GENEVA (AP) 鈥� The U.N. human rights office Tuesday expressed concerns about possible 鈥渆thnic cleansing,鈥� denouncing an acceleration of Israeli settlements and displacements of thousands of Palestinians in large parts of the occupied that has grown 鈥渕ore relentless鈥� in recent months.
A new report from the office of Volker T眉rk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, covers a yearlong period through the end of October and warns of expanded settlements in large parts of the West Bank and of more than 36,000 Palestinians.
Since then, “the pace of the concerted efforts by the Israeli government to seize as much Palestinian land as possible 鈥� with as few Palestinians in it as possible 鈥� is only becoming more relentless,鈥� Ajith Sunghay, the head of the rights office in occupied Palestinian areas, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.
The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by saying that as far as Israel was concerned, the U.N. rights office 鈥渉as lost all credibility.鈥� It alluded to longtime allegations 鈥� backed often by the United States 鈥� of unfair bias against Israel and a relative disregard of other human rights situations around the world.
鈥淚t does not function as an impartial and neutral human rights office, but as the epicenter of vile anti-Israel activism,鈥� the mission said in a statement, blasting a 鈥淯.N. anti-Israel narrative machine鈥� that has produced several reports about Israeli settlements in recent months.
鈥淚t begs the question how it is possible for the Office to fund such duplicity, while other human rights situations remain sidelined,鈥� it added.
Sunghay said Israeli security forces 鈥渉ave continued to kill Palestinians with impunity,鈥� have launched daily raids across the West Bank, and increased movement restrictions in the territory that have impeded access to health care, jobs, education and other basic services.
鈥淵et Israeli settlers are roaming free with complete impunity, often armed, forcing Palestinian family after Palestinian family off their lands,” Sunghay said.
T眉rk, in a statement, alleged that Israeli authorities were 鈥減laying the central role in directing, participating in or enabling this conduct,鈥� and the report denounced harassment, intimidation and destruction of farmland and homes of Palestinians.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in Geneva didn’t immediately comment.
Much of the displacement of thousands has taken place in the northern West Bank, where Israel launched a broad military offensive in early 2025. Israel’s government says the operation is aimed at stamping out militant groups active in the area.
The report says the displacement “appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.鈥�
At the same time, Israel’s hard-line government has pressed ahead with an across the West Bank. The international community overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal, though the Trump administration has been more tolerant of the construction. Israel’s government is dominated by settler leaders and their political allies.
The rights office, which falls under the secretariat of U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres, said that Israeli authorities approved or moved forward on nearly 37,000 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem and more than 27,000 elsewhere in the West Bank.
T眉rk called for an immediate halt to the settlements and a reversal of their impact, along with the evacuation of all settlers and 鈥渁n end to the occupation of the Palestinian territory.鈥�
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, but Palestinians and human rights groups say the Israeli army has done little to prevent the attacks and note that settlers are rarely .
Earlier this month, three Palestinians were killed in a violent clash with settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah, and in a rare rebuke, the Israeli military strongly condemned the settler violence.
While outside the period covered by the U.N. report, the Palestinian Authority accused and the lack of international attention to issues in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence and forced displacement.
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