The UN chief’s report reveals a significant surge in Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, reaching the highest levels since 2017. Plans for around 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or tendered in 2025, a notable increase from approximately 26,170 units in 2024.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticized the ongoing expansion, denouncing it as “relentless” and warning of its detrimental impact on Palestinian land access and the prospects of a sovereign Palestinian State. The report highlighted a substantial rise in housing unit additions, averaging 12,815 annually between 2017 and 2022.
The West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem which was annexed by Israel in 1967, is home to roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers alongside approximately three million Palestinian residents. Following Israel’s conflict with Gaza, violence in the West Bank has escalated, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,022 Palestinians by Israeli troops or settlers since the conflict’s onset.