Humanitarian Situation Update #291 | West Bank

The Humanitarian Situation Updates on the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank are both issued every Wednesday. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Updates will be published on 28 May.

Key Highlights

• Between 13 and 19 May, Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians, including two children, in the West Bank, including five killed in an exchange of fire in Tubas governorate.
• A pregnant Israeli woman from Bruchin settlement was shot and killed in a shooting attack near Bruqin town, in Salfit governorate.
• For eight days since 14 May, Israeli forces have imposed a near-total closure on over 11,000 Palestinians in Burqin and Kafr ad Dik towns, in Salfit governorate, as settlers have escalated their attacks against Palestinians in the area.
• The number of Palestinian homes demolished by their owners in East Jerusalem for lacking Israeli-issued building permits has been on the rise. So far in 2025, 62 per cent of demolished structures in East Jerusalem were demolished by their owners.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 13 and 19 May, Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians and injured 45 others, and one Israeli woman was killed and her husband injured in a shooting attack. The following are details of the incidents that resulted in fatalities:
  • On 14 May, an Israeli woman from Bruchin settlement was shot and killed and her husband was injured in an alleged attack perpetrated by a Palestinian as they were travelling near Bruqin town, in Salfit governorate. The woman was nine-months pregnant, and doctors performed a C-section to save the baby, who remains in critical condition.
  • On 15 May, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in an exchange of fire, after they surrounded a house in Tammun town, in Tubas governorate, and launched shoulder-fired explosive projectiles at it. Israeli forces withheld the bodies of four fatalities, while the fifth body was later retrieved by residents. The house sustained damage and was rendered uninhabitable, resulting in the displacement of two families comprising six people.
  • On 16 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed and injured a member of Israeli forces near Bab as Silsileh (Chain Gate) – one of the entrances to Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. Eyewitnesses stated that the boy was left injured on the ground and did not receive medical attention for approximately 30 minutes. Israeli forces subsequently raided the house of the boy’s family in Beit Hanina, assaulted his family, and detained his parents and two of his siblings.
  • On 17 May, Israeli forces shot, killed, and withheld the body of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two others near the entrance of Burqa village, in Nablus governorate. According to the Israeli military, the boys were throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.
  • On 17 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation in Bruqin town, in Salfit governorate (more information below). According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), the man was reportedly arrested and detained for more than an hour before being killed while in custody. Israeli forces that he was killed while running toward them with a bag.
• Since the beginning of 2025, eight Israelis have been killed across the West Bank, all in the northern West Bank. Among them were four members of Israeli forces and four Israeli settlers. Four settlers and two members of Israeli forces were killed in shooting attacks or alleged attacks believed to be perpetrated by Palestinians, and two members of Israeli forces were killed by Palestinians while conducting operations. Since 2005, OCHA documented the killing of 197 Israelis, including 71 members of Israeli forces and 24 children, by Palestinians or people believed to be Palestinian in the West Bank, of whom 29 per cent (57) were killed since January 2023. The highest annual numbers of Israeli fatalities in the West Bank were in 2023, when 28 Israelis were killed, and each of 2024 and 2015 when 22 Israelis were killed.
• On 16 May, OHCHR called on Israel to cease its extrajudicial killing and unlawful use of force against Palestinians in the West Bank and to ensure that all those involved in unlawful killings are brought to justice. They stated: “Over the last two weeks, Israeli security forces have killed two Palestinian men in planned summary executions, while seven Palestinians were killed in conditions that raise concerns of the use of unnecessary or disproportionate lethal force. An Israeli woman was shot and killed on a highway in the occupied West Bank by as yet unidentified assailants. Israel must ensure that all those responsible for unlawful killings are brought to justice in fair trials.”
