Humanitarian Situation Update #295 | West Bank

The Humanitarian Situation Updates on the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank are both issued every Wednesday/Thursday. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update on the West Bank will be published on 18 June.

Key Highlights

• Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities report increased intimidation and violence by Israeli settlers, particularly in areas where new settlement outposts have been established, deepening an already coercive environment and increasing the risk of forcible transfer that many communities are facing.
• Israeli forces conducted multiple operations across villages and towns in the northern West Bank over the past week, arresting residents, destroying roads and disrupting Palestinian access to essential services.
• In the first quarter of 2025, water, sanitation and hygiene partners implemented 91 water-related interventions serving an estimated 91,000 people across 62 communities in the West Bank. A substantial portion of these interventions came in response to Israeli operations in the northern West Bank.
• Israeli forces’ restrictions have disrupted the movement of about 2,800 residents of Turmus’ayya town, in Ramallah governorate, and obstructed access to health care for nine days.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 27 May and 2 June, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including one child, and injured 73 others, including 15 children. The following are details of the incidents that resulted in fatalities:
  • On 27 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and physically assaulted and injured another man during an operation in Jericho city, where Israeli forces raided several homes and subsequently shot live ammunition at Palestinians who threw stones at the forces.
  • On 27 May, Israeli forces shot and killed one Palestinian man and injured 24 others during a raid in Nablus city, where Palestinians threw stones and burnt tires and Israeli forces shot live ammunition. According to local sources, the man was shot outside of his shop and was not involved in the confrontations. This incident took place within the context of concurrent raids by Israeli forces into money exchange shops and gold businesses in various parts of the West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqiliya governorates.
  • On 28 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during a raid in Jit village, in Qalqiliya governorate. According to local sources, Israeli forces raided the centre of the village, searched several houses belonging to the same family, and vandalized furniture and personal belongings. In one of the houses, where a father and his son were present, the father reported that Israeli forces entered the son’s room, shot him while he was in bed, and prevented anyone from assisting him for one hour before withdrawing.
  • On 2 June, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in Sinjil town, in Ramallah governorate. According to the Israeli military, they shot a person who was throwing stones at passing Israeli-plated vehicles and had thrown bottles at the forces. According to the boy’s family, following the incident, Israeli forces raided a nearby home and confiscated video recordings that documented the incident.
• Between 27 May and 2 June, OCHA documented the demolition of 23 Palestinian-owned structures – 18 in Area C and five in East Jerusalem – for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. As a result, 21 people, including ten children, were displaced and about 100 others were otherwise affected. Of those displaced, 15 people, including seven children, were displaced in East Jerusalem by the demolition of two houses in Beit Hanina on 28 May and 2 June. In Area C, six people, including three children, were displaced in Ar Rifa'iyya village, in Hebron governorate, where a residential building, a water cistern and a retaining wall were demolished. Since the beginning of 2025, 65 per cent (494 out of 757) of structures demolished for lacking Israeli-issued building permits were agricultural, livelihood or water and sanitation structures, about a quarter were inhabited homes, and the remaining 11 per cent were uninhabited residences, infrastructure, and other structures.
• On 29 May, Israeli forces demolished with explosives a residential building in Area A of Nablus city on punitive grounds. The building belonged to a Palestinian man who was killed while attempting to set off an explosive in Tel Aviv on 18 August 2024. The demolition also damaged a nearby house, which was rendered uninhabitable. In addition, at least five houses sustained damage as a result of the explosion. The demolition displaced two households comprising 11 people, including three women and three children. Since the beginning of the year, 19 structures, including 16 homes, have been destroyed on punitive grounds, displacing 90 people, including 30 children.
• OCHA’s recent West Bank Movement and Access Update – May 2025 highlights how long-standing restrictions on movement – through road closures, checkpoints, and the Barrier – continue to undermine Palestinians’ access to essential services, such as health care and education. Recent incidents further illustrate the humanitarian impact of these restrictions on already vulnerable communities. On two occasions between 27 May and 2 June, Israeli forces closed the main entrance to Turmus’ayya town in the Ramallah governorate, disrupting the movement of over 2,800 residents. The first closure, from 19 to 25 May, was imposed under the pretext that Palestinians had pointed laser lights and threw stones at Israeli settlers travelling on Road 60 and remained in place six days. The second closure occurred from 30 May to 1 June, lasting for three days. During both periods, residents were forced to take detours of approximately 20 kilometres to access surrounding areas and essential services. The impact was particularly severe for Palestinian patients traveling from the northern areas of the West Bank via Road 60, who were unable to reach the eye hospital inside the town by vehicle and were forced to proceed on foot.

