Humanitarian Situation Update #219 | 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 25 September.

Key Highlights

• Eleven Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were killed by Israeli forces during a two-day operation in Tulkarm and Tubas, between 10 and 12 September; eight of them were hit by airstrikes.
• At least 82 Palestinian households, comprising 360 people, including 161 children and 177 women, remain displaced after the two-day operation in Tulkarm and Tubas, where about 660 housing units were damaged, with 58 rendered uninhabitable.
• The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favour of a settler organization, placing a Palestinian family of 16 people at imminent risk of displacement from their home in Batn al Hawa, Silwan, East Jerusalem; four households, comprising 18 people, were forcibly evicted last month following a ruling in favour of the same organization.
• Amid ongoing settler violence, the single remaining resident in the Palestinian community of Ein al Hilwa – Um al Jmal (Tubas) was forced to displace; he is among 1,628 Palestinians displaced since 7 October 2023 in the context of incidents involving Israeli settlers.
• The West Bank school year faces major challenges: 782,000 students are affected by movement restrictions and settler violence, 58 schools are at risk of demolition; Israeli settlers attacked pupils and staff of Al Mu'arrajat East Elementary School, injuring nine.

Latest Developments (after 16 September)

• On 18 September, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces killed and withheld the body of a 17-year-old Palestinian child at Ni’lin checkpoint (Ramallah).
• On 17 September, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man while attempting to cross the West Bank Barrier in Tulkarm.

Humanitarian Developments(10-16 September)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including one child and one woman. An additional two Palestinian men succumbed to wounds sustained by Israeli forces in previous reporting periods. Israeli forces and settlers injured 50 Palestinians, including six children. During the same period, one member of Israeli forces died of wounds sustained in a ramming attack by a Palestinian near Ramallah and an Israeli settler was injured by Palestinians.
• For two days starting 10 September, Israeli forces operated in Tubas and Tulkarm governorates, killing 11 Palestinians, including one child and one woman. Five of the fatalities were in Tulkarm and six in Tubas. The Israeli operation involved both air and ground forces and included exchanges of fire with Palestinians. It resulted in significant damage to infrastructure, displacement, and prolonged electricity and water disruptions. Humanitarian partners, in coordination with the local authorities, resumed inter-sectoral needs assessments in Tulkarm and Tubas on 14 September.
  • In Tulkarm, Israeli forces closed the city, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, and surrounded the two main hospitals, obstructing access of ambulances and medical teams to transport and treat casualties. Three of the fatalities were hit in a drone attack on a Palestinian vehicle in Iktaba (Tulkarm) on 11 September. According to the Israeli military, at least one of those killed was suspected to have been involved in an attack against Israeli forces in October 2023, while the remaining two, including one woman, were shot and killed with live ammunition on 10 September. During one of the raids on 10 September, at least 24 people, including four school students, were unable to leave the UNRWA school and clinic in the Tulkarm refugee camp for over five hours, as Israeli forces operated in the area, before they were evacuated. That same day, one paramedic was shot and injured while evacuating a fatality, and five other paramedics were arrested. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) condemned the attacks on its premises and crews.
  • Israeli bulldozers caused significant damage to infrastructure during the operation, resulting in electricity and water disruptions. Over 600 housing units were damaged in and around the two camps, with 58 rendered uninhabitable, displacing 82 households, comprising 360 people, including 161 children. As of the end of the reporting period, water had been cut to about 60 per cent of the residents of the camp and its surrounding neighbourhoods, who have also experienced sewage overflows.
  • In Tubas city and Al Far’a refugee camp, Israeli forces imposed a curfew, closed city entrances and carried out an airstrike, resulting in five Palestinian fatalities. They also surrounded the Turkish Hospital, obstructing ambulance access and closing streets leading to the facility. On 12 September, Israeli forces killed an off-duty UNRWA sanitation worker and injured seven other Palestinians in Al Far’a refugee camp. Additionally, six Palestinians, including one child were injured during the operation, all with live ammunition.
• In response to the two-day operations in Tulkarm and Tubas, OCHA mobilized humanitarian clusters, PRCS, UNRWA, and local authorities to address the needs of the affected people. Humanitarian partners, including UNRWA, have provided food parcels, non-food items, kitchen kits, and one-time cash assistance. OCHA is also coordinating broader responses, including mental health and psychosocial support, aid to local water authorities, and the distribution of educational materials. The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster, with OCHA, UNRWA and the Palestinian Water Authority, is managing urgent water interventions in Tulkarm. The Shelter Cluster, in coordination with OCHA and UNRWA, is working closely with Cash Working Group partners to provide necessary support, including emergency multi-purpose cash assistance, for people in Tulkarm and Nur Shams.
• On 16 September, two Palestinian men succumbed to wounds sustained by Israeli forces in two incidents; a 30-year-old man who was injured in an Israeli airstrike in Tubas city on 5 September 2024, and a 43-year-old man who was injured from live ammunition during an Israeli raid in Jenin city on 5 August 2024. These bring the total number of Palestinian fatalities during this reporting period to 13. In another incident, a Palestinian truck driver fatally injured an Israeli soldier in a ramming incident on 11 September, near the Israeli Giva’t Assaf settlement outpost on Road 60 (Ramallah). The perpetrator was shot and arrested by Israeli forces.
• Additionally, during the reporting period, Israeli forces injured 50 Palestinians, including at least five children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Twenty-two (44 per cent) of the total injuries were wounded by live ammunition. In the West Bank, one member of Israeli forces was injured in a stabbing attack carried out on 15 September in East Jerusalem by a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship. The perpetrator was shot and arrested by Israeli forces.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 16 September 2024, 682* 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 665* killed by Israeli forces, 12* by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli forces or settlers. During the same period, 22 Israelis, including 15 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 seven Palestinian perpetrators.
• For additional breakdowns of casualties by time, area, type of weapon and context up to 31 July 2024, please refer to the OCHA West Bank violence, destruction and displacement snapshot.

