Humanitarian Situation Update #192 | West Bank

The Humanitarian Situation Update is issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory three times per week. The Gaza Strip is covered on Mondays and Fridays, and the West Bank is covered on Wednesdays. The next update will be issued on 19 July.  

Key Highlights

• Israeli forces kill two Palestinian children in the West Bank.  
• More than 600 structures have been demolished in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2024 due to the lack of building permits, displacing more than 750 people. 
• An Israeli court ruling rejects the appeal of 11 Palestinian families against eviction from their homes in East Jerusalem, placing 66 people at risk of displacement.  
• Dozens of residential buildings and commercial stores as well as sewage and water networks were damaged by military bulldozers during an operation by Israeli forces in Nur Shams Refugee Camp, a UN-led inter-cluster assessment mission finds. 

Latest developments (after 15 July)

• After midnight on 16 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man, originally from Gaza, during a raid into money exchange shops and stores selling agricultural fertilizers in Al Bireh city. The man was reportedly shot and arrested before Israeli forces handed over his corpse to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) at the Beit El DCO checkpoint. According to the Israeli military, the man stabbed and slightly injured an Israeli soldier before he was shot, a claim that was refuted by local community sources.  
• On 16 July, according to Israeli media, three Israeli settlers were injured when Israeli forces mistakenly shot at their vehicle near Beit El checkpoint in Ramallah. 
• On the morning of 16 July, Israeli forces closed all checkpoints between Nablus and Tulkarm cities in the northern West Bank for about two hours, following a shooting incident at Israeli vehicles travelling near Ramin village and Shavei Shomron settlement, east of Tulkarm. According to Israeli media sources, three Israeli settlers sustained glass shrapnel injuries. Subsequently, Israeli forces carried out a search operation in Ramin village.  

