West Bank settler attacks exceed 2025 fatality total, UN says
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said July 25 that 18 Palestinians had been killed in incidents linked to Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank as of July 20, already exceeding the 17 fatalities recorded during all of 2025.
The finding comes in OCHA’s humanitarian situation report covering the West Bank from July 14 through July 20. It documents a pattern that extends beyond fatalities: injuries, displacement and damage to homes, water systems, electricity, schools, religious sites and livelihoods. The figures concern the West Bank and are separate from developments in Gaza.
Fatalities and injuries are rising
OCHA said 12 of the 18 deaths recorded in 2026 were attributed to Israeli settlers, three to Israeli forces and three involved responsibility that remained disputed between settlers and forces. Ten of the 18 deaths occurred in Ramallah governorate.
The agency also recorded more than 1,330 settler attacks that caused casualties, property damage or both across 250 Palestinian communities since the beginning of 2026. That works out to more than six documented incidents per day on average.
About 880 Palestinians were injured in the context of settler attacks during 2026, including approximately 720 injured by Israeli settlers, OCHA said. During the July 14–20 reporting period, about 36 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces or settlers, and more than 90% were injured in the context of settler attacks.
OCHA described two deadly incidents during that period. In Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men and injured two others during a settler attack, according to the report. In Al Mughayyir, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy died July 18 from wounds sustained six days earlier during an attack on a Palestinian home by Israeli settlers accompanied by Israeli forces.
Damage reaches homes, water and livelihoods
The effects extend beyond the casualty totals. OCHA documented attacks involving arson, vandalism, stone throwing and attempted break-ins that damaged Palestinian homes, a mosque, water infrastructure, a community dairy factory, a livelihood vehicle and a residential solar water-heating system.
In Jalud, settlers repeatedly damaged water pipelines, tanks and electricity cables near an under-construction Palestinian house that they had occupied, OCHA reported. Three neighboring households, totaling nine people, became increasingly isolated from the village center and essential services. By the end of the reporting period, the households had been without electricity for more than four days after efforts to coordinate repairs were unsuccessful.
OCHA said settler attacks and demolitions were constraining water and sanitation services across the West Bank. Water tanks accounted for more than half of about 160 water, sanitation and hygiene structures damaged, destroyed or seized in settler attacks since the beginning of 2026, while attacks on pipelines and networks disrupted supplies for entire communities.
The report said these losses increase reliance on emergency water trucking and make it harder for Bedouin and herding communities to maintain domestic and livestock water supplies.
Demolitions and attacks are displacing families
About 90 Palestinians were displaced during the July 14–20 reporting period through demolitions and settler attacks. Israeli authorities demolished 61 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, OCHA said. The demolitions displaced 79 people in Area C and five people in East Jerusalem.
The demolished structures included homes, latrines, livestock shelters, water tanks and other livelihood-related structures. Separately, a family of five left its home in Tell village after masked settlers set the house and nearby agricultural land on fire on July 18.
Earlier OCHA reporting, published July 10 and July 3, said more than 2,300 Palestinians had been displaced across the West Bank in 2026 because of settler attacks and related access restrictions as of July 6. That earlier figure should not be treated as the total through July 20; it provides dated context for the continuing displacement pattern.
Late-July mosque fires added to concern
Associated Press reporting published July 26 provided separate, independent context. AP reported that two mosques in the West Bank villages of Qusra and Kour were set on fire in apparent Israeli settler attacks during a weekend of violence that left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead.
AP reported that Israel’s military said it condemned attacks on religious sites and was working with police to investigate the mosque fires. The report also said Israeli forces detained more than 70 Palestinians during the weekend. Those incidents occurred after the July 14–20 period covered by OCHA and should not be added to the agency’s 18-fatality comparison.
The next developments to watch are whether violence continues at the current pace, whether investigations produce arrests or prosecutions, and whether affected communities receive protection and humanitarian assistance. For residents, the documented consequences already include lost shelter, disrupted water and electricity access, risks to schooling and livelihoods, and greater reliance on emergency support.
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