Humanitarian Situation Update #268 | 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 4 March.

Key Highlights

• As the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank enters its sixth week, tens of thousands remain internally displaced in Jenin and Tulkarm and humanitarian partners have mobilized to scale up assistance to families in need, amid an increasingly challenging operating environment.
• Two Palestinian children were shot and killed by Israeli forces on 21 February in Jenin and Hebron.
• Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian communities in the West Bank over the past week have resulted in the injury of at least 10 Palestinians, widespread damage to property and the displacement of at least 17 Palestinian families.
• Rising settler violence over the past two years has reshaped displacement trends in Area C of the West Bank, surpassing demolitions as a key driver of displacement in Bedouin and herding communities.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 18 and 24 February, Israeli forces killed five* Palestinians, including two children, and injured 39 others, including eight children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, a Palestinian man driving with his wife in Tulkarm city was killed when an Israeli military jeep collided with their vehicle in what appears to be an accident. The woman sustained injuries and was transported to the hospital. 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 19 February, undercover Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians in El Far'a refugee camp, south of Tubas, after encircling a residential building and launching a shoulder-fired explosive projectile at it. The three bodies were withheld by Israeli forces.
  • On 21 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old girl in Jenin city and a 13-year-old boy in Jabal Johar neighbourhood, bordering the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city. According to local sources and human rights organizations, the girl was reportedly in the courtyard of her family home when she was shot, and her brother and cousin could not immediately reach her due to continued firing by Israeli forces. In Hebron city, according to eyewitnesses, the boy was killed while standing outside his grandparents’ house at the time of a raid by Israeli forces, during which there was stone throwing by Palestinians toward Israeli forces who fired live ammunition. Following the death of the two children, UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell stated: “Heartbreaking news that two Palestinian children were killed on Friday...This year alone, 17 children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It must stop.”
• Between 18 and 24 February, OCHA documented 24 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, ten Palestinians were injured, including eight by Israeli settlers and two by Israeli forces, and about 70 olive and 20 cactus trees and saplings were vandalized. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 19 February, Israeli forces physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians, while they accompanied Israeli settlers during a raid into East Tayba Bedouin community, in Ramallah. According to residents, the settlers and forces raided the homes of seven Palestinian families, detained them all in one structure for four hours, and seized their mobile phones. After the forces and settlers withdrew, the families found that furniture in their homes had been damaged. Moreover, five vehicles, at least one water tank, and a storage room containing flour and fodder sacks had been vandalised and jewellery and money had been stolen.
  • On 21 February, a Palestinian family of seven herders, including four women, were forcibly displaced from the outskirts of Ein Yabroud village, in Ramallah, where they had been living for decades, after armed Israeli settlers broke into their shelters after midnight and assaulted them physically and verbally. The settlers also reportedly stole an electric generator belonging to the family. The attack followed daily harassment and threats facing the community following the establishment of a nearby settlement outpost in mid-February. Fearing further violence and theft of their livestock, the family was forced to leave the area, leaving behind their two residential and four animal shelters.
  • On 22 February, a Palestinian family of four, including two children, was displaced when their home was set on fire by Israeli settlers during a violent attack on Ma’azi Jaba’ Bedouin community in Area C of the Jerusalem governorate. A group of about 17 armed and masked settlers, believed to be from a nearby, newly-established settlement outpost, raided the community carrying flammable materials, clubs and stones; they fully burnt one home and one vehicle, partially burnt an animal shelter and a fodder storage room, and damaged a donor-funded mobile latrine and three solar panels. During the incident, about 60 additional settlers, accompanied by several members of Israeli forces, entered the community, stormed five homes and vandalized property, and physically assaulted four Palestinians who were injured with stones. According to residents, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and closed the entrance to the community, preventing the entry of fire trucks.
  • On 23 February, Israeli settlers vandalized and grazed their sheep on lands belonging to Dhaher al 'Abed village, west of Jenin city. According to affected farmers and the village council, the settlers vandalized an 80-metre-long metal fence and grazed hundreds of sheep on agricultural lands, causing damage to at least 70 olive trees and saplings.
