Humanitarian Situation Update #242 | 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 3 December. 

Key Highlights

• Between 19 and 25 November, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including one child. Seven of them were killed during a 48-hour Israeli operation in Jenin. 
• The UN Human Rights Office stated that severe human rights violations have increased in frequency over the past months, including in Israel’s recent operations in Jenin. 
• Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage at least tripled during the 2024 olive harvest season compared to each of the preceding three years. 

Humanitarian Developments (19-25 November)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including one child, and injured 37 others, including 12 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly snapshot. All the incidents resulting in Palestinian fatalities and other key incidents are as follows:  
  • On 19 November, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians and injured two others in Ash Shuhada village, southwest of Jenin city. According to the village council, Israeli forces raided the town and surrounded an agricultural house where exchanges of fire were reported between them and armed Palestinians, and Israeli forces fired off-shoulder missiles at the house. During this operation, a confrontation occurred, where Palestinian villagers threw stones at Israeli forces who responded by firing live ammunition. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that one of the two injured Palestinians was a 16-year-old child. Video footage showed Israeli forces’ bulldozers carrying at least two casualties from the village as all three bodies are being withheld.  
  • On 19 November, Israeli forces shot and injured a 15-year-old Palestinian boy with disabilities at the Shu’fat refugee camp checkpoint. According to local sources, the boy was frequently seen in the vicinity of the checkpoint taking a role in facilitating traffic movement in the area. According to Israeli media, the boy had put a bag down in the vicinity of the checkpoint and was shot when he refused to stop when ordered by soldiers to do so while walking towards them in the vehicle lane of the checkpoint, which is prohibited for pedestrians. Eyewitnesses reported that the boy was left bleeding on the ground before being transported by an ambulance.  
  • On 20 November, an Israeli airstrike struck and killed two Palestinians and caused damage to a building under-construction and at least four vehicles in Kafr Dan town, northwest of Jenin city. Israeli forces subsequently carried out a three-hour operation in the town where they exchanged fire with armed Palestinians. A third Palestinian was shot and killed during this exchange. Israeli forces took the bodies of the two Palestinian that were killed in the airstrike. 
  • On 21 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Ein Beit el Mai refugee camp, west of Nablus. According to UNRWA, undercover Israeli forces raided the camp using a civilian bus and arrested a Palestinian man from his home. Israeli forces in military jeeps followed, leading to an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces, at which point the man was shot and killed.  
  • On 24 November, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old child, who were throwing stones at Israeli forces that entered Ya'bad town, in Jenin governorate.  
• Following an Israeli forces’ operation in Jenin between 18 and 20 November where eight Palestinians were killed, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stated that severe human rights violations are taking place as part of Israel’s militarized operations in Jenin and have been documenting these with increasing frequency over the past months. According to OHCHR, they have “received alarming reports of serious violations of international law including extrajudicial killings, the use of Palestinians to shield Israeli security forces, damage to infrastructure such as water tanks, sewage systems, electricity and roads, the desecration of bodies, and the withholding of the bodies of Palestinians who were killed. There also needs to be an immediate halt to all similar militarized operations in the occupied West Bank, which have applied military means and tactics during law enforcement operations. These operations have violated international human rights law’s strict limitations on the use of force, leading to the unlawful killing and injury of so many Palestinians.”    
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 15 settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. In total, seven Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers and one by Israeli forces, all during attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers. About seven of these incidents took place within the context of the olive harvest season, which resulted in the injury of five Palestinians and vandalism of at least 150 olive trees. The following are some of the key settler attacks 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 19 November, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured four Palestinians, including a woman, in the Um Nier community, near Susiya, south of Hebron, while harvesting their olives. The incident occurred in two rounds of attacks. In the first attack, settlers assaulted and injured two farmers, forcing them to leave their land, which they had accessed following prior coordination with the Israeli authorities. Israeli forces subsequently arrived and dispersed the settlers, which allowed the families to continue harvesting. However, the settlers returned, assaulting another farmer, a 65-year-old man, and vandalizing a parked vehicle by smashing its windows and slashing its tires. The settlers also broke into a Palestinian home, destroyed a solar panel unit, and threw stones at the house, causing damage to its ceiling. Israeli forces subsequently intervened and dispersed the settlers. 
