Humanitarian Situation Update #195 | 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 26 July. 

Key Highlights

• On 19 July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its Advisory Opinion regarding the legal consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, concluding, inter alia, that Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible.  
• An Israeli drone strike killed five Palestinians, including two women, in Tulkarm Refugee Camp and Tulkarm city on 22 July. 
• Since 7 October 2023, 22 per cent (124) of Palestinians killed in the West Bank were in Tulkarm governorate, including 115 during Israeli forces’ operations and 39 by airstrikes.  

Latest developments (after 22 July)

• On 23 July, initial reports indicate Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men and arrested two others in Sa’ir village, north of Hebron city. During the operation, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and teargas canisters. 
• According to initial media reports, on 24 July, two Palestinian men were reportedly killed, one in Tubas and another during the punitive demolition of a house in Qalandiya Refugee Camp. Another Palestinian died of wounds sustained during an operation by Israeli forces in Tulkarm city on 23 July.  
• Initial reports indicate that Israeli forces re-entered Tulkarm city and Tulkarm Refugee Camp on the evening of 23 July. This follows an operation that took place on 22 July where five Palestinians were killed. Footage taken at the scene shows that an injured Palestinian was tied to the front of an Israeli army jeep as it drove through the streets. 

Humanitarian Developments (16-22 July) 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in the West Bank, including five during an operation in Tulkarm Refugee Camp. Seventeen Palestinians were injured in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, and one Israeli soldier was injured by a Palestinian. Three Israeli settlers were mistakenly injured by Israeli forces. On 14 July, a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem rammed and injured four Israeli soldiers at Nir Tzvi junction, in Israel, before being shot and injured by Israeli forces; his family was informed of his death on 16 July. On 19 July, an 18-year-old Palestinian from Arraba town, southwest of Jenin city, succumbed to wounds sustained on 13 January when he was shot by Israeli forces in Ya’bad village, Jenin.  
• Since 7 October 2023, 22 per cent (124) of Palestinians killed in the West Bank have taken place in Tulkarm governorate. These include 115 killed during Israeli forces’ operations in the area and 39 killed as a result of airstrikes. This is over ten times the number of Palestinians killed in Tulkarm between 1 January 2023 and 6 October 2023, during which nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and two by settlers. 
• 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 (Ramallah). The man was reportedly shot and taken by Israeli forces, who handed over his corpse to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) at the Beit El DCO checkpoint two hours later. According to the Israeli military, the man stabbed and injured an Israeli soldier before he was shot, a claim that is disputed by local community sources. 
• On 16 July, Israeli forces shot and injured one Palestinian and physically assaulted another in Balata Refugee Camp (Nablus). According to the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO), undercover Israeli forces raided the camp and besieged a house from which one Palestinian was arrested. Reportedly, Israeli forces and Palestinians exchanged fire during the operation. Medical sources reported that they transported both injured people to a nearby hospital. 
• On 16 July, near the Beit El (DCO) checkpoint (Ramallah), according to Israeli media, three Israeli settlers were injured when Israeli forces mistakenly identified them as Palestinian suspects and shot at their vehicle. 
• On 19 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian during a search-and-arrest operation in Beit Ummar (Hebron). Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces who shot live bullets, teargas canisters and stun grenades. 
• On 22 July, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including at least two women, in drone strikes during an operation in Tulkarm city and Tulkarm Refugee Camp. According to the Palestinian DCO, Israeli forces withheld the bodies of four of the fatalities. The operation lasted about 15 hours, where Israeli forces and Palestinians exchanged fire and Palestinians reportedly detonated explosive devices. Significant damage was reported to multiple road sections in and around the refugee camp and Tulkarm city. The refugee camp and several city neighbourhoods experienced disruptions in water, electricity, and internet services. Medical sources confirmed the injuries of seven Palestinians, three by live ammunition, and four due to missile shrapnel. The Israeli military stated that its forces had targeted Palestinian fighters. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 22 July 2024, 563 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 548 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 five Palestinian perpetrators. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 22 July 2024, OCHA recorded 1,143 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 108 resulted in casualties, 916 resulted in damage to Palestinian property, and 119 resulted in both casualties and property damage. During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 29 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in two injuries and damage to property. In addition, two foreign nationals were injured by settlers in the same period. The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:  
