Humanitarian Situation Update #201 | 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 9 August.

Key Highlights

• Sixteen Palestinians, including two children, were killed by Israeli forces during the reporting period. Nine of these were from airstrikes.
• The number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by demolitions and confiscations has more than doubled since 7 October compared with the preceding 10 months (3,070 compared to 1,252).
• Since 7 October, about 181,000 people have been impacted at least once by 25 incidents involving demolitions and destruction of roads, water and sanitation facilities, and other public infrastructure, mainly during Israeli forces’ operations in Tulkarm and Jenin.
• More than 1,500 Palestinians are at risk of imminent displacement in the Al Bustan area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, the Norwegian Refugee Council warns.

Latest developments (after 5 August)

• Initial reports indicate that 13 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on 6 and 7 August. Israeli media indicate that Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man for allegedly stabbing a border patrol officer at the Tunnels Checkpoint, Bethlehem. The body of the man is currently being withheld by Israeli forces. Moreover, the Israeli army quoted in media claims that four Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and seven were killed by live ammunition in Jenin. According to Palestinian sources, a Palestinian man succumbed to wounds sustained during the airstrike in Jenin. One Israeli soldier was injured during the operation. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Israeli forces shot at their ambulances and prevented them from evacuating the casualties.

Humanitarian Developments (30 July-5 August)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians, including two children, and injured another 56 Palestinians, including six children. In Israel, a Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed and killed two Israeli civilians and injured two others. On 2 August, a Palestinian paramedic from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) died from wounds sustained on 27 July in Balata Refugee Camp, Nablus city. The paramedic sustained shrapnel wounds to his head from an Israeli airstrike and live ammunition in his legs. Two other Palestinians died during the same incident.
  • On 30 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old boy after he allegedly attempted to stab them at Beit 'Einun junction near Hebron. The body of the boy is currently being withheld by Israeli authorities.
  • On 30 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during an Israeli forces’ operation in Nablus city. During the operation, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who shot live ammunition at Palestinians. According to local sources, the Palestinian man was reportedly not involved in this encounter and was heading to his home.
  • On 3 August, an Israeli drone strike killed five Palestinians travelling between Zeita and Attil villages, in northern Tulkarm. According to local sources, their car was struck twice. The first strike’s explosion caused one of the fatalities to fly about ten metres away from the vehicle. The second strike incinerated the vehicle and the people inside.
  • On 3 August, an Israeli drone strike killed four Palestinians between Iktaba and Bal'a, southeast of Tulkarm city. The Palestinians were driving on a dirt road and upon reaching a point where the car could no longer drive, they exited the vehicle and continued on foot. An Israeli military jeep on the scene reportedly opened fire at them, followed by a drone missile strike. The bodies of the Palestinians are being withheld by Israeli authorities. According to the Israeli military, the nine Palestinians killed in the two incidents in Tulkarm were responsible for attacks against Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers and were on their way to perpetrate further attacks.
  • On 4 August, a Palestinian man stabbed and killed two elderly Israeli civilians and injured two others before he was shot and killed by an Israeli police officer in Holon city in Israel. The Palestinian man comes from the town of Salfit in the West Bank.
  • On 5 August, Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians, including one child, and injured nine others while conducting an operation in Aqqaba town, Tubas. Undercover Israeli forces followed by Israeli military forces surrounded a house in the town and positioned snipers around it. Palestinians in the building exchanged fire with Israeli forces, and as a result three Palestinians were killed, and one was injured and arrested. During the operation, Palestinians threw stones and Israeli forces opened fire and injured eight Palestinians. Israeli forces then broke into the Tubas Turkish Government Hospital where Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition, and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was in the vicinity of the hospital but was reportedly not involved in the confrontation.
  • Between 7 October 2023 and 5 August 2024, 587 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including two who died of wounds sustained prior to 7 October. These include 570 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 ten Israelis and six Palestinian perpetrators.
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 27 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 17 injuries, including two children, and damage to property. Palestinians perpetrated five attacks against settlers in this period, resulting in the injury of one Israeli settler. Between 7 October 2023 and 5 August 2024, OCHA recorded 1,143 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 114 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, 964 led to damage to Palestinian property, and 127 led to both casualties and property damage. Since 7 October, some 255 Palestinian households comprising 1,500 people, mostly herding families, including 720 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:
  • On 30 July and 2 August, Israeli settlers believed to be from Givat Assaf and several surrounding settlements, attacked the village of Burqa in Ramallah governorate. The settlers cut down a metal fence surrounding a Palestinian house on the western outskirts of the village and attempted to set fire to the Palestinian home. Palestinian residents woke up while the door was on fire, and together with the village residents managed to douse it. Moreover, Israeli setters vandalized property by writing anti-Palestinian slogans on the houses' walls. Three days later, the settlers returned and set fire to one Palestinian vehicle and threw stones towards nearby houses. No injuries were reported in both incidents.
