UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has issued a stark warning about escalating Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank, describing it as a "silent war" that has largely escaped global scrutiny while attention remains fixed on Gaza.

Since October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory, with nearly a quarter of them, approximately 250, being children, according to UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini.

Lazzarini on Sunday highlighted the unprecedented scale of the violence, which includes intensified killings, home demolitions, forced displacements, and settlement expansions carried out by Israeli forces and settlers.

Lazzarini warned that Palestinian communities continue to face daily intimidation and the destruction of their livelihoods with impunity.

"Attacks by Israeli settlers continue unabated, with Palestinian communities being constantly intimidated, uprooted, and their livelihoods ruined," he stated in a post on X, emphasizing a culture of impunity that has allowed such actions to persist.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians remain displaced following Israel`s so-called "Iron Wall" operation, the largest such displacement since 1967, with homes being systematically demolished to prevent families from returning.

Lazzarini noted that while global attention remains on Gaza, the disregard for international humanitarian law in the West Bank has become increasingly routine.

The UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported that, as of October 2025, 1,001 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, including 213 children, one in five of the total fatalities.

This figure represents 43% of all Palestinians killed in the West Bank over the past two decades, with most deaths attributed to the excessive use of lethal force by Israeli forces, including live fire, airstrikes, and missiles in densely populated areas.

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.

In the West Bank, settler attacks have reached record levels, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documenting 1,420 incidents in 2024 alone-a sharp increase from previous years.

These include assaults causing casualties or property damage, often with the acquiescence or participation of Israeli security forces.

At least 47 Palestinian communities have been forcibly displaced since October 2023 due to a combination of settler violence, access restrictions, and psychological terror.