Humanitarian Developments (9-15 July) 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including two children, during search-and-arrest operations in Jenin and Ramallah governorates. Thirty-seven Palestinians, including 13 children, were also injured in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, and four Israeli soldiers were injured by a Palestinian man in Israel.  
  • On 9 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child at the entrance to the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, west of Ramallah, near Road 465. The child was reportedly playing with two other children when three Israeli soldiers travelling in a civilian vehicle fired live ammunition toward them. Community members indicated that Israeli forces, and settlers who arrived at the scene, prevented them from reaching the child, who was left bleeding on the ground for about 15-20 minutes before an ambulance could reach him.  
  • On 11 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child during a search-and-arrest operation in Meithalun village, south of Jenin, and injured five other children, all by live ammunition. During the operation, clashes were reported between Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli forces.  
  • On 12 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian man with live ammunition during a search operation in Abwein village, in Ramallah. Clashes were reported between Israeli forces who fired live ammunition, gas canisters, and sound bombs and Palestinian stone throwers.  
  • On 14 July, four Israeli soldiers were injured in Nir Zevi junction near Ramle city in Israel during a ramming attack carried out by a 27-year-old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem. The Palestinian man was shot by Israeli forces at the scene and his family was officially informed about his death on 16 July. Israeli forces subsequently raided the man’s home in Ar Ram town, north of Jerusalem, arrested his parents and two brothers, and fired teargas canisters toward Palestinians and properties in the area, setting a Palestinian vehicle ablaze. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 15 July 2024, 554 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in addition to two who died of wounds sustained prior to 7 October. These include 539 killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli forces or settlers. During the same period, 14 Israelis, including nine members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In Israel, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of eight Israelis and four Palestinian perpetrators. 
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 23 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in two injuries and damage to property. Between 7 October 2023 and 15 July 2024, OCHA recorded 1,122 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 105 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, 898 led to damage to Palestinian property, and 119 led to both casualties and property damage. The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:  
  • On 9 July, an Israeli settler believed to be from Talmon settlement was seen by residents of Al Janiya village, in Ramallah governorate, throwing a Molotov cocktail on agricultural land on the outskirts of the village, causing a huge fire. About 40 dunums of land planted with several types of trees were burnt. Residents reported that they used to cultivate olive, grape and almond trees in this area but it has been inaccessible to them since 7 October.  
  • On 10 July, Israeli settlers believed to be from a settlement outpost established on 18 June 2024 near Shilo settlement, in Ramallah governorate, burned down a farm-related structure and agricultural equipment in Area B of Khirbet Abu Falah village. Moreover, Israeli settlers broke into a nearby barracks and sprayed anti-Arab graffiti. Frequent attacks by settlers from the newly established outpost have been reported over the past month, including burning trees, destroying farming structures and taking over agricultural equipment belonging to the surrounding villages of Khirbet Abu Falah, Turmus'ayya and Al Mughayyir.  
  • A number of settler attacks during the reporting period affected several Bedouin and herding communities in the West Bank. On 10 July, a group of Israeli settlers believed to be from Tene settlement outpost cut approximately 1000 metres of water pipes, affecting one family in Khirbet ar Rahwa community in Hebron governorate. Two water pipes were similarly damaged by settlers on 11 July in Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja community, in Jericho governorate, affecting 10 families. In addition, seasonal crops were damaged by settlers who grazed their sheep on agricultural land in Mantiqat Shi’b al Butum (Hebron) and Kisan village (Bethlehem), and one camel was killed by live ammunition fired by settlers in Khashem ad Daraj community, in Hebron governorate. 
  • On 13 July, Israeli settlers reportedly from the Karnei Shomron settlement attacked and injured a Palestinian woman near the village of Kafr Laqif, east of Qalqiliya. According to the injured woman, she and her husband were in their car near the village when a group of Israeli settlers standing near Karnei Shomron roundabout began throwing stones at Palestinian cars. She was transported to hospital for treatment.  
• On 10 July, four Palestinian Bedouin families comprising 30 people, including 21 children, were forced to leave their primary place of residence near Sabastiya plain, northwest of Nablus city, due to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers believed to reside in a nearby outpost established in the immediate aftermath of 7 October. The most recent attack on this community took place on 9 July when Israeli settlers attacked with nail-studded sticks two young herders, one of whom lost his finger. Since 7 October, some 249 Palestinian households comprising 1,474 people, including 720 children, have been displaced in mostly herding communities amid settler violence and access restrictions.  
• Between 9 and 15 July, the Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of 42 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. These include 32 structures in Area C, nine in East Jerusalem, and one under-construction artesian well in Area A (in Tubas). As a result, 78 Palestinians, including 39 children, were displaced and around 60, including 22 children, were otherwise affected. Around 70 per cent of the displaced people (55) were recorded in East Jerusalem, the majority (39) in Al Walaja village in Bethlehem, where five homes located within the Israeli-defined municipal boundary of Jerusalem were demolished. In Hebron governorate, 17 people were displaced by the demolition of a four-storey building in Qalqas village. Between 1 January and 15 July, 615 structures were demolished and 755 were displaced for lacking Israeli-issued building permits in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, compared with 452 structures demolished and 568 people displaced in the corresponding period in 2023.  
• On 9 July, Israeli forces raided Nur Shams Refugee Camp (Tulkarm) with bulldozers, causing significant damage to essential infrastructure within and around the camp, including about 1,600 metres of sewage and water networks and resulting in disruptions of water, electricity, and internet services. During the 15-hour operation, sounds of exchanges of fire and detonations of explosive devices were reported. A UN-led inter-cluster assessment on 10 July found that 24 residential structures sustained severe damage and were rendered uninhabitable, displacing at least 36 families comprising 149 people. In addition, UNRWA is currently assessing the shelter needs of at least 150 families whose homes sustained minor to moderate damage. Dozens of livelihood structures and commercial stores also sustained moderate to severe damage. Rubble removal by Tulkarm Municipality to assess the full extent of infrastructural damage is ongoing.  
• Between 7 October and 15 July, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated or forced the demolition of 1,179 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, of which 40 per cent (474 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,756 people, including 1,113 children, were displaced. Almost half of those displaced (1,410) had their homes destroyed during military operations, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm cities and the surrounding refugee camps; 43 per cent (1,176 people) were displaced due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and six per cent (170) were displaced by punitive demolitions.  
• On 8 July, the Jerusalem District Court rejected appeals submitted by 11 Palestinian households in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem against eviction cases filed against them by a settler organization, placing 66 people at risk of displacement. The 11 families are among 97 families, comprising over 450 people, including about 200 children, who are at risk of forced displacement due to eviction cases filed against them by Ateret Cohanim settler organization in Batn al Hawa area of Silwan. In total, 217 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them in Israeli courts, the majority by settler organizations, placing at least 968 people, including 424 children, at risk of displacement.   

Funding 

• As of 17 July, Member States have disbursed about US$1.21 billion out of $3.42 billion (35 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million* people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. ((*2.3 million reflects the projected population of the Gaza Strip upon issuance of the Flash Appeal in April 2024. As of July 2024, the UN estimates that about 2.1 million people remain in the Gaza Strip and is using this updated number for programmatic purposes.) 
• The occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has 111 ongoing projects, for a total of $88 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and West Bank (11 per cent). Of the total, 63 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $112 million from Member States and private donors to support urgent humanitarian and life-saving programmes across the OPT. Of total funding, 89 per cent has been allocated to projects in Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities in June 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the oPt HF.