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As of 24 July,\u00a0<\/strong>the agency reports<\/strong> that 76 Palestinians and one Israeli have died this year in settler attacks<\/strong>. Since Friday, eight Palestinians, including a boy, and two members of the Israeli military have also been killed in the region.<\/p>\n The number of settler attacks has increased each year since 2023 following the brutal Hamas attacks on southern Israeli communities, rising to 1,835 last year,\u00a0according to the UN\u2019s humanitarian aid office (OCHA).\u00a0<\/p>\n There were about 190 attacks per month in the first four months of 2026, putting the West Bank on a trajectory to reach more than 2,000 attacks by the end of the year.<\/p>\n Alongside security forces, Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with financial incentives from the government, frequently attack families, burn mosques and destroy and confiscate property, OHCHR reported.<\/p>\n Movement restrictions preventing Palestinians from accessing essential services are now tighter than ever, the office added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are alarmed by the Israeli Government\u2019s announcement to further increase the number of settlements and outposts and open calls by Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, accompanied by threats to turn the West Bank into another Gaza<\/strong>,\u201d OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.<\/p>\n Speaking from Jerusalem on Friday, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov\u00a0called the continued loss of life in the West Bank \u201cdeeply alarming<\/strong>\u201d, urging Israel to hold perpetrators accountable and all actors to pursue a two-state solution.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no military or violent solution to this conflict<\/strong>,\u201d Mr. Alakbarov said.<\/p>\n In September, the General Assembly endorsed the\u00a0New York Declaration, calling for a two-State solution, though Israel and the US voted against it.<\/p>\n The escalating violence in the West Bank comes two years after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in an advisory opinion that Israel\u2019s occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal and that countries should not recognise Israel\u2019s actions related to the occupation. Israel quickly condemned the ruling.<\/p>\n Briefing the Security Council in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Alakbarov noted that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently announced the approval of several new settlements, which the peace coordinator called \u201cillegal under international law\u201d.<\/p>\nTwo-State solution must remain<\/strong><\/h2>\n