Settler violence stokes peak West Bank displacement since October 2023: UN

January’s displacement numbers are particularly high in part due to the forced removal of an entire herding community in the Jordan Valley, OCHA says.Published On 6 Feb 2026Israeli settler violence and harassment in the occupied West Bank have displaced nearly 700 Palestinians in January, the highest number since Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, according to the United Nations.At least 694 Palestinians were forcefully driven from their homes last month, according to a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Amnesty demands Israel drop death penalty bills ‘entrenching apartheid’list 2 of 4Israel orders eviction of Bedouins as settlers target West Bank schoolslist 3 of 4Israel raids several occupied West Bank towns after killing Hebron youthlist 4 of 4Israeli settler violence displaces Palestinians across occupied West Bankend of listThe office also said in late January that settler violence has become a key driver of forced displacement in the occupied West Bank.January’s displacement numbers were particularly high in part due to the displacement of an entire herding community in the Jordan Valley, Ras Ein al-Auja, whose 130 families left after months of sustained harassment.“[The displacements] include 600 displaced from Ras Ein al-Auja community, marking the highest single-community displacement due to settler attacks and access restrictions over the past three years,” the statement said.It also said that January 2026 marks the second-highest single‑month displacement since the October 2023 peak at 1,032.On Friday, settlers attacked the Bedouin community of Shakara, south of Nablus, at dawn. They assaulted residents in their homes.Settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has illegally occupied since 1967, use herding to establish a presence on agricultural land used by Palestinian communities and gradually deny them access to these areas, according to a 2025 report by Israeli NGO Peace Now.