Humanitarian Situation Update #238 | 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 19 November.

Key Highlights

• Between 5 and 11 November, Israeli forces in the West Bank killed 11 Palestinians, including three in airstrikes. One Palestinian was shot and killed by an Israeli settler after perpetrating a ramming attack and another was killed while handling an explosive device.
• Fifty Palestinians, including 23 children, were displaced as nine residential structures were demolished in East Jerusalem.
• The UN Human Rights Office has condemned Israeli forces’ “mass arrests, ill-treatment, and gratuitous humiliation of Palestinians during raids in refugee camps and towns” over the past month.
• In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have reopened multiple checkpoints in the Ramallah governorate for a few hours per day, yet access restrictions remain severe.

Latest Developments (after 11 November)

• On 12 November, initial reports suggest that Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian man near Deir Sharaf checkpoint (Nablus). According to eyewitnesses, the man was walking near the checkpoint when Israeli soldiers called him and ordered him to lift his shirt to check for weapons and shot him. The Israeli military claims that the man was attempting to stab soldiers.
• On 13 November, demolitions in Al Bustan area of Silwan, East Jerusalem – which had displaced dozens since 5 November (see below) – included the local community centre, previously serving over 1,000 people with youth education programmes, legal workshops, scouting activities, and supporting sports teams, cultural groups and women’s groups.
• On 14 November, initial reports indicate that two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in Tulkarm.

Humanitarian Developments (5-11 November)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including three in airstrikes, and injured 52 others, including 16 children, across the West Bank. Another Palestinian was shot and killed by a settler after he perpetrated a ramming attack which injured two settlers including a child, and one was killed in Tulkarm while handling an explosive device. All the incidents resulting in fatalities by Israeli forces took place in the northern West Bank, as follows:
  • On 5 November, Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians and injured 11 others in three raids in Qabatiya town, Ash Shuhada (Jenin) and Tammun village (Tubas). According to the Israeli military, these operations were carried out against armed Palestinians who were using explosive devices.

    • In Qabatiya, Israeli forces conducted an operation which included airstrikes. During the operation, the forces shot and killed four Palestinians, including an 18-year-old Palestinian who according to eyewitnesses, was observing the forces from a rooftop. Two others were shot in a vehicle, and a fourth person was shot near a mosque. Reportedly, Israeli forces prevented Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics from reaching those injured for almost half an hour. During the operation, Israeli forces surrounded a house, reportedly firing at least ten shoulder-fired explosive projectiles at it before demolishing it with a bulldozer. Palestinians and Israeli forces exchanged fire around the besieged house, and Palestinians reportedly used explosive devices. Three families comprising 12 people were displaced.

    • In Ash Shuhada, an Israeli airstrike hit a house, killing two Palestinians, an uncle and his nephew. According to local sources, Israeli forces, using jeeps and bulldozers, raided the village, where they and Palestinians exchanged fire.

    • In Tammun, an Israeli airstrike killed a 52-year-old man during an operation in the village. The PRCS reported that they transported his remains, which were found in multiple pieces, to the hospital. The Ministry of Health announced that another Palestinian was shot and killed during the raid. Video footage shows an Israeli bulldozer taking his body, which was subsequently withheld, leaving the circumstances of his death unclear.

  • On 6 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a 53-year-old Palestinian man during an operation in Jenin city and its refugee camp. During the operation, Israeli forces detonated explosives in a house within the camp and bulldozed streets, causing significant infrastructure damage. Exchanges of fire between armed Palestinians and Israeli forces were reported. As a result of the operation, seven residential structures were damaged, where eleven Palestinian families, comprising 53 people were displaced, including 22 children.

  • On 6 November, a Palestinian man from Deir al Ghusoun (Tulkarm) rammed his vehicle into Israeli settlers waiting at a bus stop at Shilo junction (Nablus), before being shot and killed by a settler. According to Israeli media, a woman and a 15-year-old boy were injured by the ramming. The man was shot when he got out of his vehicle, reportedly carrying a knife, and chased a settler.

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    On 7 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man while operating in Tulkarm city and its refugee camps. During the operation, exchanges of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces were reported, as well as the use of explosives by Palestinians and airstrikes by Israeli forces. Two Palestinians, including a woman and her son, who is a person with disabilities, were injured by airstrike shrapnel. In Tulkarm refugee camp, the operation displaced seven families, comprising 26 people. In Nur Shams camp, the operation displaced four families, comprising 11 people. In both camps, damage from airstrikes and bulldozers disrupted access to water, electricity, and education services during the operation, while water was disconnected for a further two days with some areas are still experiencing shortages as of the time of reporting. Several road sections within and around the camps were bulldozed and flooded with sewage.