• On 22 February, about 200 masked Israeli settlers, some of whom were armed, attacked four Palestinian livestock farms and one poultry farm on the eastern outskirts of Deir Dibwan town, in Ramallah, under the protection of Israeli forces. The attack resulted in the forced displacement of 15 Palestinian families, comprising 90 people, including 60 children and the loss of property and livestock. According to local community sources, settlers fired live ammunition, physically assaulted herders, and looted around 1,000 goats and sheep. In one of the targeted farms, settlers attacked a Palestinian family, physically assaulting a man and a child, stealing a mobile phone, and damaging two others as the family attempted to document the attack. The settlers then forced the family to remain inside their home, threatening to kill them if they left. During the attack, all the livestock from this farm and an adjacent one were stolen, along with a horse, two vehicles, and two donkeys. Israeli forces closed roads leading to the affected farms while settlers continued their assault. As a result, the livelihoods of at least eight Palestinian households were severely affected. Between 1 January 2023 and 31 January 2025, OCHA documented the displacement of 2,275 Palestinians, including 1,117 children, across the West Bank, citing heightened settler violence and access restrictions.
• Since OCHA began systematically documenting demolition incidents and displacement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2009 until recently, the main direct driver of displacement of Palestinians was the demolition of homes for lacking building permits issued by the Israeli authorities, due to restrictive and discriminatory planning regimes applied in Area C and East Jerusalem. However, in the past two years, displacement patterns have shifted, reflecting broader changes in the protection environment for Palestinian communities, particularly herding and Bedouin communities in Area C. In 2023, settler violence became a leading cause of displacement with more than 1,600 people displaced due to settler violence and access restrictions (mainly in Bedouin and herding communities), compared with about 300 people displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions in these communities. In 2024, about 620 people were displaced due to settler violence and access restrictions (mainly in Bedouin and herding communities), compared with nearly 370 displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions in these communities. Between 2020 and 2024, settler-related incidents targeting Bedouin and herding communities that resulted in casualties, property damage or both increased nearly sevenfold, rising from about 50 incidents in 2020 to approximately 330 incidents in 2024. This shift underscores the growing role of settler violence as a primary driver of displacement in the West Bank and the increasingly coercive environment within which Bedouin and herding communities in Area C live.
• On 24 February, The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres , addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council, raising concerns over the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and rising settler violence, stating: ”I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation.”
• Between 18 and 24 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 28 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included seven structures in East Jerusalem, and 21 structures in Area C, displacing 58 people, including 28 children, and otherwise affecting around 70 people. Over 40 per cent of displaced people (24 people) were due to demolitions in the Jabal al Mukabbir area of East Jerusalem. In addition, on 20 February, Israeli forces demolished, with explosives, a four-story residential structure on punitive grounds in Salfit city, displacing three households, comprising ten people, including four children.
• On 10 February, the Israeli Civil Administration issued a notice of intent to allot state lands for herding purposes around the Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community, in Jericho governorate. More than 100 Palestinian Bedouin families, comprising about 700 people who rely on herding as a main source of income, are affected by this notice and fear that it will be used by settlers from surrounding settlement outposts to further intensify pressure the community. Moreover, on 4 February, Israeli settlers bulldozed the western area of Ras 'Ein al 'Auja community, opening a road that connects two settlement outposts out of five outposts that currently surround the community. Since January 2024, Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja Bedouin community has faced a growing number of attacks by Israeli settlers, with a total of over 100 incidents documented by OCHA, of which more than 40 resulted in casualties or property damage. This is an alarming increase compared with only five attacks documented in the ten years prior. The settler attacks have included cases of physical assault on shepherds as their flocks graze, forcing them to increasingly rely on expensive fodder to avoid grazing in open areas. Settlers have also been regularly breaking into the community, in some cases setting fire to structures, cutting off water pipes, making their livestock feed off on fodder belonging to families or physically assaulting residents seeking to access the nearby water spring.

