A boy stands on the rubble of a Palestinian home demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the village of Tarqumia, near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on February 1, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli forces and settlers carried out 1,872 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank in January, a new report reveals, highlighting a sharp escalation in violence, displacement, and settlement activity.

Out of these attacks, 1,404 were carried out by Israeli military and security forces, while 468 were conducted by settlers, often under the protection of Israeli troops, according to figures published by the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission on Tuesday.

The incidents took place in various West Bank governorates, including al-Khalil, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Nablus, and al-Quds. According to Palestinian officials and human rights monitors, the attacks suggest a systematic policy aimed at displacing Palestinians and strengthening Israeli control over strategic areas.

Palestinian Bedouin communities were also disproportionately affected, with at least 125 families forcibly displaced from three communities during the month.

The report documented 349 cases of vandalism and theft by settlers, including the destruction, poisoning, or uprooting of 1,245 olive trees, which are crucial for Palestinian farmers.

Israeli authorities also accelerated settlement construction and land appropriation, seizing a total of 744 dunums of Palestinian land in January and advancing or reviewing 21 settlement master plans involving 2,729 new housing units.

Additionally, Israeli forces carried out 59 demolition operations, destroying 126 Palestinian structures, including 77 inhabited homes, while issuing 40 new demolition orders, most of them in al-Khalil governorate.

Israeli forces intensified daily raids and movement restrictions across the West Bank, including blocking agricultural roads in Sebastia, conducting patrols and shop raids in Silwan and Hizma, and carrying out armed attacks in Khirbet al-Kharaba.

These actions threaten to further fragment Palestinian territory, isolating communities and limiting access to farmland, education, and healthcare.

Officials from the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said January`s figures reflect a deliberate policy of de facto annexation implemented through violence, displacement, settlement expansion, and impunity.

Despite repeated international criticism, Israeli authorities continue to deepen control over Palestinian land, they said, undermining the social, economic, and geographic foundations of Palestinian life in the West Bank.

By the end of 2025, Palestinian authorities estimated over 1,102 Palestinians killed and 9,034 wounded in the West Bank amid intensified military operations and settler attacks. The violence has surged in tandem with the ongoing war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023.

Over 700,000 Israeli settlers currently live in more than 230 settlements established following the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views these settlements as a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions because they are built on occupied Palestinian territories.

The UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council have consistently denounced Israel`s settlement activities through various resolutions.