Humanitarian Situation Update #262 | 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 11 February.

Key Highlights

• Israeli forces’ operations in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas have so far resulted in the killing of 39 Palestinians and caused the displacement of thousands of Palestinians.
• Humanitarian partners estimate that 82 per cent of displaced families in the northern West Bank are currently living in rented accommodation, with efforts underway to scale up the provision of assistance to meet their needs.
• Nearly half of all Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank since 2005 occurred in the past two years.
• Palestinian residents of the H2 area of Hebron continue to witness high rates of detention and physical assault by Israeli forces.

Latest Developments (after 3 February 2025)

• On 4 February, according to official Israeli sources cited in the media, two Israeli soldiers were killed and six injured when an armed Palestinian opened fire at close range on an Israeli military tower at Tayasir checkpoint, in Tubas, in the northern Jordan Valley area of the West Bank. The Palestinian perpetrator was killed in the incident and his body has been withheld by Israeli forces.
• Israeli forces’ operations in the northern West Bank (Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas) continue to severely restrict Palestinians’ access to essential services and cause widespread destruction. In Tammun town and Al-Far’a refugee camp (Tubas), curfews remain in place, with residents facing water shortages due to the destruction of water networks. In Jenin and Tulkarm, the operations have entered their 17th and 11th day, respectively. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) continues to provide food, medicine and emergency services despite challenges; on 4 February, PRCS reported that Israeli forces stopped an ambulance at the entrance of Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm, delaying it for half an hour, and detained the emergency medical team.

