UN Secretary-General and human rights office condemn Israeli closures of West Bank after Hebron attack

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and the UN human rights office criticised Israel’s sweeping closures in the occupied West Bank on Friday. Israel imposed them after an attack on its soldiers in Hebron. The items supplied for this report come from UN News, the UN’s own news service, so the UN is relaying its own statements here.

UN News reported that the UN said it was “extremely alarmed” by intensifying violence in the territory. According to news reports cited by UN News, two Israeli soldiers were killed and at least five were injured when gunmen opened fire near a military checkpoint outside Hebron. The two Palestinian attackers were also killed.

UN News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Hebron sealed and pledged house-to-house raids and home demolitions. It said he reportedly threatened a wider assault on a scale not seen since the Six-Day War. UN News described this as the fourth time in a month that Israel has imposed restrictions across the territory.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric spoke at the noon briefing in New York. He said Mr. Guterres was deeply concerned by the closures and by reports of home demolitions and possible displacement in Hebron. “Those closures severely restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement, access to basic services and livelihoods,” Mr. Dujarric said.

Mr. Guterres also condemned “the violence caused by record numbers of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2026”. He recalled Israel’s obligation as the occupying power “to protect the Palestinian population from such attacks and to hold perpetrators to account”. He called on all parties “to immediately cease all acts of violence, to exercise restraint and refrain from action that could further inflame tensions”. He also remained deeply concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza, including children, and severe aid restrictions ahead of winter.

Mayy El Sheikh is spokesperson in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, known as OHCHR. She said the lockdown was “yet another episode in a never-ending stream of suffocating measures making life more and more unbearable for Palestinians”. She added: “It follows a pattern of collective punishment whenever Palestinians commit acts of violence against Israeli settlers or soldiers.” She said similar incidents had previously brought lockdowns, intensified raids and arbitrary detentions.

Ms. El Sheikh said Hebron’s entrances and exits were closed after Friday’s attack. She said the Ibrahimi Mosque was shut, so worshippers could not perform Friday prayers.

The closure comes at the height of the olive harvest. “Israeli movement restrictions are already preventing thousands of Palestinian farmers from reaching their olives for the harvest,” Ms. El Sheikh said. “This is bound to have devastating effects on the season.”

OHCHR has documented more than 160 settler attacks in the first two weeks of October alone. It said they involved live ammunition, arson, crop theft and damage to olive groves. UN News reported that settlers also targeted European Union diplomats, and that masked settlers badly assaulted a Washington Post photojournalist while she covered the harvest near Ramallah.

The sources contain no statement from the Israeli government beyond the actions attributed to Mr. Netanyahu. They also report no action by the Security Council. The Arabic-language item attributes the Hebron attack to Palestinian gunmen and gives no figure for the dead or injured. The Chinese-language item carried only a summary.