US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the threat of ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank is growing, raising the alarm over Israeli settlement expansion, escalating settler violence, and the forced displacement of Palestinians.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Cairo following their talk, Guterres expressed deep concern over Israeli settlement expansion, forced evictions, the displacement of Palestinians, and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
“We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the specter of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger. This must end,” Guterres said.
Guterres also condemned the ongoing displacement of Palestinians and the rise in settler violence across the occupied West Bank.
“Evictions are unrelenting, with Palestinians driven from their lands. Settler violence is surging,” he said.
Guterres stressed that lasting peace in West Asia could not be achieved without recognizing the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination.
The warning came as the UN raised serious concerns over Israel’s military aggression in al-Khalil, the largest city in the occupied Palestinian territory, where thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes.
According to a statement by the al-Khalil municipality, 3,189 people have been displaced by the ongoing aggression, which followed a Friday attack in which two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city. The two gunmen were subsequently killed in a shootout.
Israeli forces entered Ein Deir Baha, the neighborhood where the attackers lived, and ordered residents to leave their homes.
Guterres commended Egypt’s role in mediating efforts and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling for the removal of Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries and obstacles hindering the implementation of the UN Security Council-endorsed comprehensive plan to end the aggression.
He also stressed the need to safeguard civilians, uphold international law and ensure continued support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), describing its role in assisting Palestinian refugees as indispensable.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Israel’s aggressive operation has resulted in the forcible displacement of thousands of Palestinians, the demolition of homes and commercial properties, and restrictions on residents’ freedom of movement.
“The sweeping steps taken raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, which must end,” Turk said.
He added that the lockdown has confined many Palestinians to their homes and immediate neighborhoods, while statements by senior Israeli officials suggested that the measures were punitive and intended to instill fear.
“Those who have been displaced must be allowed to return home,” Turk said, calling on Israel to ensure compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions, demolitions, and related displacement.
He also warned that collective punishment constituted a grave violation of international law.
“Threats to empty and erase entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing,” Turk said.
Israel has recently approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the number of settlements legalized or approved over the past three years to sixty-nine.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Violence has surged across the region since the regime’s genocidal war began against the people of Gaza in October 2023.
In the last two years, nearly 1,102 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, and nearly 11,000 others have been injured in attacks by the Israeli military and settlers.
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