• On 23 November, a group of armed settlers dressed in what appeared to be military uniforms stopped a Palestinian man driving near Al Karmel village (Hebron). According to the man’s family, the settlers dragged him out of his vehicle and physically assaulted him. They pushed him back into his vehicle and drove it to Susiya settlement, where they left the unconscious man by the side of the road. Local residents discovered the injured man and called an ambulance, which transported him to the hospital for treatment. The man’s vehicle has not been recovered from the settlers. 
• On 22 November, a group of Israeli settlers, believed to be from multiple outposts near the Itamar settlement were observed stealing olives from the nearby Palestinian farmland in Yanun, southeast of Nablus city. According to the village council, the affected farmer witnessed a group of five settlers, one of whom was armed, harvesting Palestinian olive trees, and allowing livestock to eat the remaining crops and damage some trees. The farmer reported seeing settlers at least twice harvesting his olives. It is estimated that at least half of his 300 trees were harvested. Notably, access to this land requires prior coordination for Palestinians by Israeli authorities, which had not been granted.  
• Since the start of the olive harvest season in October, Palestinian farmers have faced a sharp increase in settler-related violence, severely jeopardizing their livelihoods and personal security. Between 1 October and 25 November, OCHA documented 250 settler-related incidents across 88 West Bank communities that were directly related to the season, the majority of which (195) resulted in casualties, property damage or both. This marks at least a threefold increase in incidents resulting in casualties or property damage compared to each of the preceding three years. These incidents resulted in 57 Palestinians injured by settlers, 11 injured by Israeli forces, over 2,800 trees - mostly olive trees - burned, sawed-off, or vandalized, and significant theft of crops and harvesting tools. Nearly 60 per cent of these incidents occurred in the northern West Bank, with Nablus governorate alone accounting for almost half. The central West Bank, mainly Ramallah governorate, witnessed roughly a quarter of the incidents, while about 15 per cent took place in Bethlehem and Hebron governorates in the south. This geographic distribution aligns with previous years' trends; however, the volume of incidents has significantly increased. 
• The Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized 28 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This resulted in the displacement of 27 people, including 15 children, and otherwise affected the livelihoods, or access to services, of over 200 others. All the structures were in Area C or East Jerusalem and were targeted due to a lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.  
• Twenty-two of the structures were in eight Area C communities. Two of the structures were provided as humanitarian aid, one of which was demolished in Hammamat al Maleh- Al Burj in Tubas, a Bedouin community located in Israeli-designated ‘firing zones.’ Nearly 30 per cent of Area C is designated as such, and the Palestinian communities in these zones are among the most vulnerable in the West Bank, with limited access to essential services and basic infrastructure. In the herding community of Hammamat al Maleh- Al Burj, the Israeli authorities demolished a residential structure provided as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions. As a result, seven people, including three children, were displaced.  
• The remaining four structures demolished in East Jerusalem included three demolished by Israeli authorities and one by its owners in Jabal al-Mukkabir; displacing 12 people, including eight children. The affected family in Jabal al-Mukkabir had been pursuing legal efforts through their lawyer to obtain a building permit, but all petitions were repeatedly rejected by Israeli courts. According to the affected family, Israeli forces reportedly threatened to fine them if they did not complete the demolition quickly. While the family was in the process of demolishing their home, Israeli forces stormed the site, demolished the remaining parts of the house, and destroyed most of their furniture and personal belongings. 

Funding

• As of 28 November, Member States have disbursed about US$2.37 billion out of the $3.42 billion (69 per cent) requested for January – December 2024 to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million* people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 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.