  • On 16 July, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian farmer in the village of Beit Dajan, Nablus. According to the village council and the affected Palestinian, the attack was carried out by two armed settlers who took the Palestinian’s bulldozer at gunpoint while he was working on a piece of land between Area B and Area C. Subsequently, people in army uniforms, believed to be settlers, arrived and blindfolded the Palestinian, and took him away in a civilian vehicle for about an hour, before he was transferred to a military jeep and returned to the village. 
  • On 17 July, people believed to be Israeli settlers hammered metal nails on a road connecting Turmus'ayya and Al Mughayyir village (Ramallah), causing damage to at least one vehicle. Local community sources stated that these nails punctured the tyres of a Palestinian farmer’s vehicle on his way to his agricultural land that had recently been burnt by Israeli settlers. The next day, Israelis believed to be from the Adei Ad and other nearby settlement outposts stole material from a Palestinian factory in Area B of Turmus'ayya (Ramallah). According to video footage, Israeli settlers used a bulldozer and a truck to break into the factory. Notably, the area has been inaccessible to Palestinians due to closures imposed by Israeli forces since 7 October 2023. 
  • On 20 July, Israeli settlers set their dogs on a 15-year-old Palestinian child, stole a vehicle and set it on fire near Ni’lin (Ramallah) governorate. According to local community sources, a group of three armed Israeli settlers and their dogs harassed Palestinians collecting scrap metal in the area. They set their dogs on the Palestinian boy and threatened him with their guns while he was driving a vehicle. The boy fled and abandoned the car, at which point the settlers stole it and set it on fire in a Palestinian olive grove north of Ni'lin. No injuries were reported. 
  • On 20 July, armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Peduel reportedly stole about 25 sheep from a Palestinian shepherd's herd, as reported by the mayor of Kafr ad Dik, the shepherd, and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.  
  • On 21 July, Israeli settlers believed to be from Esh Kodesh settlement attacked a group of Palestinians, Israelis and foreign national activists, injuring two foreign nationals in Qusra (Nablus). Video footage shows one of the Israeli settlers shouting at the activists to leave the area, just moments before another settler arrived and began assaulting them with sticks, stones and metal bars. The injured activists sustained wounds and were evacuated to hospital. 
• Between 16 and 22 July, the Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of 48 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. These include 45 structures in Area C and three in East Jerusalem. As a result, 57 Palestinians, including 29 children, were displaced and about 180 people were otherwise affected, including 88 children. In Al Walaja village (Bethlehem), Israeli authorities demolished five residential structures lacking a budling permit, displacing five families comprising 39 people, including 22 children. In Anata town and adjacent Bedouin communities, Israeli forces demolished 33 structures in one incident, displacing 18 people, including eight children. Eighteen people, including ten children, were displaced in the Wadi al Joz area of East Jerusalem when a three-story building was demolished. Between 1 January and 22 July, 665 structures were demolished and 811 were displaced for lacking Israeli-issued building permits in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, compared with 504 structures demolished and 609 people displaced in the corresponding period in 2023. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 22 July 2024, Israeli authorities demolished, sealed, confiscated or forced the demolition of 1,247 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, of which 39 per cent (481 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,836 people, including 1,245 children, were displaced. About half of those displaced (1,433) had their homes destroyed during operations carried out by Israeli forces, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm cities and the surrounding refugee camps; 43 per cent (1,233 people) were displaced due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and six per cent (170) were displaced by punitive demolitions. 

Other Developments

• On 19 July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its Advisory Opinion regarding the legal consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem. The Court responded to questions posed by the General Assembly by concluding, inter alia, that Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible; Israel must cease immediately all new settlement activities; and Israel’s legislation and measures to maintain a near-complete separation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between the settler and Palestinian communities constitute a breach of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (art. 3). Moreover, all States and international organizations, such as the UN, are under an obligation not to recognize the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the OPT, and the UN, especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider the precise modalities and further action required to bring to an end as rapidly as possible the unlawful presence of Israel in the OPT. The Secretary-General is promptly transmitting the Advisory Opinion to the General Assembly for it to decide how to proceed in this matter. The ICJ’s Press Release on the decision is available here, and a summary of the decision is available here.  

Funding 

• As of 23 July, Member States have disbursed about US$1.45 billion out of $3.42 billion (42 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​​​​​​​ here. Private donations are collected directly through the oPt HF.