Humanitarian Situation Update #236 | West Bank

The Humanitarian Situation Update is issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory twice a week. The Gaza Strip is covered on Tuesdays and the West Bank on Thursdays. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update will be issued on 12 November.

Key Highlights

• Between 29 October and 4 November, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians and injured 22 across the West Bank while Israeli settlers carried out 35 attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage.
• Three Palestinian Bedouin families were displaced amid repeated Israeli settler attacks and two families were displaced by the demolition of their homes for lacking building permits in Area C and East Jerusalem.
• An Israeli forces operation in Nur Shams Refugee Camp (Tulkarm), home to about 14,000 Palestine refugees, resulted in the displacement of four families and caused extensive damage to over 100 residential and livelihood structures. The UNRWA office inside the camp was also bulldozed.
• A Palestinian family in East Jerusalem successfully reclaimed their home less than two months after Israeli settlers seized and took over their property.
• Funding shortages threaten mobile health clinics serving communities in Area C across the West Bank, with 96 Palestinian communities at risk of losing these services in 2025, the UN Population Fund warns.

Latest Developments (after 4 November)

• According to initial information, on 5 November, eight Palestinians were killed and at least four were injured by Israeli forces in four operations by Israeli forces in Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarm, all in the northern West Bank. Two were killed in Ash Shuhada village (Jenin); two in Tammun (Tubas), and four during an 11-hour operation in Qabatiya (Jenin). These included airstrikes and other lethal war-like tactics. In Qabatiya, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces delayed their team while trying to evacuate casualties, including a young man — one of the four fatalities — who was shot near Salah ad Din Mosque and left bleeding for nearly an hour.
• On 5 November, during a 12-hour military operation in Tulkarm city and its refugee camps, Israeli forces caused widespread destruction and injured at least four people. Bulldozers damaged roads, homes and commercial shops, with several houses rendered uninhabitable, according to initial information. Extensive damage to the water network has caused disruptions to the water supply, in some areas continuing as of the time of writing of this update. During the operation, PRCS rescued a girl stranded in a kindergarten in Tulkarm Camp, reuniting her with her family late at night.
• On 5 November, Israeli authorities demolished four residential buildings in Al Bustan area of Silwan (East Jerusalem), displacing 42 people, nearly half of whom were children. Al Bustan, home to over 1,500 Palestinians, is the target of an Israeli settlement-related plan entailing the demolition of dozens of Palestinian housing units.

