In its response, the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva alluded to longtime allegations against the UN body \u2014 backed often by the United States \u2014 of unfair bias against Israel and a relative disregard of other human rights situations around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not function as an impartial and neutral human rights office, but as the epicenter of vile anti-Israel activism,\u201d the mission said in a statement, blasting a \u201cUN anti-Israel narrative machine\u201d that has produced several reports about Israeli settlements in recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt begs the question how it is possible for the Office to fund such duplicity, while other human rights situations remain sidelined,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Last month, Israel\u2019s permanent mission in Geneva dismissed<\/a> a similar report. \u201cOffice of the High Commissioner is engaged in a vicious campaign of demonization and disinformation against the State of Israel,\u201d it said at the time. Israel has also insisted it only takes actions necessary for its security due to the ongoing terror threat emanating from the Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n Much of the displacement of thousands has taken place in the northern West Bank, where Israel launched a broad counter-terror operation in early 2025. Israel\u2019s government says the operation is aimed at stamping out terror groups active in the area.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s report said the displacement \u201cappears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel says the territory\u2019s status is disputed and does not see it as an occupation.<\/p>\n \t At the same time, Israel\u2019s hardline government has pressed ahead with an increase in new Israeli settlements across the West Bank, which is home to roughly three million Palestinians as well as more than 500,000 Israelis living in settlements and outposts.<\/p>\n Most of the international community views Israel\u2019s presence in the West Bank as illegal, though the US under President Donald Trump has been more tolerant.<\/p>\n The rights office, which falls under the secretariat of UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, pointed to the advancement or approval by Israeli authorities of around 27,200 housing units in the West Bank, as well as 36,973 housing units in East Jerusalem, a part of Israel\u2019s capital whose annexation was not recognized by much of the international community.<\/p>\n Also during the 12-month period, \u201can unprecedented 84 settlement outposts were established across the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number to more than 300,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk called for an immediate halt to the settlements and a reversal of their impact, along with the evacuation of all settlers and \u201can end to the occupation of the Palestinian territory.\u201d<\/p>\n The construction boom has been accompanied by an increase in settler violence against Palestinians. Israeli leaders have portrayed the violence as the work of a tiny minority of extremists, but Palestinians and human rights groups say the Israeli army has done little to prevent the attacks and note that settlers are rarely held accountable.<\/p>\n \t Earlier this month, three Palestinians were killed in a violent clash with settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah<\/a>, east of Ramallah, and in a rare rebuke, the Israeli military strongly condemned the settler violence.<\/p>\n While outside the period covered by the UN report, the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of \u201cexploiting the atmosphere of war\u201d and the lack of international attention to issues in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence and forced displacement.<\/p>\n Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.<\/p>\n More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the PA health ministry. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.<\/p>\n During the same period, 65 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.<\/p>\n The same period has also seen a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025. The total for 2024 was 682 incidents.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIllustrative: IDF soldiers guard a tour of the West Bank city of Hebron, on February 14, 2026. (Wisam Hashlamoun\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/F260312DP00017-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tJewish men build temporary housing units made from shipping containers at an outpost in the Binyamin region of the West Bank, March 12, 2026. (Dor Pazuelo\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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