蘑菇视频

24 March 2026

Delivered by: 蘑菇视频 Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif

At: Geneva, Palais des Nations, Assembly Hall

Thank you, Mr. Vice-President,

Distinguished delegates,

I am here to present two reports to you today. The first provides an update on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.

It covers the period between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025.

During that time, the Government of Israel escalated steps to consolidate its annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, subjecting Palestinians to deeper oppression.

There was a marked increase in settler violence and settlement activity, appropriation by Israel of Palestinian land, and mass displacement of Palestinians.

During the reporting period, settlers killed seven Palestinians, and Israeli Forces or settlers attacking together killed seven other Palestinians.

In one illustrative case, an Israeli settler in Umm Al-Keir, South Hebron Hills, shot and killed Palestinian human rights defender, Awdah al-Hathaleen. The killing occurred as residents confronted the settlers trying to establish a new outpost on Palestinian-owned land right next to Palestinian homes in the community. No indictment has been issued yet, despite the killing being recorded on video.

In total, settlers perpetrated more than 1,700 violent incidents against Palestinians across the West Bank – some 300 more than during the previous reporting period. These include beatings, and intimidation, resulting in death, injury, and damage to property. More than 180 of these attacks led to the death or injury of Palestinians.

The report documents that Israeli authorities directed, participated in, or enabled settler violence.

Settlers cut down more than 26,000 trees on Palestinian lands and carried out 182 attacks against Palestinians related to the olive harvest.

Only one indictment was issued in the reporting period. This entrenched impunity is a key driver of violence and displacement.

Mr. Vice-President,

During the reporting period, more than 27,000 settlement housing units in the West Bank were approved or advanced to the next planning phase – more than triple the number compared to the previous reporting period. Israeli settlers established over 80 new illegal outposts during the same reporting period.

In August 2025, Israel approved the construction of thousands more housing units in the E-1 settlement bloc, which sits between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. If implemented, the plan would displace thousands of Palestinians inside the E1 bloc and would amount to forcible transfer. It would also create a continuous stretch of Israeli?controlled land that would cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, barring Palestinians from the area.

It would further fragment Palestinian territory and undermine Palestinians’ right to self-determination. There is evidence that this is the intention; several Israeli officials have publicly stated that implementing the plan would finally bury the idea of a Palestinian State.

During the reporting period, Israel also took several legislative and administrative steps to facilitate settlement expansion.

The Israeli government extended domestic urban renewal laws to settlements in the West Bank, consolidating unlawful annexation. This authorises the construction of high-density settlement projects backed by government funding and tax incentives.

And in May 2025, Israel revived the so-called Settlement of Land Title process in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which had been suspended there since 1968. This measure, designed to officially register land ownership, allows for unregistered land to be declared as Israeli state property, which can then be granted to Israeli settlements. Under this process, Palestinians must prove that they have legal title to land – which is impossible for many due to lost or destroyed records, or because of traditional, undocumented forms of land ownership. This may lead to further widespread dispossession of Palestinians.

During the reporting period, Israel continued to appropriate unregistered Palestinian land as so-called State land, which is used almost exclusively for settlements.

Israel also intensified land seizures around settlements, including in East Jerusalem, as well as around cultural and archaeological sites in the West Bank. In some cases, land seizures have further restricted or blocked access by Palestinian communities to agricultural areas and water sources.

Israel also transferred the administration of settlements from its military to civilian authorities, further cementing de facto annexation, which has enabled a sharp increase in the approval rate of settlement plans.

Mr. Vice- President,

During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished some 1,700 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank.

These measures are part of a consistent pattern by Israel aimed at altering the geography and demography of the West Bank, by dispossessing Palestinians of their homes, land, natural resources, and indeed cultural heritage.

These moves are driving greater displacement.

During the reporting period, more than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank —the highest figure ever recorded. This includes an estimated 32,000 Palestinians who were displaced by Israeli security operations in the northern West Bank and some 1,600 who were displaced by settler violence, twice as many as the previous year.

This constitutes mass forcible transfer, prohibited under international humanitarian law, and raises concerns of ethnic cleansing.

In the occupied Syrian Golan, settlements expanded with the support of the Israeli Government. Israeli forces advanced deeper into the demilitarised zone, stating their intention to remain indefinitely. Israel also imposed movement restrictions on Syrian civilians, affecting their access to land and resources.

Mr. Vice-President,

The report’s overall findings are clear.

Israel’s actions in the West Bank amount to an institutionalized regime of systematic discrimination, oppression and violence against Palestinians, largely aimed at their subjugation and permanent dispossession, in violation of the prohibition against racial segregation and apartheid.

Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a violation of international law. In line with the conclusions of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, Israel must end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible, cease all settlement activity, and immediately evacuate all settlers from occupied territory.

Other States have obligations not to recognize the situation arising from Israel’s unlawful presence, nor to help or assist in maintaining this situation.

Mr. Vice-President,

Allow me to add that in the months following the reporting period, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated even further.

Since the beginning of 2026, settlers – who in some cases are reservist soldiers – have killed seven Palestinian men in the West Bank. Israeli Security Forces or settlers attacking together killed another Palestinian man.

Israel continues to accelerate its unlawful annexation and denies Palestinians their right to self-determination, as the High Commissioner briefed this Council earlier this session. This includes measures to allow Israelis to acquire ownership of land in the occupied West Bank.

Finally, Mr. Vice-President,

As for the report of the Secretary-General on Human Rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, I note that this Council has called upon Israel to comply with all relevant United Nations resolutions, and to immediately cease all settlement-related plans and activities. It emphasized that the displaced population of the occupied Syrian Golan must be allowed to return to their homes and to recover their property.

The report summarizes the responses received to a request for information about the implementation of the resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Vice-President.

Related content:

• OHCHR Report on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/HRC/61/70)