United Nations: Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank will peak in 2025
A recent United Nations report revealed that the pace of Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank reached unprecedented record levels during 2025, the highest since the international organization began systematically monitoring this issue in 2017. This data came within an official document prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and seen by Agence France-Presse, highlighting the accelerating pace of construction in the Palestinian territories in a manner that is alarming the international community.
In his report to the members of the UN Security Council, Guterres strongly condemned this ongoing expansion, describing it as a major obstacle to peace. The Secretary-General stated, “I condemn the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” He emphasized that these policies not only exacerbate tensions on the ground but also systematically prevent Palestinians from accessing their land and natural resources, thereby undermining the economic and social foundations of Palestinian society.
An existential threat to the two-state solution
These UN warnings are particularly significant given the political and geographical context of the conflict, where settlements are seen as the primary obstacle to a two-state solution. Guterres explained in his report that continued settlement construction directly threatens the possibility of an independent, democratic, geographically contiguous, and fully sovereign Palestinian state. The proliferation of settlements fragments the West Bank, turning Palestinian cities into isolated enclaves, thus rendering the concept of a contiguous state practically impossible.
Legal and international background
Legally, the international community, based on resolutions of international law and the Geneva Conventions, considers Israeli settlements established in the territories occupied in 1967 illegal. Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, is among the most prominent resolutions demanding that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. Despite these resolutions, the figures in the 2025 report indicate a continued disregard for international demands, which undermines the credibility of international law and further complicates the political landscape in the Middle East.
The Palestinian position and the repercussions of the escalation
On the Palestinian side, these reports were met with outright rejection and warnings of an explosion. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, emphasized that these decisions and settlement activities would not grant legitimacy or security to Israel. Abu Rudeineh held the Israeli government fully responsible for the serious repercussions of this systematic policy, which, he described as aiming to "ignite the region" and drag it into a cycle of violence and instability. This escalation of settlement activity further exacerbates popular discontent and closes the political horizon for any meaningful future negotiations.