Humanitarian Developments (29 October - 4 November)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including one child, and injured 22 others, including four children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The incidents resulting in fatalities are as follows:
  • On 30 October, an Israeli undercover unit entered a supermarket in Tulkarm refugee camp, where they shot and killed a 28-year-old Palestinian man wanted by the Israeli army. Hours later, at dawn on 31 October, Israeli forces raided the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp (Tulkarm), home to 14,000 Palestinian refugees, exchanged fire with Palestinians who also threw explosive devices at the forces, and carried out an airstrike. Local sources indicated that the airstrike hit a square of buildings in the middle of the camp killing two Palestinian men, aged 19 and 20 and displaced four families comprising 23 people. According to UNRWA, at least 100 residential and livelihood structures sustained damage during the operation, and roads in and around the camp were significantly bulldozed, damaging water, electricity and telecommunication infrastructure. The UNRWA office in the camp was bulldozed, leaving the building—the hub of their operations—unusable and slated for demolition. Another 32-year-old Palestinian man was killed by a sniper while he was inside his house in the camp.
  • On 3 November, Israeli forces deployed near Road 60, north of Halhul (Hebron), shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in unclear circumstances. The body of the boy was taken by Israeli soldiers and PRCS subsequently received the body from the entrance of Efrata settlement.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 61 settler incidents affecting Palestinians, including 35 attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. In total, four Palestinians were injured, three by Israeli settlers and one by Israeli forces, and about 120 trees, mainly olives, and 24 Palestinian-owned vehicles were vandalized. Incidents include cases where settlers were caught on camera stealing crops of Palestinian-owned olive trees. Since 1 October, OCHA has documented 177 settler incidents directly related to the olive harvest in 73 communities across the West Bank, the majority of which (129 incidents) resulted in casualties or property damage. During the same period, 63 Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers, 13 by Israeli forces, and more than 1,200 mostly olive trees burnt, sawed-off or otherwise vandalized, and many crops and harvesting tools stolen.
• The following are some of the key settler incidents that took place during the reporting period, which entailed intimidation, harassment, physical injury, property damage or a combination thereof, and include cases where Israeli forces were present:
  • On 29 October, Israeli settlers believed to be from Gilad Farm outpost, accompanied by Israeli forces, opened fire at Palestinian families harvesting olives near Far’ata village, in Qalqiliya governorate, injuring two Palestinians.
  • On 4 November, Palestinian farmers, discovered that about 60 olive trees, most of which aged over 60 years, had been uprooted on land they own near Migdalim settlement, in Nablus governorate. The affected families have been unable to reach their land during the 2023 olive harvest season and were only authorized by Israeli forces to access it this season.
  • On 4 November, Israeli settlers, some armed and others reportedly carrying stones and sticks, vandalized two houses and 30 olive trees in Birin village, in Hebron governorate. The settlers are believed to be from Pnei Hever settlement.
  • On 4 November, masked Israeli settlers, believed to be from outposts near Beit El settlement, set fire to parked Palestinian-owned vehicles in Al Bireh city, in Ramallah governorate, affecting at least 18 families. At least 18 cars were burnt and four inhabited apartments caught fire and sustained damage. The Palestinian Civil Defence evacuated the residents, so no one was hurt.
• On 29 October, three Palestinian families comprising 15 people, including seven children, were displaced in Al Mu'arrajat East Bedouin community, between Ramallah and Jerusalem governorates, following repeated attacks and intimidation by Israeli settlers.
• During the reporting period, Israeli forces demolished or forced the demolition of 14 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued permits in Area C and East Jerusalem. As a result, two families comprising 14 people, including eight children, were displaced. Four structures, including a home extension, were demolished by their owners in East Jerusalem, displacing two people. On 30 October, Israeli forces demolished six agricultural structures near the West Bank Barrier in Qalqiliya city, including two greenhouses, and two other structures in Jericho city.
• As of 29 October, approximately 140 Palestinians from 15 families in East Jerusalem’s Umm Tuba neighbourhood face the imminent risk of displacement due to recent land title claims. One of the residents discovered, while applying for a building permit, that the 64-dunum area (about 16 acres) was registered under the ownership of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in May 2024 without notifying the residents or giving them an opportunity to provide documentation of ownership. The land includes a 20-dunum (about five acres) residential section where these families have resided for over 70 years. In response, the families have petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice, arguing that the process was conducted without due notice, with public postings only in Hebrew, and without meaningful access for the affected residents. The court has scheduled a session for 8 December 2024 to address the case. Settlement expansion and related practices result in displacement and loss of livelihoods and generate humanitarian needs. Settlements contravene international humanitarian law.
• On 3 November, the Abu al Hawa family in At Tur neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, successfully reclaimed their home and land after Israeli settlers seized them on 16 September 2024 claiming ownership of the property. Under the protection of Israeli forces, the settlers had broken into and taken over the house, securing it with locks, barbed wire, and surveillance cameras. The family filed an objection at the Israeli Magistrate Court, and ultimately proved that the settlers never purchased the property from the legal owners. 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.
• Access to health care across the West Bank has become increasingly challenging since 7 October 2023, particularly in refugee camps and Area C, due to intensified operations by Israeli forces and movement restrictions affecting essential health services. In response to escalating challenges, Health Cluster partners have scaled up their interventions to support communities and boost capacities at primary health centres. In October, Health Cluster partners: delivered first-aid training sessions and equipped over 600 community volunteers with first-aid kits, enabling them to stabilize injured people until ambulances can reach them; distributed emergency trauma supplies to primary health-care centres in the northern West Bank and provided surgical equipment to Jenin Hospital; and conducted over 36,000 primary health-care consultations across refugee camps and through mobile health clinics in Area C. One of the first-aid trainings, called “Stop the Bleeding,” was carried out by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Nur Shams refugee camp (Tulkarm), to empower residents with basic life-saving skills to address trauma injuries during frequent operations by Israeli forces, where the access of ambulances is often delayed. MSF is also providing psychological first aid to alleviate the profound mental health impacts of these operations, especially for children who experience constant fear and disrupted routines. Moreover, UNFPA-supported mobile health-care teams, operated by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, which have become a lifeline for communities in Area C, is offering a range of services to over 30,000 Palestinians across the Hebron, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm governorates. These include primary health care, sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial support, and emergency first-aid training. The teams also play a key role in addressing gender-based violence. However, funding constraints threaten sustainability of the mobile clinics. If funding is not renewed, as many as 96 out of 189 communities could go without mobile health-care access by 2025.
• On 28 October, the Israeli Knesset adopted two laws that prohibit the Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA and ban the agency from working in areas under Israeli sovereignty, which will enter into effect after three months. If implemented, these measures would likely prevent the delivery of UNRWA operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, as mandated by the UN General Assembly to serve Palestine refugees, including 2.5 million registered in the OPT. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, UNRWA’s absence would disrupt essential health, education, and social services, significantly impacting humanitarian conditions and potentially destabilizing the region. This disruption would collapse operations across 96 schools serving 47,000 students, three vocational training centres, 43 health centres, and halt cash assistance and other support to over 150,000 Palestine refugees. Additionally, UNRWA’s emergency response, including critical interventions following Israeli forces operations in the northern West Bank, would cease. If implemented, the passed legislation would suffocate efforts to ease human suffering in Gaza and the entire OPT and would be an enormous setback to sustainable peace efforts and undermine the internationally recognized multilateral system.

Funding

• As of 7 November, Member States have disbursed about US$2 billion out of the $3.42 billion (60.6 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.) 
• As of October 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has prioritized support for the olive harvest season through a series of resilience-building projects. Approximately 17 per cent of the Fund’s overall US$60 million allocation has been directed toward critical interventions in the West Bank, aligned with the 2024 Flash Appeal. Through the Emergency Reserve Allocation (48-Hour), $5 million was mobilized, including $750,000 allocated to two local partners specifically for the olive harvest. These projects focus on expediting the harvest by providing essential tools, clearing groves to reduce fire risks, and upgrading storage facilities to enhance food quality. An additional $5 million was allocated through the Standard Allocation mechanism, with the aim of rapidly scaling up relief efforts to address immediate needs of affected populations. Of this amount, $1.5 million was specifically earmarked for food security projects to improve household income and promote sustainable agricultural practices, including olive harvest support, to strengthen long-term food security and resilience for vulnerable populations. 

* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.