The West Bank has seen a sharp rise in Palestinian deaths and displacement in recent years, with new analysis indicating the period since 2023 is among the deadliest in decades, according to humanitarian data compiled by aid groups and UN records.
An analysis published by the international aid organization Oxfam International, drawing on figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, found that 1,244 Palestinians, including 268 children, were killed in the occupied West Bank between 2023 and the end of 2025. That figure exceeds the 1,036 Palestinians, including 225 children, killed from 2006 through 2022.
Oxfam described the trend as a steep escalation in civilian harm at a time when global attention has largely focused on Gaza. Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s humanitarian policy lead, called the rising death toll “tragic and horrifying,” saying violence in the West Bank has intensified in parallel with the broader conflict.
The report also documented a major surge in displacement. Nearly 46,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes in the West Bank over the past three years due to military operations, settler-related violence, home demolitions and movement restrictions. That compares with just over 13,000 displaced in the previous 14 years combined, according to the analysis.
Oxfam said movement across the territory has become increasingly constrained, with 925 barriers now restricting travel throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The group added that more than one in five Palestinians killed over the two decades covered by its data were children.
In early 2026 alone, the organization reported more than 540 settler attacks, along with 33 Palestinians killed and more than 2,200 displaced.
The findings come amid broader tensions following the war in Gaza that began in October 2023.
Palestinian officials say measures in the West Bank have intensified since then, including settlement expansion, demolitions and forced displacement.
About 500,000 Israeli settlers live in West Bank settlements, along with another 250,000 in East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli monitoring group Peace Now.
Palestinian authorities say at least 1,169 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, with more than 12,600 injured and around 23,000 detained.
In July, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful and calling for the evacuation of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
