Humanitarian Situation Report | 28 August 2026

Highlights

• Since the beginning of 2026, more than 1,040 Palestinians have been injured in settler attacks, with 80 settler incidents resulting in casualties or property damage in the second and third weeks of August.
• Three families in Qusra remained isolated following the establishment of a new settlement outpost in Area B around 9 August, while humanitarian access negotiations enabled partners to reach the families with assistance.
• On 25 August, Israeli forces forcibly entered UNRWA’s Kalandia Training Centre in East Jerusalem, which Israeli officials indicated had been seized, putting the education of 340 Palestine refugee youth at immediate risk.
• In Gaza, 58 per cent of the population is facing severe deficiencies in shelter conditions or access to essential services and non-food items, exposing them to serious health, safety and dignity risks.
• Preparations for the rainy season are underway but are held back by restrictions on the entry of supplies access to land within Gaza and funding shortfalls.
• Days of intensified airstrikes resulted in civilian casualties and damage to humanitarian structures and to critical supplies .

Overview

In a briefing to the Security Council on 26 August, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim said that “tensions are rising and uncertainty deepens in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” While calling for steps towards recovery and a lasting political settlement, Dr. Alakbarov – who is also the Humanitarian Coordinator – said that people’s needs remain immense and urgent. He warned that humanitarian actors, especially international non-governmental organizations, “continue to face operational constraints related to access, supplies, and funding, with the 2026 Flash Appeal only 40 per cent funded.”

Speaking on the Gaza Strip, he said that people continue to endure intolerable conditions and immense hardship. He warned that amid Israeli airstrikes, drone attacks, ground operations, and persistent humanitarian challenges, people are losing hope. “Around two-thirds of Gaza remain inaccessible or subject to severe access restrictions, leaving civilians confined to overcrowded and insecure areas… Soon, winter will descend on Gaza.” Efforts to prepare for the rainy season “must be scaled up and facilitated. Plans are in place, but stocks of shelter and non-food items are depleted, access constraints on the entry of critical humanitarian items continue, and funding remains critically low.” Dr. Alakbarov called for the restoration of electricity, including by operationalizing the Gaza Power Plant.

Speaking on the West Bank, he warned that large-scale settler attacks “continue with virtually no accountability for these crimes. Israeli security forces have frequently failed to protect Palestinians from settler attacks and, in some cases, have reportedly facilitated or participated in such violence. Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the civilian population is protected, and perpetrators are held to account.”

West Bank

The reporting period for this section is 11 to 24 August unless otherwise specified.

Humanitarian needs across the West Bank continued to be driven by operations by Israeli forces, settler violence, demolitions and movement restrictions. These practices have also disrupted access to essential services and constrained humanitarian operations, amid persistent funding shortages. According to the Education Cluster, on 23 August, Israeli forces entered a girls’ secondary school in Jericho, causing damage to parts of the building just weeks before the new school year is due to begin. In Masafer Yatta, community-supported clearance of rubble began at a mixed basic school partially demolished by the Israeli authorities on 4 August, while rehabilitation and alternative learning arrangements remain suspended due to the risk of further demolition.

In a significant development following the reporting period, on 25 August, Israeli forces forcibly entered the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Kalandia Training Centre (KTC) in occupied East Jerusalem, after which Israeli officials indicated in public statements that the premises had been seized by the Israeli authorities. This marked the fifth unauthorized entry by Israeli forces into the Centre since May this year. UNRWA issued a statement condemning the unauthorized incursion, describing it as unacceptable and emphasizing that the KTC, as a United Nations facility, is protected by the privileges and immunities afforded to the agency under international law and that its inviolability must be fully respected. Later the same day, clashes erupted in the surrounding area, during which Israeli forces reportedly fired tear gas canisters and live ammunition, resulting in at least nine injuries. The UN Secretary-General condemned the actions in the strongest terms, including the unlawful entry, continued presence and unauthorized works on the premises, and reiterated that UN premises are inviolable and immune from interference. The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim also condemned the unauthorized entry and unlawful seizure, warning that it would immediately deprive 340 Palestine refugee youth from the West Bank of their right to education, with thousands more at risk in the coming years. Established in 1952, the KTC is UNRWA’s oldest vocational training centre and has served Palestine refugees for more than seven decades, providing free vocational education and skills training to hundreds of students annually, many of whom come from refugee camps across the occupied West Bank and face significant socio-economic hardship.

