,010 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. And this figure includes 215 children.”
- Wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR:
- “The attacks have been increasing and we have seen that recently especially with the olive harvest season. These must stop and there must be accountability.”
- Medium, podium speaker and remote speaker shown on TV screens.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR: “There must be accountability for settlers and for members of Israeli security forces who are involved in these attacks. And of course, we refer back to the ruling by the International Court of Justice that it's very crucial for the unlawful Israeli presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to end.”
- Wide, podium speakers, Press room, journalists, screens.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR: “And the suggested force to stabilize the situation in Gaza; any force that works, operates or will work or operates in the future must respect international law and international humanitarian law.”
- Wide, TV screens showing speaker, journalists in Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR: “Whether there is a ceasefire or not, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law must be respected and civilians must be protected and human rights of people – of Palestinians in Gaza - do not change, whether there is a ceasefire or not.”
- Wide, podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson, UN human rights office, OHCHR: “It is very important that in any sort of process for the future of Gaza and the whole Occupied Palestinian Territory, that the Palestinian people are involved and that the rights of the Palestinians to self-determination is respected.”
- Medium, journalist.
- Medium, journalist.
- Wide, podium speakers, journalists, TV screens showing speaker.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence urges Iranian authorities to end violent repression and calls for accountability.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: A ceasefire that ‘still buries children’ is not enough, says UNICEF
Airstrikes, drone strikes and hypothermia are among the lethal conditions prevailing in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 children killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.