• Between 13 to 19 May, OCHA documented the demolition of 25 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. Four of the structures were demolished in East Jerusalem and 21 were in Area C, resulting in the displacement of eight households comprising 42 Palestinians, including 22 children, and otherwise affecting about 140 others. Of the total, 22 people, including 16 children, were displaced in East Jerusalem, of whom nine were in Um Tuba, eight in Jabal al Mukabbir, and five in Wadi al Joz. According to the displaced family in Um Tuba (a family of nine, including seven children), they received the first stop work order in 2003, have been fined over 200,000 NIS (US$56,380), and have been appealing in Israeli courts against the execution of the demolition order for more than 20 years. In Area C, the largest displacement incident took place in Salfit governorate; on 19 May, three households comprising 16 people, including six children (three of whom are newborns), were displaced when Israeli forces demolished a residential building in Area C of Bruqin town (see below).
• Two of the four structures demolished in East Jerusalem between 13 and 19 May were demolished by their owners following the receipt of demolition orders. In Jabal al Mukabbir, on 14 May, a family of eight was displaced after being forced to demolish their home, which had a demolition order issued against it in 2020. In Wadi al Joz, on 18 May, a family of five was forced to demolish the upper floor of a duplex where they lived, which had a demolition order issued against it in March 2025. Both families engaged in legal battles and paid fines in monthly instalments to the Jerusalem Municipality but resorted to demolition to avoid further financial penalties. As Israeli-issued building permits are nearly impossible to obtain and legal battles against demolition orders are protracted, many families in East Jerusalem have been increasingly forced to demolish their own homes to mitigate costs and avoid additional punitive measures. The number of Palestinian homes that are demolished by their owners in East Jerusalem has been on the rise over the past five years; between 2020 and 2024, OCHA documented the demolition of 521 structures by their owners in East Jerusalem, compared with 280 structures demolished by their owners between 2009 and 2019. The highest annual number of structures demolished by their owners was recorded in 2024, when 141 out of 215 structures (66 per cent) demolished in East Jerusalem for lacking Israeli-issued building permits were demolished by their owners. So far in 2025, 47 out of 76 structures (62 per cent) demolished in East Jerusalem for lacking Israeli-issued building permits were demolished by their owners.
• Between 13 to 19 May 2025, OCHA documented at least 28 attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers that led to casualties and/or property damage. The attacks resulted in the injury of nine Palestinians, including two children, of whom five were injured by Israeli soldiers and four by Israeli settlers. A foreign national and two Israeli activists were also injured by settlers. Additionally, the attacks involved the vandalism of at least 100 Palestinian-owned olive trees, 26 vehicles and other property, and the killing of 17 Palestinian-owned sheep. On 17 May, a settler physically assaulted and injured a two-year old Palestinian girl while she was walking with her mother in the Tal Rumeida neighbourhood of H2 area, in Hebron city, causing her to lose consciousness and fall to the ground. She was provided with first aid by Israeli forces and was transported to hospital. In a separate incident on 13 May, Israeli settlers, who were accompanied by Israeli forces, attacked Palestinian herders in at Tuwani, in Hebron governorate; they physically assaulted and injured three Palestinian herders using sticks and batons, killed 17 sheep and vandalized one vehicle.
• Following the shooting and killing of the pregnant Israeli woman on 14 May, Israeli settlers from Bruchin settlement, where she lived, and other surrounding settlements launched multiple attacks against Palestinians in different parts of Salfit governorate, including Haris, Deir Istiya and Bruqin towns and Salfit city. In the industrial area west of Salfit, settlers vandalized 17 Palestinian-owned vehicles, destroying 15 and damaging two. In Deir Istiya, Israeli settlers attempted to break into a home and set it on fire with a Molotov cocktail, which set fire to the house yard and curtains. In Haris, Israeli settlers raided the town and threw stones at a home and damaged one vehicle. In Bruqin, Israel settlers bulldozed over 200 dunums (49 acres) of land surrounding the town and erected a tent at the town’s entrance. According to Bruqin Municipality, the settlers have been constantly present at the entrances of the buildings closest to the newly erected tent and have been harassing and intimidating residents. In one incident, hundreds of settlers gathered and threw stones at Palestinian houses, breaking the windows and doors of at least three houses and setting a Palestinian-owned bulldozer on fire. Fearing for their safety, two families in the area have relocated, but they still have access to their homes.
• For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement and settler violence between January 2005 and March 2025, please refer to the OCHA West Bank March 2025 Snapshot.

