UN Officials Warn West Bank on Brink of Destruction

Israel destroys Palestinian buildings in the West Bank. (Source: WAFA)

JAKARTA - Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov on Tuesday warned, "The West Bank is on the verge of destruction."

Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, Alakbarov said that as of August 10, 76 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank in 2026, including 18 minors.

Meanwhile, throughout 2026, around 3,800 Palestinians - almost half of them children - have been displaced due to violence by Israeli settlers, demolition of buildings and evictions.

"Violence by settlers has reached unprecedented levels," he said, noting that the United Nations has documented more than 1,430 incidents this year affecting some 260 Palestinian communities, launching WAFA (12/8).

"The pattern is clear," he said, adding that Palestinians were forced to flee from various areas in the West Bank, before settlers took over the abandoned land.

He noted that attacks by Israeli settlers, which were previously concentrated in Area C, are now increasingly reported to occur in Area B and even Area A.

The UN Security Council held this session - the second in two weeks amid escalating violence affecting Palestinians in the West Bank - at the request of European Council members, with the support of Bahrain, China, Pakistan, and the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hannan Sulieman told the story of an elderly woman in the West Bank who was afraid to leave her house after a grenade was thrown into her kitchen while her grandchildren were inside.

"The fundamental spaces for childhood - homes, classrooms, streets, and communities - are becoming unsafe places," he warned.

Between January 2024 and July 2026, 174 Palestinian children were verified to have died as a result of the conflict in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to UN data "more than one child every week," he said as a picture of the situation.

More than 1,500 children were injured, almost half of them from live ammunition. In the same period, 3 Israeli children were killed and 15 others were injured.

He also revealed that 355 Palestinian children from the West Bank are being held in Israeli military detention "the highest number in eight years".

Sulieman urged the UN Security Council to protect children, stop the forced expulsion of Palestinian families, protect access to education and health services, and ensure the smooth operation of humanitarian operations.

"Children in the West Bank have the same rights as children everywhere," he said.

"The right to live, learn, be protected, and imagine a future free from violence and fear," said Sulieman.