Arab News | UN official slams ‘relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in West Bank’

NEW YORK CITY: Israeli authorities approved 8,085 settlement units in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past three months, the UN’s acting special coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned on Monday during a Security Council meeting attended by Arab News.

“I strongly condemn the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which fuels tensions, impedes access by Palestinians to their land, and threatens the viability of a fully independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state,” said Ramiz Alakbarov.

Security Council resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, calls for a halt to all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Territories and declares them illegal.

Between June 13 and Sept. 18, Israel issued dozens of demolition and confiscation orders to expand settlements, the UN reported.

“The rapidly expanding settlement footprint, including outposts, is taking place in conjunction with a rise in settler attacks,” Alakbarov said.

“These developments are in breach of international law, further entrenching the unlawful Israeli occupation and undermining the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” he added.

“I strongly condemn developments related to the E1 settlement plan, which would effectively sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank and further isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.”

The project has prompted widespread condemnation as it would split the West Bank in half and thwart the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state.

In the same period, Israeli authorities demolished or seized 536 structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing 736 people, among them 347 children.

Alakbarov said building permits issued by Israel are “nearly impossible” for Palestinians to obtain.

Israel has 279 settlements in the West Bank, including 14 in East Jerusalem. Almost 737,000 people live in these settlements, among 3.43 million Palestinians.

Alakbarov cautioned that the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, established last October, remains fragile as Israeli forces continue to operate in densely populated areas.

At least 1,386 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, including more than 300 children and 130 women, with 4,784 injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. Israeli authorities have confined Gaza’s population to about 30 percent of the territory, with continued killing of civilians,” Alakbarov said.

Israeli military operations since January 2025 in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams have displaced more than 33,000 people — the longest and largest displacement in the West Bank since 1967.

“I’m deeply concerned by the scale of displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, where entire communities have been displaced, some multiple times, which may raise concerns about ethnic cleansing,” Alakbarov said.