OCHA reports that at least 694 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from the West Bank in January, the highest monthly total since October 2023. The evacuation of Ras Ein al-Auja — around 130 families (roughly 600 people) — accounted for the majority of the rise. Settler violence is now identified as a principal driver of displacement, while an additional 182 people were displaced due to demolitions. Humanitarian groups warn of growing impunity and underreported crisis in the West Bank.
UN: Settler Violence Forced Nearly 700 Palestinians From West Bank Homes In January
Palestinian residents of the Ras Ein al-Auja village, in the West Bank, pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence on January 16, 2026 [Mahmoud Illean/AP]
Israeli settler attacks and sustained harassment across the occupied West Bank forced at least 694 Palestinians from their homes in January, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. This is the highest monthly total since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023.
Major Evacuation in Jordan Valley
The surge was driven largely by the near-total evacuation of the Ras Ein al-Auja herding community in the Jordan Valley. According to OCHA, roughly 130 families — about 600 people — left after months of intimidation and harassment.
"[The displacements] include 600 displaced from Ras Ein al-Auja community, marking the highest single-community displacement due to settler attacks and access restrictions over the past three years," OCHA said in its late-January statement.
Settler Violence and Other Drivers
OCHA identified settler violence as a primary driver of forced displacement across the West Bank in January. Separately, Israeli forces’ demolitions also contributed: the agency recorded 182 people displaced in January because of home demolitions or structures declared unauthorized.
The West Bank Protection Consortium and other NGOs say settlers often use tactics such as moving herds onto Palestinian farmland, destroying property and olive groves, and carrying out direct assaults to pressure communities to leave. A 2025 report by Israeli NGO Peace Now documented patterns of harassment and access denial tied to settlement expansion.
Allegra Pacheco, director of the West Bank Protection Consortium, said: "No one is putting the pressure on Israel or on the Israeli authorities to stop this and so the settlers feel it; they feel the complete impunity that they’re just free to continue to do this." She warned international focus on Gaza has left the West Bank underreported.
Context and Numbers
OCHA noted that January 2026 represents the second-highest single-month displacement total since the October 2023 peak of 1,032 people. Excluding occupied East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts considered illegal under international law. Approximately three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank.
On a separate incident, settlers reportedly launched a dawn attack on the Bedouin community of Shakara, south of Nablus, entering homes and assaulting residents.
OCHA and humanitarian groups continue to warn that rising settler violence, combined with demolitions and military operations, is increasing the risk of long-term displacement for vulnerable West Bank communities.
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