Partners leading on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) continued to respond to acute and prolonged water insecurity. Following the technical breakdown at the Mekorot-operated Beit Iba well on 24 July, which disrupted water supply to communities in the northern West Bank, the WASH Cluster mobilized emergency water trucking to three communities in Nablus governorate – Tell, Qusin and Bizzariya – based on assessed needs and gaps in alternative bulk water supplies. Partners also continued water trucking to 10 communities in Masafer Yatta, more than 1,500 people displaced from Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, and over 2,000 displaced people at the Arab American University displacement site in Jenin, where sewage desludging is also ongoing. Emergency water trucking continued in 15 additional locations, primarily supporting people recently displaced due to settler violence.

Humanitarian partners continued shelter and protection assistance. Between 10 and 23 August, Shelter partners provided shelter repairs, non-food items and cash assistance to 1,475 people from 348 households, primarily in Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron governorates. During the same period, partners addressing gender-based violence (GBV) maintained specialized services across 16 service delivery points and 40 safe spaces for women and girls, including psychosocial support, case management, emergency assistance and mobile outreach. Funding shortages, which have resulted in the closure of two Women and Girls Safe Spaces, alongside movement restrictions and settler violence, continued to constrain access to and delivery of GBV services. Mine action partners provided risk education on explosive ordnance, conflict preparedness and protection sessions to more than 2,000 people across six governorates. Since the beginning of 2026, child protection partners have provided mental health and psychosocial support to more than 57,000 children, including over 2,200 children with disabilities, and nearly 25,700 caregivers.

Casualties and Settler Violence

Between 11 and 24 August, members of Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians, including two boys, in three incidents in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron governorates. Two Palestinians, including one child, were killed during operations by Israeli forces on 21 and 23 August in Jenin city and Askar Camp, respectively. On 21 August, an Israeli settlement guard shot and killed a Palestinian boy and critically injured another Palestinian during an attack by more than 50 Israeli settlers on the Hamrush community near Sa'ir village in Hebron governorate. In the same incident, settlers damaged four residential structures and set fire to another structure, destroying about seven tonnes of stored fodder.

During the reporting period, over 100 Palestinians, including eleven children and nine women, and one off-duty Israeli soldier were injured. More than two thirds of Palestinian injuries occurred in the context of settler attacks, including 55 Palestinians injured by Israeli settlers. Recurrent attacks were reported in and around Al Mughayyir in Ramallah governorate, including along the village's only access road, where settler attacks repeatedly injured Palestinians, damaged vehicles and disrupted movement. On 20 August alone, 11 Palestinians were injured during an attack on the village. On the same day, another 11 Palestinians were injured during a night-time settler attack on the Deir Shams community near Adh Dhahiriya in Hebron governorate, during which more than 240 sheep were reportedly stolen and homes, vehicles and an animal shelter were damaged. On 23 August, a Palestinian child stabbed and injured an off-duty member of Israeli forces traveling with his family near Al Auja, in Jericho governorate. Following the attack, Israeli forces closed the village, raided several homes and a school, and detained a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in connection with the incident.

Since the beginning of 2026, 79 Palestinians, including 19 children, have been killed and about 1,870 injured by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank. Of these, 23 Palestinians were killed and over 1,040 injured in the context of settler attacks. The frequency of injuries directly caused by Israeli settlers has risen sharply, from an average of one Palestinian injured every three days in 2020, to two per day in 2025 and more than three per day so far in 2026.

During the reporting period, OCHA documented 80 attacks by Israeli settlers that resulted in Palestinian casualties, property damage or both. Incidents included recurrent attacks on some of the same communities, affecting Palestinians' access to homes, agricultural land and roads, as well as water and electricity infrastructure. Settler attacks also resulted in the displacement of three households: one family of six, including four children, after settlers set fire to their home near Yatta town of the Hebron governorate on 20 August, and two families comprising nine people, including two children, after settlers burned their residential and livelihood structures in Burqa, Ramallah governorate, on 22 August.

