AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Al-Masirah network reported that the scope of Palestinian displacement in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem is expanding at an accelerating pace in 2026.
This situation has taken shape in the shadow of increased demolition operations, Zionist settler attacks, and restrictions imposed on Palestinians' access to their lands and livelihood resources, and UN data confirms that this phenomenon has become one of the main drivers of the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank.
According to the latest data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 4,300 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of this year due to home demolitions, forced evictions, Zionist settler attacks, and restrictions related to access and movement, indicating an acceleration in the process of Palestinian displacement from their residential areas.
A notable point in the UN statistics is that Zionist settler attacks and related access restrictions have become the largest driver of displacement in the West Bank this year, constituting about 60 percent of the total recorded displacement cases.
Official data shows that Zionist regime authorities have demolished about 1,164 Palestinian buildings since the beginning of 2026 under the pretext of lacking construction permits, which has led to the displacement of more than 1,500 Palestinians. Demolition operations with various reasons raise the number of Palestinians who have lost their homes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, due to the demolition of their houses, to more than 1,600 since the beginning of the year.
Unprecedented Acceleration of Displacement Compared to Previous Years
A temporal comparison shows the clear acceleration of this phenomenon. In early September, the number of displaced persons since the beginning of the year had exceeded 3,960 Palestinians, indicating a daily average of more than 16 people; this figure is nearly double the daily average recorded between 2023 and 2025.
Alongside home demolitions, the West Bank is witnessing an unprecedented increase in the pace of Zionist settler attacks and their geographical expansion.
Until September 14, international bodies have recorded more than 1,600 settler attacks that have led to the wounding of Palestinians, damage to their property, or both; an average of 6.7 attacks per day, compared to five daily attacks in 2025 and about 1.5 daily attacks in 2021.
Other attacks are not limited to geographical hotspots, and this year they have encompassed 275 Palestinian communities; a figure that has approached the total number of targeted communities in all of 2025, which was 279 communities, and is the highest annual figure recorded since documentation began in 2006.
This comparison shows that the scope of recorded attacks in less than 9 months of 2026 is close to the total of a full year that was previously the highest figure in documentation history.
The consequences of settler attacks are not limited to the wounding of individuals or the destruction of property, and this year more than 2,600 Palestinians have been displaced during these attacks and restrictions related to access, making these attacks the primary cause of displacement in the West Bank in 2026.
These repeated attacks and movement restrictions leave accumulated effects on targeted communities, including their long-term isolation and the reduction of residents' ability to access homes, agricultural lands, water resources, and basic services including health and education.
As the time frame expands, the picture becomes clearer. From January 2023 to the end of last August, 130 Palestinian communities have been completely or partially displaced due to settler attacks and related restrictions, with 48 communities completely evacuated and 12 of them occurring only this year.
In the same period, the number of displaced persons in this context has exceeded 6,400 Palestinians, more than 3,100 of whom have been children, and this phenomenon is particularly concentrated in Bedouin and herding communities located in the so-called "Area C."
In East Jerusalem as well, the demolition of Palestinian homes and buildings continues. In the period from September 8 to 14, three families were displaced following the demolition of their homes in Jabal al-Mukaber and Silwan.
In the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan, the Zionist regime's municipality, accompanied by the regime's army forces, demolished a residential building that led to the displacement of two families with ten people.
About 1,500 Palestinians live in this neighborhood, and the settlement plan for the construction of a park has made the demolition of dozens of Palestinian residential units necessary.
Overall, with more than 4,300 displaced persons, 1,164 buildings demolished under the pretext of permits, more than 1,600 settler attacks, and 275 targeted communities, the data paints a picture of a year that has witnessed a sharp increase in the displacement rate and the rapid geographical expansion of settler and Zionist regime forces' aggressions in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
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