Yasin Gungor
19 August 2026•Update: 19 August 2026
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "deep alarm" over reports of new illegal Israeli settlement outposts and tenders in the occupied West Bank.
"The secretary-general is deeply alarmed by reports of new illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, including new tenders, including for the E1 area,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.
Dujarric warned that expanding settlements in the E1 sector would effectively "sever the connection between the northern and the southern West Bank," posing an "existential threat" to the two-state solution and the territorial integrity of Palestinian lands.
Guterres urges Israel to refrain from further expansion and adhere to international law in line with relevant United Nations resolutions and a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion, said Dujarric.
Dujarric also issued a sharp rebuke of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently called for "targeted killings" in Gaza to eliminate "30 or 40" people at a time. “These remarks are appalling, they're outrageous, they are dehumanizing, and they're dangerous, and we condemn them unequivocally,” Dujarric said.
The warning follows a recent military order by Israeli authorities to seize approximately 284 acres (1,152 dunams) of Palestinian land, designating it as “state property.”
The occupied West Bank has seen continued attacks by Israeli occupiers and the military since the Gaza war, alongside the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, the construction of settlement roads and increased restrictions on Palestinian movement.
Earlier this month, the UN warned that violence by occupiers had reached unprecedented levels, reporting more than 1,430 attacks on Palestinians and their property since the start of 2026.