Access Restrictions Linked to Settlement Expansion

The establishment of Israeli settlement outposts, previously concentrated in Area C, has increasingly extended into Area B. According to Israeli group Peace Now, settlers have established at least 26 outposts in Area B of the West Bank over the past two and a half years, including 19 since the end of 2024, most of them in recent months. Peace Now estimates that settlers have taken control of more than 100,000 dunams (24,710 acres) in Areas A and B, including 55,000 dunams (13,591 acres) in Area B, and reports that violence and threats have been used to restrict Palestinian access to land and, in some cases, pressure families to leave their homes.

In Qusra, Nablus governorate, the establishment of a new settlement outpost in Area B around 9 August, near three Palestinian households in the Ras Al Ein area, was followed by increased presence of Israeli forces and settlers, damage to water and electricity infrastructure, and restrictions on Palestinian movement and access. On 15 August, after the municipality obtained Israeli approval to repair infrastructure damaged by settlers, settlers physically assaulted and injured two members of the repair team and Israeli forces detained four electricity workers, preventing the completion of repairs. On 23 August, municipality workers delivered food to the families, following access approval by Israeli authorities.

As of 26 August, the three families remained subject to severe access and movement restrictions, with two of the four roads connecting the area to the rest of Qusra under Israeli control: one through a permanent military checkpoint and another where Israeli forces have reportedly installed a road gate. One of the affected homes had also been occupied by Israeli forces for about 10 days. Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces on 23 August, the family was able to return to their home. During the period of the takeover, Israeli forces removed most of the family’s belongings from the house, many of which were reportedly damaged. Through coordinated access, humanitarian partners were able to reach the affected families with some essential assistance, including food, water, medicines and other basic supplies.

In Hebron governorate, on 12 August, a humanitarian assessment was conducted in Surif and Halhul following an increase in settler attacks and access restrictions in areas affected by the establishment and expansion of settlement outposts in Area C. In Al Quraynat area of Surif, home to about 65 Palestinian families, Israeli settlers established two settlement outposts in 2025 and mid-2026. Since January 2025, there have been 16 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage in the area, compared with eight such attacks in the preceding five years. The severity of incidents has also increased: since January 2025, one Palestinian has been killed and 20 others injured by Israeli settlers or forces during settler attacks, compared with seven injuries and no fatalities in the preceding five years. During the assessment, residents reported recurrent shootings, physical assaults and intimidation by settlers, damage to homes, agricultural land and livelihood assets, and increasing restrictions on their access to agricultural and grazing land.

In Halhul town in Hebron governorate, seven new settlement outposts have been established since May 2025. Palestinian residents reported that the establishment and expansion of these settlement outposts and associated restrictions have constrained their access to about 14,000 of 37,000 dunams (3,459 – 9,143 acres) they own, much of which is productive agricultural land. Farmers reported reduced agricultural production and income due to access restrictions, settler attacks and the designation of some farmland as “military zones.” The assessment also highlighted the impact on access to essential services and protection concerns. In Wadi Muhaisin, seven families comprising about 90 people face movement restrictions that disrupt their access to schools, health care, and other essential services. For the past eight months, Israeli forces have reportedly prevented residents from using a route near a closed road gate close to Karmi Tsur Israeli settlement, forcing schoolchildren and other residents to take a four-kilometre detour along narrow agricultural routes to reach schools and other essential services. Residents also reported settler harassment while travelling along these routes, alongside psychosocial distress among children, women and families exposed to recurrent violence and intimidation.

