“An International Protection Presence in West Bank/east Jerusalem and Gaza is absolutely URGENT,” Albanese wrote in a post on X on Monday.

“Third states have an obligation, per the ICJ, to act to end Israel’s unlawful occupation,” she said, using the acronym for the Hague-based International Court of Justice.

Albanese also called on the offices of the UN secretary general and the General Assembly to help overcome the “paralysis” of the organization’s Security Council, where the US has vetoed a number of resolutions critical of the Israeli regime.

The UN and most of the international community consider Israeli regime settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, although the Israeli regime disputes this.

The settlements are also widely viewed as an obstacle to establishing a viable Palestinian state.

In 2024, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion saying the Israeli regime should end its occupation of Palestinian territory “as rapidly as possible.”

Meanwhile, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, on Sunday condemned the Israeli regime’s plan to build more than 1,200 housing units under the E1 settlement project.

Kallas said the project would “divide the West Bank in two, isolating East Al-Quds, and further eroding the viability of a two-state solution.”

The occupied West Bank has witnessed a surge in Israeli occupier attacks and military raids since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, amid Palestinian and international warnings over the consequences of the continued escalation.

Since then, more Israeli regime outposts have been approved in the West Bank, with far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich hailing the expansion as “a revolution” in settlement expansion.

At the same time, settler violence against Palestinians has surged.

There were around 190 attacks against Palestinians per month during the first months of 2026, according to UN data cited by The Guardian.

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and another wounded by gunfire on Friday during an altercation with settlers.