Developments in northern West Bank

• The Israeli operation in the northern West Bank, which began on 21 January, has entered its sixth week, making it the longest operation in the West Bank in two decades. Humanitarian partners continue to face movement restrictions in reaching people in need, including emergency health care providers, such as Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), seeking to transport the injured or evacuate families to safer areas. In total, since 21 January, at least 55 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates. This is in addition to a Palestinian man who, on 26 February, succumbed to wounds sustained during an Israeli forces’ airstrike on Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm, on 24 December 2024.
• In Tubas governorate, the operation lasted for about a week and 10 days in Tammun town and El Fara’a refugee camp, respectively, between 2 and 12 February. Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the vast majority of the approximately 4,000 Palestinians who had been displaced from El Far’a refugee camp have returned to the camp and UNRWA services have resumed in full, including schools serving over 1,300 students.
• Between 23 and 25 February, Israeli forces carried out a two-day operation in Qabatiya town, in Jenin, during which a boy was injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces and there was significant destruction of infrastructure, including electricity and water lines.
• On 25 February, Israeli forces conducted a 14-hour raid in Nablus city that affected several neighbourhoods, during which Palestinians youth threw stones at military vehicles and Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas cannisters. In total, one Palestinian man, reportedly a passer-by, was shot and killed by Israeli forces and 31 Palestinians, including a baby, were injured by live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and as a result of tear gas inhalation. Furthermore, on 26 February, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces raided Qalqiliya city, during which they shot and killed a 16-year-old boy.
• On 23 February, the Israeli Minister of Defence announced that the 40,000 Palestinians displaced from Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps would not be allowed to return, as he instructed Israeli forces to remain in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps for at least a year. Furthermore, Israeli forces announced that tanks were deployed in Jenin, marking the first tank deployment in the West Bank since the early 2000s.
• On 24 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its concern about the impact of the ongoing operations, especially for those displaced: “Many people have fled their homes to take shelter, including in crowded mosques and schools. With many homes damaged or destroyed, people are struggling to access basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care, and shelter. Winter weather has made it more difficult to survive. Displaced civilians are also struggling to find information about family members who have gone missing or who might have been detained.”
• On 25 and 26 February, OCHA, UNRWA and other partners led an assessment of the needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Jenin and Tulkarm. According to UNRWA, over 37,400 Palestinians have been displaced in the two governorates, primarily from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where UNRWA has been forced to fully suspend operations due to ongoing operations. The assessment covered 10 IDP shelters and 50 families staying with relatives or friends or renting apartments. The assessment found that many families have been displaced multiple times since the start of the operations. Furthermore, many families have lost their livelihoods and are not able to cover the basic needs of their families. They report that aid so far has been insufficient to cover their needs as the operation has gone on for more than a month, with no clear end in sight. Lastly, access to food is limited, with some IDPs reporting a reduction in meals consumed per day. Aid actors report that more than 5,000 people from Jenin refugee camp have received one-off cash assistance and over 2,000 food parcels have been distributed to displaced families in Tubas, Tulkarm, and Jenin governorates, as of 20 February, with plans underway to distribute hot meals through community kitchens during Ramadan.
• The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) have been forced to suspend education activities in Jenin city, leaving 200 children without essential socio-emotional learning. The activities were focused on supporting crisis-affected children by adapting classrooms and equipping educators to address trauma. However, ongoing operations, including airstrikes, have destroyed infrastructure, and made it nearly impossible to safely conduct the activities. Assistance will continue from Ramallah, but according to IRC, children remain exposed to routine military and settler violence. While the new school semester began on 2 February, 10 UNRWA schools serving more than 5,000 children in the northern West Bank remain closed and many students have limited access to remote learning.

Funding

• As of 27 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$156.9 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.9 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 12 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.