The United Nations announced that Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank has reached a record high this year since UN monitoring began in 2017, according to a report issued by Secretary-General António Guterres. Guterres stressed that these developments further entrench the Israeli occupation and violate international law and the Palestinian right to self-determination.

In relation to the settlement expansion, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, reported that over 1,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the start of this year in Area C of the occupied West Bank.

Citing UN data, Haq explained that Area C comprises approximately 60 percent of the West Bank and is an area where Israel maintains near-total control over law enforcement, planning, and construction. This scale of displacement marks the second-highest annual rate recorded by the UN since 2009.