Humanitarian Developments (28 January- 3 February 2025)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians, including two children, and injured over 150 others, including at least 32 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. One Israeli soldier was killed, and five others were injured during operations in Jenin. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 28 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man who was reportedly sitting at a car wash facility during a raid in Tulkarm city. A Palestinian female journalist was injured during the same raid.
  • On 29 January, two Israeli drone strikes hit the front yard of a residential building, killing 10 Palestinians, including one child, in Tammun town, in Tubas.
  • On 30 January, undercover Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man while he was walking with his wife and children in Nablus city. His seven-year-old daughter was shot and injured in the thigh. The man reportedly exchanged fire with Israeli forces.
  • On 1 February, Israeli airstrikes killed three Palestinians, including a 14-year-old child, and injured two others, including a 17-year-old child, in Jenin city. The first strike hit a group of Palestinians near a residential house, killing the 14-year-old child and, about three to four hours later, a second strike hit a motorbike, killing the Palestinian riding it and a nurse who was nearby.
  • On 1 February, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Qabatiya town, in Jenin. Seven Palestinians were injured in the strike, including a 13-year-old child who sustained critical head wounds.
  • On 1 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 51-year-old Palestinian man and injured 15 others − 10 with live ammunition and five due to physical assault − in Tulkarm refugee camp.
  • On 2 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured four others, including two children aged 13 and 15 years, in Al 'Arrub refugee camp, in Hebron. During the operation, Palestinians threw stones at the forces, who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the Palestinians.
  • On 2 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 73-year-old Palestinian man when he went to check on his home in Jenin refugee camp. The man had been reportedly displaced from the camp and was reportedly hit by a sniper.
• The number of Palestinian children killed in the West Bank has increased significantly over the past two years, compared with the preceding 18 years since OCHA began systematically documenting casualties in 2005. Since January 2023, 224 children (218 boys and 6 girls) have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, or nearly half of all child fatalities in the West Bank documented by OCHA since 2005 (224 out of 468). These include 11 children killed (all by Israeli forces) since the beginning of 2025, including six killed in airstrikes and 10 killed in the northern governorates of the West Bank. This is generally consistent with trends observed over the past two years; in 2023 and 2024, 64 per cent of Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank were in the northern governorates, 82 per cent were shot by live ammunition, and 18 per cent were killed by airstrikes (all in the northern West Bank, mainly in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates). Furthermore, more than 2,500 Palestinian children were injured between January 2023 and December 2024, 28 per cent of them by live ammunition. So far in 2025, 89 Palestinian children were reported injured by Israeli forces or settlers, 48 per cent of them by live ammunition. The significant number of children killed and injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces or in airstrikes raises concerns over unnecessary and excessive uses of force against children by Israeli forces during operations in the West Bank.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 17 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. In total, four Palestinians, including two children and two herders, were injured, and 50 olive trees and five vehicles were damaged. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 31 January, according to local sources, an Israeli settler, under the protection of Israeli forces, grazed his livestock near Palestinian homes in Al Mughayyir village (Ramallah). When Palestinians shouted at the settler to leave, Israeli forces fired live ammunition, injuring two children with live bullets in the leg and arm. No confrontations were reported.
  • On 1 February, a 57-year-old Palestinian herder was physically assaulted by a group of four armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Gav'ot settlement in Nahhalin village (Bethlehem). The settlers attacked the herder with stones and sticks, leaving him unconscious. Israeli forces subsequently transferred the man to an area where a PRCS ambulance transported him to the hospital.
  • On 2 February, according to local sources and video footage, two masked Israeli settlers, believed to be from surrounding settlement outposts, used flammable materials to ignite a fire in Al Mu'arrajat East Bedouin community (Jericho). A mosque and a tractor used for transporting water were burnt.
  • On 3 February, a group of armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Susiya settlement raided and attacked private properties in the Palestinian community of Susiya with stones and sharp objects. One vehicle, an agricultural tractor, window glass of two homes, two water tanks, and surveillance camera were damaged.
• Two of the above-mentioned incidents illustrate a broader trend of escalating attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the West Bank. For example, in Al Mu’arrajat East Bedouin community (Jericho), the total number of settler incidents rose from three incidents in both 2021 and 2022 to 20 incidents in 2023 and 74 incidents in 2024. The most notable increase was in incidents involving harassment, intimidation, and access restrictions, which rose from three to 60 incidents. Another example is Susiya, in Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron, which has seen a steady rise in documented settler incidents from five incidents in 2021 to 33 in 2024, with the most significant increase being in incidents that resulted in property damage, particularly affecting agricultural and animal-related structures as well as olive groves. Both communities have witnessed a sharp rise in settler incidents over the past two years, resulting in near-daily intimidation, night raids, threats, and destruction of property—generating a coercive environment that push Palestinians out of their current locations. Between 7 October 2023 and 31 December 2024, OCHA documented the displacement of 1,762 Palestinians, including 856 children, mainly in Bedouin and herding communities across the West Bank, citing heightened attacks by Israeli settlers and access restrictions.
• The restrictive and discriminatory planning regimes applied in Area C and East Jerusalem continue to prevent Palestinians from addressing basic housing needs, with the demolition of homes that lack Israeli-issued building permits being a primary cause of displacement. Between 28 January and 3 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 38 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and ten in East Jerusalem due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included 13 homes, of which eight were in Area C and five in East Jerusalem, whose demolition resulted in the displacement of 79 people, including 44 children. Displaced people included, among others, three families who were forced to demolish their homes in Jabal Al Mukabbir, Sur Bahir and Um Tuba areas of East Jerusalem and four families in Khirbet ad Deir, in Area C of Bethlehem governorate, who had their residential building demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration and Israeli forces. Moreover, during the reporting period, more than 170 people were otherwise affected by the demolition of livelihood and other structures across the West Bank, including a 100-square-metre mosque built of metal zinc sheets in 2023 on the rooftop of a building in Sur Bahir area of East Jerusalem. Over the past two years, Israeli authorities demolished or forced owners to demolish more than 430 structures in East Jerusalem, of which about half (222) were homes, leading to the displacement of over 1,200 Palestinians, including 590 children. The areas of Jabal Al Mukabbir and Silwan have been the most affected, accounting for about half of homes demolished (100) and people displaced (~600) in East Jerusalem since January 2023.
• Over the past week, two punitive demolitions took place in the West Bank.
  • On 29 January, Israeli forces demolished a house in the Shweika neighbourhood of Tulkarm city on punitive grounds, displacing a family of four people, including a woman and a child. The house belonged to a Palestinian man who was killed by Israeli forces in May 2024 and was accused by Israeli authorities of involvement in a shooting attack that resulted in the killing of an Israeli reserve soldier in November 2023.
  • On 30 January, Israeli forces demolished a house in Qalqiliya city on punitive grounds, displacing two households comprising seven people, including two women and two children. The house belonged to a Palestinian who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 3 August 2024 in Tulkarm city. The man was accused by Israeli authorities of involvement in a shooting attack in Qalqiliya that resulted in the killing of an Israeli settler in June 2024.
• As of 30 January, Knesset legislation targeting UNRWA activity was implemented, including a no-contact policy between UNRWA and Israeli authorities. UNRWA was forced to vacate its compound located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, but the compound remains subject to the privileges and immunities of the United Nations in accordance with the General Convention. All international UNRWA staff stationed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, withdrew under protest by the end of January, following the non-renewal of their visas, and they continue to work remotely. Following the implementation of the Israeli bills, several small protests were held by Israelis in the vicinity of the compound, including one where the UNRWA signboard was desecrated. UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank continue, including the delivery of services in East Jerusalem. UNRWA runs six schools, one vocational training centre, and two health centres in East Jerusalem, including in Shu’fat refugee camp. These facilities remain open and serving Palestine refugee communities; however, UNRWA staff working in these facilities face an increasingly hostile operational environment. According to UNRWA, it is committed to stay and deliver on its mandate.