Settler-related Violence and Displacement

• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 23 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 11 injuries, and damage to property. Palestinians perpetrated three attacks against settlers in this period, injuring one settler and damaging two Israeli-plated vehicles. Between 7 October 2023 and 16 September 2024, OCHA recorded about 1,360 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which about 130 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, about 1,088 led to Palestinian property damage, and over 143 led to both casualties and property damage. During the reporting period, one Palestinian man was displaced due to Israeli settler violence, harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property. Since 7 October 2023, 277 Palestinians households comprising 1,628 people, including 794 children, have been displaced in the context of incidents involving Israeli settlers.
• The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:
  • Nine Palestinians, including five women, two teachers and one foreign activist, were injured by Israeli settlers in Al Mu'arrajat East Bedouin community and its school in Jericho governorate; on 16 September, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, broke into an animal shelter, where they attacked a Palestinian woman with sticks, breaking her hand, and attempted to steal sheep. Later, the same group returned, ransacking homes and damaging property, injuring four women, two men, and a foreign activist. They also attacked the community's elementary school, causing further injuries. (see below under education). According to Israeli media, Palestinians from the community had injured an Israeli settler earlier that day.
  • In another two separate incidents in the Hebron governorate, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians, including one child; on 11 September, a 69-year-old Palestinian man was attacked and injured by armed Israeli settlers while herding sheep near Umm at Tiran, south of Adh Dhahiriya. According to the injured man, settlers also stole his money and 16 sheep. On 16 September, a 15-year-old Palestinian child was assaulted and injured by settlers while traveling with his father on their agricultural tractor on Road 317 near At Tawani (Hebron). The settlers, dressed in military-like uniforms, attacked the child with sticks and a stone.
  • In five incidents, according to local community sources, Israeli settlers vandalized over 490 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings in addition to other agricultural property across villages in Nablus, Jenin and Salfit governorates. On 10 September, settlers believed to be from an outpost near Shavei Shomron vandalized a tree nursery in Deir Sharaf (Nablus), stealing about 50 saplings and cutting down 60 trees. On 11 September, settlers reportedly from Yitzhar settlement vandalized olive trees and set fire to 200 dunams of cultivated land in Burin village (Nablus). On 13 September, settlers believed to be from Homesh settlement uprooted 155 olive trees and eight fig trees in Jaba’ village (Jenin). On the same day in Dhaher al 'Abed (Jenin), settlers vandalized an agricultural storage room, damaged a metal fence, and grazed sheep on lands, destroying about 200 olive trees. On 15 September, settlers believed to be from Bruchin settlement uprooted 25 olive trees in Kafr ad Dik town (Salfit).
  • On 15 September, the last remaining Palestinian man in the Ein al Hilwa – Um al Jmal community in Tubas was forced to displace due to Israeli settler violence. Following the displacement of several Palestinian households from the community on 15 August 2024, a Palestinian man returned to protect his family's structures from a settler takeover. Since then, he has been subjected to daily harassment by Israeli settlers and Israeli forces. On 14 September, Israeli forces detained the man and transferred him to a military base, where he was handcuffed for several hours before being released. Subsequently, he began dismantling the structures in preparation to leave the area.

