Since the beginning of 2023, more than 200 Palestinians and nearly 30 Israelis have been killed in the occupied West Bank and Israel, according to a senior official of the United Nations Middle East.
During his speech at the UN Security Council held on Monday, 21 August, Tor Wennesland, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said, "The current level of violence surpassed last year's entire death toll and the highest number of fatalities since 2005."
"The unprecedented escalating violence is being fuelled by growing despair about the future among Palestinians and a lack of progress toward achieving an independent state," he added.
"Every single day, Palestinians and Israeli are killed and injured amid lack of progress towards a political horizon which addressed the core issues driving the conflict has left a dangerous and volatile vacuum, filled by extremists on all sides," Wennesland told the UN Security Council.
While Israelis and Palestinians have taken some actions towards "stabilising" the current situation, Wennesland said unilateral steps have continued to heighten hostilities.
He pointed out the illegal Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian Territories, including expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, Israel's ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes, military operations by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank areas under Palestinian administrative and police control and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages, have "complicated the situation in the territory."
He stressed that "Palestinian militant activities" have been increasing due to the economic crises that hit the official institutions of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority.
To curb the current violence, according to the UN official, "We [the international community] must urgently focus on addressing the most critical issues and on de-escalating the situation on the ground; we cannot ignore the need to restore a political horizon."