Operations by Israeli Forces and Access Disruptions

During the reporting period, OCHA documented at least 22 raids, search operations and other operations by Israeli forces involving detentions, temporary home evacuations and movement restrictions, including in Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm and Hebron governorates. On 13 August, amid the reported return of Israeli settlers to the former Ganim settlement east of Jenin city, which was evacuated in 2005, Israeli forces established checkpoints and closed sections of Road 60, cutting off direct access to Jenin city for about 10 villages comprising more than 20,000 Palestinians. On 17 August, Israeli forces temporarily evacuated for seven hours about 10 families from Jabal an Naser neighbourhood in Tulkarm, due to military activities near the adjacent Nur Shams refugee camp. Israeli military bulldozers excavated part of a road, damaging water and sewage networks, and carried out excavation works on Palestinian land before withdrawing. Families reportedly returned to their homes, and municipal crews repaired the damaged infrastructure once Israeli security forces withdrew from the area. A separate 10-hour operation in Qabatiya, in Jenin, involved searches of about 100 homes and the detention of more than 60 Palestinians. On 19 August, Israeli forces imposed a curfew for more than 12 hours affecting an estimated 40,000 Palestinians in Adh Dhahiriya town in Hebron governorate, where they detained and interrogated about 40 Palestinians and took over seven homes for use as interrogation sites, confining the affected families to single rooms.

Demolitions and Forced Evictions

During the reporting period, OCHA documented 22 incidents in which 79 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, five of which had been provided as humanitarian assistance following previous demolitions. The demolitions displaced 16 households comprising 73 people, including 34 children, and otherwise affected more than 280 people, including about 100 children. Three structures were demolished in Kafr Sur, in Tulkarm, in proximity to the Barrier and 76 structures were demolished for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, including 66 in Area C and 10 in East Jerusalem. Demolished structures included 15 residential structures and 64 livelihood-related, agricultural, and water and sanitation structures.

More than half of those displaced – 45 Palestinians, including 22 children – were in Beit Hanina, Jabal al Mukabbir and Silwan in East Jerusalem, following demolitions of residential structures carried out by Israeli forces or by owners following the receipt of demolition orders. In Jabal al Mukabbir, 22 people, including 13 children, were displaced in two incidents on 12 and 14 August; in Silwan, 13 people, including five children, were displaced in two incidents on 12 and 17 August; and in Beit Hanina, three refugee households comprising 10 people, including four children, were displaced on 19 August when the Jerusalem Municipality, accompanied by Israeli forces, demolished a two-storey residential building. Some affected families reported losing belongings and furniture during the demolitions, including in Beit Hanina, where residents reported being prevented from retrieving most of their belongings before the building was demolished.

Separately, on 18 August, Israeli forces forcibly evicted two Palestinian households comprising eight people from parts of their three-storey residential building in the Batn al Hawa area of Silwan, East Jerusalem, in favour of the Israeli settler organization Ateret Cohanim. The families had built and inhabited the building prior to 1967. Following Israeli court proceedings over claims that parts of the building stand on land owned by Jews prior to 1948, settlers took over the second-floor apartment and parts of the third-floor apartment rendering it uninhabitable, as well as the main entrance and part of a ground-floor apartment inhabited by two elderly women, one of whom has mobility challenges. The women were left without independent access to their home and now require coordination through the settler-controlled section to enter or receive visitors.

Since the beginning of 2026, 24 Palestinian households comprising 93 people, including 30 children, have been forcibly evicted from their homes following Israeli court decisions, most of them in Silwan. Approximately 200 Palestinian households of about 900 people across East Jerusalem remain at risk of forced displacement due to ongoing eviction cases before Israeli courts, the majority initiated by Israeli settler organizations.

For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement, and settler violence between January 2005 and July 2026, please refer to the OCHA West Bank July 2026 Snapshot. For key figures on the impact of settler attacks, please refer to the West Bank – The Impact of Settler Attacks, January 2023 – April 2026.

Gaza Strip

The reporting period for this section is 10-23 August unless otherwise specified.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remained critical as military activities continued to result in civilian casualties, displacement, and damage to civilian and humanitarian infrastructure. Recent incidents affecting humanitarian facilities and warehouses have disrupted humanitarian operations and damaged critical infrastructure and supplies, while aid organizations continue to face severe access and security constraints.

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, which operates under the de facto authorities, 47 Palestinians were reported killed, including those who died of wounds and had their bodies retrieved from under the rubble, and 176 people were injured between 12 and 26 August. This brings the overall reported casualty toll since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement on 10 October 2025 to 1,303 fatalities and 4,336 injuries, according to MoH. Children continue to bear a disproportionate impact of the violence, with at least four children reportedly killed and several others sustaining life-changing injuries across the Strip over the past five days, underscoring the continuing risks faced by civilians despite the ceasefire framework.

