New York / PNN /

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that settler violence in the occupied West Bank has recently escalated to its highest level in more than ten years.

In a statement issued on Sunday, UNRWA said that last month marked the most violent period since the agency began systematically documenting such incidents 12–13 years ago.

According to UNRWA’s official website, most of the attacks coincided with the olive harvest season, during which Palestinian farmers were assaulted and denied access to their lands—threatening their livelihoods amid a surge in armed assaults and deliberate property burnings.

The UN agency added in a recently published report that forced displacement of Palestinians continues, particularly in the northern West Bank— including Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams camps—alongside expanding settlement activity and widespread home demolitions, which have led to the displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families.

The reported attacks included stone-throwing, live gunfire, arson targeting vehicles and property, and the expulsion of Palestinians from their agricultural lands.

UNRWA warned that these escalating violations, coupled with the lack of effective measures by Israeli authorities to curb them, could pave the way for further annexation of Palestinian territory.