Developments in the northern West Bank

• For eight days since 14 May, following the killing of an Israeli woman near Bruqin town, Israeli forces have imposed near-total closure on the towns of Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik, in Salfit governorate, with an estimated population of over 11,000 people. Israeli forces have additionally imposed sweeping access restrictions across the governorate; roads into Salfit city and surrounding villages (Bruqin, Haris, Kafr Haris, Kafr ad Dik, Yasuf and Iskaka) were closed, flying checkpoints set up, and a large‐scale operation was launched. Under curfew, residents have only been allowed to leave their homes for two hours a day. On 20 May, OHCHR raised their concern regarding these developments: “Israel must take immediate steps to end the apparent collective punishment of Palestinians in the West Bank. Following the killing of a pregnant Israeli woman by armed Palestinians on 14 May near Bruchin settlement, Salfit, Israeli security forces closed all entrances to the Palestinian villages of Kafr ad Dik and Bruqin, placed all residents under curfew denying them access to supplies, schools and critical health services, carried out mass arrests accompanied by physical assault, and confiscated and damaged land and property including schools.”
• In Bruqin town, home to over 4,800 Palestinians (2025 projections by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)), Israeli forces and settler bulldozers have excavated some 200 dunums (49 acres), mainly in the northwestern side of the village, within a ten-metre distance from Palestinian homes. In addition, settlers have erected a tent at the village entrance and attacked residents (see above). Furthermore, Israeli forces issued an order to confiscate 13 dunums (three acres) near the village for military purposes. Israeli forces have conducted widespread house-to-house searches and interrogations, and according to the municipality, took over at least one residential building to be used as an interrogation centre for five days and took over four other residences, which at the time of reporting are being used as military posts. In all five residences, the families were forced to leave and stay elsewhere in the village. Once Israeli forces left the building that was used as an interrogation centre, the family was allowed to return. On 15 May, in a separate incident, five families comprising 25 people fled their homes due to Israeli forces’ operations and were prevented from returning home for 48 hours. On 17 May, Israeli forces shot and killed one man in the town (see above).
• Also in Bruqin, on 19 May, Israeli forces, demolished a three-story residential building in Area C. The targeted structure comprised six apartments, three of which were inhabited, while the remaining three were in the final stages of construction. As a result, three households, comprising 16 people, were displaced. The displaced include five women, one of whom had given birth earlier this week, and six children, of whom three were newborns. The families were only given a 24-hour notice before the demolition took place and lost all their personal belongings. Israeli forces announced that this building was demolished due to its “illegality and security threat,” as it is near Road 446 and that over the next few weeks they would demolish more buildings along this road. According to the affected families, they had received a stop-work order in 2019 and had initiated legal proceedings through a humanitarian legal aid centre, but the demolition was carried out before the process was concluded.
• In Kafr ad Dik, a town home to over 6,600 Palestinians (PCBS 2025 projections), Israeli forces have been conducting a large-scale, search-and-arrest operation since 14 May. According to the municipality and local sources, Israeli forces have systematically entered 90 per cent of residential homes in the town and vandalized the residents’ private property, including vehicles. The only entrance to the town has been completely sealed off for seven days, barring all entry and exit. Multiple residents, primarily men, have been arrested during the ongoing operation.
• The Palestinian District Coordination and Liaison Office (PAL-DCO) has been serving as the main channel for coordinating access from and to Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik towns, particularly for urgent medical cases, including dialysis patients, and for the supply of food. According to the PAL-DCO, approval for coordination by Israeli authorities can take up to two hours. On 18 May, PAL-DCO successfully arranged a four-hour window for residents of both towns to access essential goods from local markets and pharmacies. However, Israeli forces have not allowed the delivery of bread to both towns, according to the PAL-DCO.
• Israeli forces continue to prevent the access of residents in Tulkarm refugee camps and in and around Jenin refugee camp. On 17 May, Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians, including a man in his sixties, as they attempted to return to their homes in Jenin refugee camp. On 18 May, two Palestinians attempted to retrieve their belongings from their homes in Tulkarm refugee camp, where Israeli forces have issued an order to demolish 58 structures. While attempting to enter, Israeli forces shot and injured both men. On 20 May, Israeli forces displaced three refugee families, comprising about 15 people, from their homes in the "Tal'at al Ghubaz" area, near Jenin refugee camp. These families had previously been ordered to leave during the initial stages of the operation on 21 January but had later returned to their homes from their own volition. Some 40,000 Palestinians remain displaced in the northern West Bank.
• Movement restrictions, particularly in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Qalqiliya governorates, continue to hinder the operations of ambulances and health care workers, limiting access to essential and lifesaving services. In the first four months of 2025, 108 attacks on health care were recorded by the World Health Organization (WHO) across the West Bank, the majority of which were related to health access. Of these, 67 attacks (62 per cent) took place in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates, where Israeli forces have been conducting ongoing operations since 21 January 2025. Between 7 October 2023 and 7 May 2025, WHO documented 791 attacks on health care across the West Bank, affecting 62 health facilities, 22 mobile clinics, and 526 ambulances. The WHO defines an attack on health as “any act of verbal or physical violence or obstruction or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services during emergencies”.
• The ongoing operation in the northern West Bank refugee camps has caused a major disruption to sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services, denying over 161,400 women of reproductive age and over 71,000 adolescent girls of access to sexual and reproductive health services in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, according to a brief by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH). According to the brief, these disruptions are caused by the closure of UNRWA clinics, the interruption of services at health facilities, and damage to infrastructure that caused electricity and water cuts in health facilities and compromised the vaccine cold chains. While 61 per cent of health facilities in Jenin and Tulkarm remain functional, access to health care has been restricted due to the damage to roads, insecurity, and access restrictions imposed by Israeli forces. These disruptions may lead to over 1,600 live births occurring in the next month in unsafe environments, raising the risk of infections and postpartum complications, according to the brief. The continuous displacement in these areas may also increase the risk of stress, anxiety, malnutrition, and poor living conditions and the likelihood of low birthweight and obstetric complications. Maternal morbidity, including anaemia, infections, haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and mental disorders, is also expected to rise, according to the brief.
• On 21 May, Israeli forces fired live ammunition during a Palestinian Authority-led diplomatic delegation’s visit to Jenin city. Diplomats from 32 countries visited the Governor of Jenin before proceeding to two locations: a metal road gate and an earthmound at two entrances to Jenin refugee camp. After spending nearly 15 minutes at the gate and when preparing to leave, Israeli forces began firing live ammunition. No casualties were reported. The Israeli military stated that its forces fired warning shots after the delegation deviated from the approved route.
• Over 90 per cent of the 132 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank between 1 January and 19 May 2025 were in the six northern West Bank governorates of Jenin, Tubas, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya and Salfit. Eight Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank during the same period, all of them in the northern West Bank.

Funding

• As of 20 May 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately $640 million out of the $4 billion (16 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 OPT. Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during April 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 128 ongoing projects, totalling $74.3 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (88 per cent) and the West Bank (12 per cent). Of these projects, 64 are being implemented by INGOs, 49 by national NGOs and 15 by UN agencies. Notably, 47 out of the 79 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.