On 23 August, three UN warehouses in Deir al Balah were damaged following an airstrike on an adjacent location. One warehouse sustained significant structural damage, while the other two were affected to a lesser extent. No major loss of stored supplies was reported. On 24 August, warehouses operated by Ard El Insan Palestinian Charitable Association (AEI), also in Deir al Balah, sustained extensive damage following a strike on an adjacent residential building. According to AEI's initial assessment, virtually all stored nutrition supplies – including supplements and specialized products for children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers – were rendered unusable due to debris, dust, and blast damage. Not far from there, the windows of a guesthouse used by a humanitarian partner were shattered. Overall, at least four airstrikes hit near humanitarian facilities on 24 August – in Ash Shati’ Camp, Al Bureij, and two locations in Deir al Balah.

Meanwhile, on 24 August, severe damage to a UNICEF-supported water well and desalination facility in Deir Al Balah has disrupted access to safe drinking water for more than 4,000 people, including around 2,000 children. Emergency water trucking is ongoing. These but the incidents further undermine access to essential nutrition and safe water services for affected families.

Critical shortages of medicines, medical supplies and laboratory reagents continued to severely strain Gaza’s health system, threatening the continuity of lifesaving services. The Ministry of Health reported that central stocks of IV solutions had been depleted. While diagnostic cardiac catheterisation services have resumed, shortages of essential consumables continue to limit access to therapeutic procedures. More broadly, persistent shortages of medicines, dialysis supplies, laboratory reagents, oxygen equipment and other critical items, combined with restrictions and delays affecting the entry of health commodities, continue to undermine health care.

According to the latest classification by the Shelter Cluster, based on surveys conducted between 14 and 28 June 2026, an estimated 1.98 million people (94 per cent of Gaza's population) require shelter assistance and non-food items (NFIs). More than half of the population (58%) faces critical or catastrophic shelter needs, which means that they face severe deficiencies in shelter conditions or access to essential services and NFIs, exposing them to serious health, safety and dignity risks. Some 84 per cent of households experience severe living condition constraints, including inadequate protection from weather conditions. The findings highlight exposure to environmental hazards, deteriorating temporary shelters, and limited access to essential services and housing repairs.

While these findings stress the need for timely support in preparing for the rainy season, such efforts are held back because stocks of shelter materials and NFIs are largely depleted, due to Israeli access restrictions and funding shortfalls. Shelter response is also limited because much of the land suitable for the establishment of safer displacement sites is off limits for most Palestinians, as Israeli authorities continue imposing access restrictions on most of the Gaza Strip’s area (south, east and north of the “Yellow Line” and beyond). Without adequate support, hundreds of thousands of people, including those living in damaged homes, makeshift shelters and overcrowded displacement sites, will face heightened risks of flooding, illness, malnutrition and cold-related health complications, particularly among children, elderly people and other vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, attempts by the de facto authorities to inspect humanitarian warehouses for alleged contraband continue. Between 27 July and 24 August, UN recorded at least four requests from the de facto authorities to search humanitarian warehouses, causing disruptions to humanitarian operations and breaching the inviolability of United Nations premises. No contraband was found.

Incoming Supplies

According to data collected by the Logistics Cluster, the UN and partners’ aid offloading rate, representing the proportion of truckloads successfully offloaded at Kerem Shalom against those authorized to be manifested each day, stood at 86 per cent, consistent with the previous reporting period. The Egyptian corridor continued to face the highest levels of truck returns and rejections, with an offloading rate of 76 per cent, consistent with the previous reporting period. The Ashdod route was the most utilized entry route for UN and partners’ humanitarian cargo during the reporting period, accounting for 45 per cent of all truckloads entering Gaza. By contrast, the use of the Jordan corridor declined compared with the previous reporting period. Kerem Shalom remained the only operational crossing point for cargo.

The UN is only able to confirm the entry of supplies tracked by UN 2720. For breakdowns of those, see the online UN 2720 Mechanism Dashboard.

For a detailed account of the latest humanitarian operations in Gaza, see Annex 1 below.

Funding

Sources: Financial Tracking System and oPt HFas of 28 August 2026.

Annexes

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