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The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep concern over escalating violence in the occupied West Bank as Israel imposed sweeping restrictions following a deadly attack on its soldiers in Hebron.
The UN said on Friday it was “extremely alarmed” by the worsening situation, including movement restrictions, reports of home demolitions and the possible displacement of Palestinians in Hebron.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and at least five others injured when gunmen opened fire near a military checkpoint outside Hebron, according to news reports. The two Palestinian attackers were also killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Hebron sealed off and pledged house-to-house raids and home demolitions. He also reportedly threatened a wider assault on a scale not seen since the Six-Day War. This was the fourth time in a month that Israel had imposed restrictions across the occupied West Bank.
Speaking at the UN’s noon briefing in New York, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Guterres was deeply concerned about the closures and reports of demolitions and possible displacement.
“Those closures severely restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement, access to basic services and livelihoods,” Dujarric said.
Record settler violence
Guterres condemned what he described as violence arising from record numbers of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2026. He recalled Israel’s obligation, as the occupying power, to protect the Palestinian population from such attacks and hold those responsible accountable.
Mayy El Sheikh, spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described the lockdown as “yet another episode in a never-ending stream of suffocating measures making life more and more unbearable for Palestinians”.
She said the restrictions followed a pattern of collective punishment imposed whenever Palestinians carried out attacks against Israeli settlers or soldiers. Similar incidents had previously been followed by lockdowns, intensified raids and arbitrary detentions, she added.
Hebron’s entrances and exits were closed after Friday’s attack, while the Ibrahimi Mosque was also shut, preventing worshippers from attending Friday prayers, El Sheikh said.
The restrictions come at the height of the olive harvest, a crucial period for Palestinian farmers.
“Israeli movement restrictions are already preventing thousands of Palestinian farmers from reaching their olives for the harvest,” El Sheikh said. “This is bound to have devastating effects on the season.”
OHCHR has documented more than 160 attacks by Israeli settlers during the first two weeks of October alone. The incidents involved live ammunition, arson, crop theft and damage to olive groves.
Settlers also targeted European Union diplomats, while a Washington Post photojournalist was badly assaulted by masked settlers a week earlier while covering the olive harvest near Ramallah.
Guterres also remained deeply concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza, including children, and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid as winter approaches.
He called on all parties “to immediately cease all acts of violence, to exercise restraint and refrain from action that could further inflame tensions”. Source: UN News