  • On 31 July, armed Israeli settlers shot and injured two Palestinians and assaulted nine others with sticks and stones in the herding and farming community of Khirbet an Nahla, Bethlehem governorate. The settlers, believed to be from a nearby settlement, attacked farmers who were repairing a stone wall that the settlers had damaged in a previous attack. The settlers tried to kick the farmers off the land, who refused to leave, at which point the settlers fired at the farmers and attacked them with sticks and stones, resulting in the 11 injuries. Additionally, the settlers damaged three vehicles belonging to Palestinians that were parked nearby. Israeli forces intervened by shooting tear gas to disperse everyone, after which they confiscated the vehicles. After midnight, the owners were able to retrieve their vehicles from the area.
  • On 31 July, a Palestinian from Sa’ir, Hebron governorate, stabbed and injured an Israeli settler on Road 60 near Kiryat Arba settlement, in Hebron city. The Palestinian, who was driving a vehicle, approached the settler's vehicle and opened fire with a handgun before stepping out of his own vehicle and stabbing the settler. The Palestinian fled the scene, and Israeli forces are still searching for the perpetrator.
  • In three separate incidents, on 31 July, 1 August and 4 August, armed Israeli settlers uprooted 140 olive trees and grape vines in Umm Fagarah community of Masafer Yatta, which is located in an area designated by the Israeli military in the 1980s as a closed miliary zone (“Firing Zone 918”). During the three attacks, Israeli settlers cut fencing around three dunums of agricultural land, set fire to an agricultural structure, destroyed agricultural equipment and uprooted trees.
  • On 3 August, Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians, physically assaulted another one, and fired tear gas while they accompanied Israel settlers who were attacking Al Mughayyir village, Ramallah governorate. Another three Palestinians needed medical treatment for tear gas inhalation. In addition, two households comprising ten people, including six children, were displaced for the third time in less than a year as a result of this attack. Initially, eight Israeli settlers believed to be from Adei Ad settlement and other nearby outposts attempted to attack the village. Residents did not allow them to enter, and the settlers withdrew for a short while, returning with about 50 settlers and a group of Israeli soldiers. The soldiers shot live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas toward people in the village, while the settlers destroyed Palestinian property. According to affected people, Israeli settlers set fire to two residential tents, two water pump motors, a mobile latrine and one kitchen, destroying them and all they contained. Three other latrines were partially damaged by the fire. Four solar panels were also destroyed by stone-throwing. Lastly, Israeli settlers cut part of a metal fence surrounding agricultural land, set fire, and destroyed fifty beehives, and partially damaged several others. All the destroyed residential property, including the tents and mobile latrines, were donor-funded following two previous settler attacks on the same households. According to affected people, Israeli forces prevented medical teams and fire brigades from reaching the area to assist the injured and put out the fire.
• Between 30 July and 5 August, Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of 23 Palestinian-owned structures, 22 of which were due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. All demolished structures were in Area C and East Jerusalem. As a result, 27 Palestinians, including 10 children, were displaced and about 105, including 38 children, were otherwise affected.
• On 31 July, the Israeli Civil Administration along with Israeli forces demolished an agricultural structure, two animal shelters and an agricultural water cistern for lack of Israeli-issued building permits in Beit 'Awwa, Hebron governorate. During the incident, seven water tanks were destroyed. The same water cistern was demolished in February 2012.
• On 1 August, the Jerusalem Municipality along with Israeli forces delivered at least nine demolition orders against residential houses due to be implemented within one week and some families have started leaving their homes, in Al Bustan area of Silwan, East Jerusalem. The demolition orders are part of a plan to build and expand an Israeli settlement project by establishing public spaces designated for Israelis. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), who is representing 85 demolition cases in the community, “Al-Bustan, home to about 1,550 Palestinians and 150 housing units...is near the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. This has led Israeli authorities to focus on increasing the Jewish presence and displacing Palestinians. All structures in Al-Bustan are currently unprotected and at risk of demolition.”
• On 5 August, the Israeli Civil Administration along with Israeli forces demolished an agricultural water cistern in Al Jwaya community, Hebron governorate for lack of an Israeli issued permit. As a result, one family comprising 13 people including five children were affected.
• Between 1 January and 5 August, 730 structures were demolished and 880 were displaced for lacking Israeli-issued building permits in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, compared with 563 structures demolished and 639 people displaced in the corresponding period in 2023.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 5 August 2024, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced the demolition of 1,355 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing more than 3,000 Palestinians, including 1,343 children. This is more than double the number when compared to the same period before October 7, when 1,252 Palestinians were displaced, including 579 children. The demolitions after 7 October include over 500 inhabited structures, 100 uninhabited residential structures, more than 300 agricultural structures, more than 100 water and sanitation (WASH) structures, 200 livelihood structures, and about 100 infrastructure and other structures. Since 7 October 2023, more than 181,000 Palestinians have been affected at least once by 25 incidents of demolitions and destruction of public infrastructure during Israeli forces’ operations, in Tulkarm and Jenin. Many of these people have been affected more than once in multiple incidents.

Funding

• As of 9 August, Member States have disbursed about US$1.6 billion out of $3.42 billion (47 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. Increased funding now will enable the humanitarian community to scale up operations as soon as conditions permit. 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 this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During July 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 98 ongoing projects, totalling $81.4 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & Non-Food Items (NFI), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these projects, 55 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 31 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 67 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. 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. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in July 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.