Demolitions and Displacement

• During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of 35 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. Three structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, including one where the owner was forced to carry out the demolition, and 32 were in Area C, displacing a total of 17 people, including six children.
• On 12 September, Israeli authorities demolished two apartments and displaced eight people, including four children, in a multi-storey building in Al Walaja village, located within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, on the “West Bank” side of the Barrier (Bethlehem). Also on 11 September, Israeli forces demolished 20 structures in Biddu and Az Za’ayyem Bedouin communities in Jerusalem, comprising agricultural structures and two residences, which led to the displacement of a family of four people, including two children.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 16 September 2024, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced the demolition of 1,697 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, displacing more than 4,400 Palestinians, including about 1,850 children. This is more than three times higher the number of people displaced during the same period before 7 October, where about 1,370 Palestinians were displaced, including 640 children. The structures demolished after 7 October include over 700 inhabited structures, more than 300 agricultural structures, more than 100 water, sanitation and hygiene structures, and 200 livelihood structures. For additional breakdowns on demolitions and displacement, please refer to the OCHA demolition dashboard.
• On 11 September, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a Palestinian family against their planned eviction from their home, following a case submitted by the Ateret Cohanim settler organization, in the Batn al Hawa area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem. This puts two households of 16 people at imminent risk of displacement. On 15 August, a Palestinian family was forcibly displaced for similar reasons. Currently, there are 93 families, comprising over 450 people, including about 200 children, in Batn al Hawa at risk of forced displacement due to eviction cases filed against them by Ateret Cohanim. Those are among 213 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem who have eviction cases filed against them in Israeli courts, the majority by settler organizations, placing at least 970 people, including at least 424 children, at risk of displacement.

Education-related incidents

• With the start of the new school year on 9 September, several schools in the West Bank are facing critical challenges. Since 7 October 2023, about 782,000 students have been affected by access restrictions, Israeli operations, and settler-related violence, according to the Education Cluster and the Palestinian Ministry of Education (MoE). At least 58 schools (50 in Area C and eight in East Jerusalem) serving about 6,500 students face pending demolition or stop-work orders.
  • Al Mu’arrajat East Bedouin Elementary School, which serves about 100 students from two Bedouin communities in the Jericho Governorate, is one of those facing demolition orders. On 16 September, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, broke into the school during classes and assaulted and injured two female teachers with sticks. Israeli forces arrested and tied up two Palestinians, including the principal of the school. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli settlers subsequently beat the two. Additionally, according to official community sources, Israeli forces confiscated footage from the school’s surveillance cameras. The Education Cluster and the West Bank Protection Consortium condemned the attack, calling on the international community to protect Palestinians from settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable.
  • Since 7 October, Palestinian students’ access to education has been severely restricted by new or increased restrictions. In the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city, intensified Israeli movement restrictions have severely disrupted education since 7 October 2023. These restrictions have hindered 13,065 students' access to schools; forcing them to move to online classrooms with only 25 per cent attendance across 34 schools in H2 due to inadequate internet and limited remote learning resources. This school year, Qurtuba school, serving about 110 students, has resumed in-person classes, but with the main gate operated by Israeli forces remaining closed, staff and students face increased risks, including a detour through an olive grove, which is often used by settlers and leaves students vulnerable to attack.

Funding

• As of 18 September, Member States have disbursed about US$1.78 billion out of $3.42 billion (48 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 this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During August 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 93 ongoing projects, totalling U$79.7 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 and non-food items, water, sanitation, and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition.
• Of these projects, 52 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations, 29 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 64 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs.
• Monthly updates, annual reports, and a list of all funded projects per year, are available on the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage, under the financing section.