    On 9 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian during an operation after besieging his house in the village of Aqqaba, north of Tubas. According to the head of Aqqaba municipality, undercover Israeli forces entered the village and surrounded a building where they forced the family to leave, with one member staying behind. A human rights organization reported an exchange of fire between the Palestinian and the forces. The body of the man has been withheld by Israeli forces. After this, Israeli forces continued to raid the village from all sides. PRCS reported additional injuries during the military operation: one Palestinian was shot in the chest by live ammunition, another was physically assaulted by Israeli forces, and a Palestinian woman fell and was injured while trying to flee from Israeli forces during the operation.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 39 incidents involving settlers and affecting Palestinians, including 23 attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. In total, six Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers, and about 600 trees, mainly olives, and five Palestinian-owned vehicles were vandalized. Since 1 October 2024, OCHA has documented 203 incidents involving settlers directly related to the olive harvest in 79 communities across the West Bank, the majority of which (151 incidents) resulted in casualties or property damage. In this period, 69 Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers, 13 by Israeli forces, and more than 1,600 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 5 November, settlers believed to be from Otniel settlement (Hebron) attacked tens of farmers from four different villages (As Samu, Karma, Umm al Amad and Adh Dhahiriya) while they were harvesting the olives and forced them to leave their land. The Israeli military had previously allowed the farmers to harvest the olives between 5 and 7 November. As a result of the attacks, the farmers were unable to harvest, and hundreds of dunums of olive groves remained unharvested.

  • On 7 November, Israeli settlers attacked and injured two Palestinians while they and others were harvesting olives in Area B and Area C of Ein Yabrud village (Ramallah). The settlers proceeded to destroy at least 100 olive trees. According to eyewitnesses, Palestinian families were granted access by Israeli forces to their lands for one day to complete the harvest. Upon arriving, they discovered that settlers from nearby outposts had already harvested most of the olive trees, chopped down numerous others, and flooded parts of the land with sewage from the nearby Ofra settlement. The Palestinians began harvesting the remaining olive trees, after which two groups of masked and armed settlers attacked them with stones. The assailants also destroyed a vehicle with sticks and stones. The Palestinians called the Israeli police for assistance, but the latter proceeded to expel the Palestinians from their land.

  • On 7 November, an Israeli group demonstrated against the UN, damaging vehicles entering or exiting UNRWA’s compound in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Demonstrators hung posters against the United Nations on the external walls of the compound. This incident is part of a series of ongoing attacks against UNRWA staff and facilities in Jerusalem.

  • On 8 November, Israeli settlers believed to be from Maale Ahuvia, accompanied by Israeli forces, physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian, while Palestinian families and Israeli activists were harvesting olives on the eastern outskirts of Deir Jarir (Ramallah). According to video footage and local sources, Israeli settlers threw stones at the families and assaulted them with sticks; forcing them to leave. Subsequently, Israeli forces confiscated two Palestinian-owned cars and arrested three Israeli activists, while settlers stole olive harvesting tools.

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces demolished or forced the demolition of 30 Palestinian-owned residential structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued permits in Area A, Area C and East Jerusalem. As a result, 62 people, half of whom children, were displaced. Nine residential structureswere demolished in East Jerusalem, including five demolished by their owners. This led to the displacement of 50 people, including 23 children. Forty-two of the 62 were displaced on 5 November in Al Bustan neighbourhood of Silwan, where the Israeli authorities demolished the homes of nine Palestinian households. Twenty additional structures were demolished in Area C, including: three donor-funded caravans in Ar Rakeez herding community (Hebron), displacing seven people; and 13 other structures in Jaba' (Tajammu' Badawi) Bedouin community (Jerusalem), displacing five people. In Area A of Al ‘Auja (Jericho) - where the Palestinian Authority is the designated security and civil authority- the Israeli authorities demolished a water well that lacked an Israeli-issued permit and was used to irrigate 760 dunums of cultivated palm groves.

Movement and access

• On 7 November, Israeli forces reopened the Birzeit/Atara gate (Ramallah). However, the opening is limited to a few hours every day. This is the latest in a series of reopenings of Israeli checkpoints and gates in the Ramallah governorate which had been kept closed since 7 October 2023. Beit El/DCO checkpoint, which reopened on 3 June 2024, and An Nabi Salih checkpoint, which reopened on 27 October, similarly operate for a few hours every day, during which vehicles are checked intensively, and delays are caused. Intensive checks have also been observed at intermittently staffed checkpoints, such as those at Ein Siniya and Jaba', which remain open after operating hours and where travellers have been physically assaulted by Israeli forces. Access to and from Ramallah governorate has been severely restricted and has caused significant disruption to the movement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. These restrictions have caused congested bottlenecks of traffic that are affecting people’s daily routine and access to services. Ramallah city is the central hub for nearly all other governorates in the West Bank, all of which are also affected by these restrictions. Many checkpoints, which had previously been fully open, were shut on 7 October 2023 and are now being reopened with new restrictions.

Arrests

• On 11 November, the UN Human Rights Office condemned Israeli forces’ “mass arrests, ill-treatment, and gratuitous humiliation of Palestinians during raids in refugee camps and towns across the West Bank” over the past month. The office reports that “a pattern of unnecessary, disproportionate and otherwise unlawful force used ... despite in many cases there being no apparent threat to public order or the security of the occupying forces.” Between 5 and 11 November, OCHA has documented the detention of at least 41 Palestinians, including two children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In the past five months, October marked the highest number of Palestinians detained (696) whereas the average number of Palestinians detained every month between June and October 2024 stands at 612.

Funding

• As of 14 November, Member States have disbursed about US$2.124 billion out of the $3.42 billion (63 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.