Developments in the northern West Bank

• Since Israeli forces launched a large-scale operation in Jenin on 21 January, 39 Palestinians have been killed, including 25 in Jenin, 10 in Tubas and four in Tulkarm. The operation extended to Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps on 27 January; according to local sources, Israeli forces evacuated several families from Al Balawneh, Al Shuhada and Al Nadi areas in Tulkarm refugee camp, and took control of multiple houses in Muraba'et Hanoun and Al Hamam areas, turning them into military posts. On 3 February, Israeli forces raided and imposed curfew on El Far’a refugee camp, in Tubas, and blocked the camp’s entrances, preventing entry and exit except for about 100 families who fled or were forced to leave by Israeli forces. Furthermore, Israeli forces carried out house-to-house search operations in Tammun town, also in Tubas. Ongoing operations have resulted in widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure and caused large-scale displacement.
• Over 90 per cent of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced to Jenin city and surrounding villages over the past two months, during both Israeli and Palestinian forces operations. In Tulkarm refugee camp, Israeli forces operations have so far displaced over 12,000 people or about 90 per cent of the camp’s population.* In Tubas, at least 18 families have been displaced from Tammun and at least 100 families have been displaced from El Far'a refugee camp. Humanitarian partners estimate that 82 per cent of displaced families are currently living in rented accommodation, many of which are unfurnished. Therefore, priority needs include cash assistance for rent costs, bedding kits, dignity kits and kitchen kits. Despite difficulties in accessing Jenin and Tulkarm, humanitarian partners have so far provided some 3,000 bedding kits to displaced people in Jenin and Tulkarm, with more planned for imminent distribution. Other challenges related to the shelter response include a shortage in housing units available for rent by displaced families and an increase in rent prices.
• On 2 February, Israeli forces detonated 23 residential structures in Jenin refugee camp, affecting more than 50 families. Commenting on the incident, UNRWA released a statement, noting that: “In a split-second yesterday, large swathes of Jenin camp were completely destroyed in a series of controlled detonations... In the last months, Jenin camp has been rendered a ghost town.” The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) also stated: “Controlled explosions reportedly demolished over 20 buildings in Jenin yesterday in violation of international humanitarian law prohibition of destruction by an occupying power. Daily reports of airstrikes and associated fatalities with thousands forcibly displaced indicate ongoing violations of international law... We remind Israel of its international legal obligations and call on it to cease and investigate all serious violations of international law, including all killings, and ensure meaningful accountability.”
• According to Jenin Municipality, Israeli forces have destroyed five kilometres of roads, including those leading to Jenin Governmental Hospital, which damaged pipelines and affected water availability in the hospital. Israeli forces have also surrounded the Jenin Governmental Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm. According to aid actors, Israeli forces are conducting searches on all those entering or exiting the hospitals, including ambulances, which are searched twice (when transferring a patient in and when leaving the hospital), hindering medical efforts. Escalating attacks on health care, including hospitals, health workers and ambulances, have been documented by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 24 attacks on health care documented in January 2025, the majority in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. Such attacks have continued in February; on 2 February, Jenin Governmental Hospital was struck with live ammunition that impacted its chemotherapy ward and damaged the wall of the facility and broke windows.
• Health partners have scaled up responses to the ongoing health needs. Mobile clinic services have been set up in villages surrounding Jenin camp, UNRWA expanded the hours of operation at four of its clinics in surrounding villages, and emergency stocks have been dispatched by WHO to the four main hospitals in the northern governorates (Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and Nablus). Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services focusing on children, women, caregivers, persons with disabilities and the elderly are also being provided. PRCS reported that between 19 January and 1 February, they had evacuated 4,074 civilians, including the elderly and children, from the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem. PRCS also provided humanitarian and relief assistance to 914 families, comprising 3,610 people, delivered essential medicines (particularly in Jenin), and delivered blood units between hospitals to ensure their availability for patients in need.

Movement Restrictions in H2 area of Hebron

• In January 2025, access restrictions and movement-related incidents in the Israeli- controlled H2 area of Hebron continued to intensify, reinforcing the systematic movement restrictions imposed by Israeli forces, especially after 7 October 2023. In January 2025, OCHA documented the detention of 26 Palestinians in the H2 area, mostly while crossing checkpoints or returning to their homes, compared with an average of 18 people detained per month within this context in 2024 (total of 223) and seven detained per month in 2023 (total of 87). These include several cases of prolonged detentions at military bases or inside settlements and physical assault during detention. There were five incidents among the documented cases in January in which 11 people were detained, of whom eight were physically assaulted and injured. According to local sources, most detainees experience severe physical assault, yet only a fraction seek medical treatment upon their release for fear of reprisal. Overall, checkpoint closures have been recurrent, with multiple access points—including those leading to Tal Rumeida, Ash Shuhada Street, and Al Ibrahimi Mosque—closing for extended periods of time and affecting the movement of thousands of Palestinian residents. Israeli forces also continued to deploy mobile checkpoints, conduct ID and phone searches, and confiscate devices. Over the past two years (2023–2024), OCHA documented the detention of 474 Palestinians in the H2 area of Hebron, compared with 285 people detained in 2021 and 2022 combined.

Funding

• As of 6 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.4 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

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