UN WARNS OF ALL-TIME HIGH IN ISRAELI SETTLER ATTACKS

The United Nations warned last week that attacks by Israeli settlers—often carried out alongside Israeli forces—and the creation of illegal settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank had reached an all-time high. The surge in activity comes as Israel prepares for parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel had approved the establishment of 104 illegal settlements and approximately 160 settlement farms in the West Bank since the current governing coalition came to power in 2022, according to Israeli media reports.

The escalation reflects efforts by Israel's right-wing political figures to entrench control over the West Bank before the election. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose Religious Zionist Party has pushed settlement expansion to the centre of Israeli political debate, faces uncertain prospects in opinion polls for meeting the electoral threshold for the post-election Knesset. During the current parliamentary term, Israel has shifted authority over settlements from military administration to civilian institutions, accelerated settlement planning and expanded infrastructure in the territory.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice ruled in a 2024 advisory opinion that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is itself illegal and places obligations on countries to take measures to end the occupation. Meanwhile, Labour Friends of Israel, a lobby group within the British Labour Party with more than 70 MP affiliates, published a policy briefing opposing a potential ban on imports of goods produced by Israeli settlements—a measure the British government is believed to be considering.