Developments in the northern West Bank

• Israeli forces continue to raid towns and villages in the northern West Bank. On 27 May, Israeli forces raided Madama village, in Nablus governorate, and imposed a 24-hour curfew where residents were prohibited from leaving their homes. Israeli forces closed all entrances to the village, shut down shops, and turned a residential building into a military post, forcing six families to seek shelter with neighbours or relatives. Simultaneously, Israeli settlers believed to be from Yitzhar settlement began bulldozing and uprooting trees in the southern part of the village while it was under curfew. On the same day, Israeli forces conducted a raid for about 18 hours and physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man in Zeita town, in Tulkarm governorate. According to the municipal council, Israeli forces forced shops to close, set up checkpoints inside the town, and turned two houses into military posts, forcing two families to seek shelter with neighbours or relatives. They detained eight men for several hours and physically assaulted one, who was transferred to a hospital. Schools were forced to shut down and basic services were disrupted, as Israeli forces denied their access with a flying checkpoint in front of the municipality building.
• On 4 June, Israeli forces launched an operation in Tammun town, in Tubas governorate. The operation lasted nearly 11 hours and involved the bulldozing of roads, causing damage that disrupted access to water, electricity, and internet services. At least 20 homes were raided, with residents forcibly evacuated and forced to seek shelter with relatives and friends in the town. According to Tammun Municipality, at least four of the raided homes were converted into interrogation centres, and 20 people, including two women, were detained. The Municipality also reported that about one kilometre of water networks was destroyed. These networks, located in Area A, supply water to agricultural lands, greenhouses, and livestock farms across Areas A, B, and C in Tammun and neighbouring communities, including Khirbet A’tuf, Al Bqai’a valley, and Khirbet ar Ras Ahmar. The affected area covers nearly 20,000 dunums (4,942 acres), where over 4,000 farmers cultivate a variety of crops. Additionally, Israeli forces bulldozed four road sections within the town. Additionally, Israeli forces bulldozed four road sections within the town. Municipal crews, in cooperation with the private sector, have begun efforts to rehabilitate the roads and restore essential services after the raid. During the operation, seven Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces, including five due to physical assault and two from tear gas inhalation. The raid also forced the closure of all schools in the town, disrupting access to education for about 4,200 students. In addition, workers were unable to reach their places of work for the duration of the operation. Simultaneously, Israeli forces conducted an 11-hour operation in El Fara’a refugee camp, also in Tubas governorate. The operation involved the bulldozing of roads both within and around the camp. At least a dozen homes were raided, and dozens of residents were reportedly interrogated. During the operation, one Palestinian was injured due to physical assault by Israeli forces. The raid also forced the closure of three schools, affecting roughly 2,000 students who were denied access to education for the day. Israeli forces had previously carried out an operation in El Fara’a camp for 10 days between 2 and 12 February 2025.
• On 27 May, Israeli forces delivered military orders to seize land for military purposes in five towns (Deir Sharaf, Burin, ‘Awarta, Huwwara and Qabalan) in Nablus governorate and one village (Far’ata) in Qalqilya governorate. The orders in Nablus include more than 20 dunums (five acres) of land, which mostly contain olive trees. In Farataa village, the order seizes 14.9 dunums (3.6 acres) of land, including portions in Immatin and Tell villages. The orders will hamper the Palestinian residents’ ability to access their land, negatively affecting their sources of livelihood.
• Demolitions in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm governorate, where 48 buildings have been slated for demolition by Israeli forces, continue. Residents of the surrounding area have reported ongoing sounds of demolitions within the camp, but no assessments could be conducted by local authorities or humanitarian actors since Israeli forces continue to restrict all movements into the camp. The Tulkarm Governor’s Office estimates that about 50 residential units have been demolished in Nur Shams camp since 1 May. In Tulkarm refugee camp, the Israeli military communicated through the Palestinian District Coordination and Liaison Office (PAL-DCL) that residents had a last chance to retrieve their belongings during a three-hour window on 29 May before demolitions would begin. Residents were only able to take what they could carry and were subjected to extensive searches and questioning by Israeli forces. At the time of reporting, local sources have seen military bulldozers enter the camp, but no demolitions have been documented.
• Humanitarian partners provided water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Jenin and Tulkarm, in response to the ongoing Israeli operation in the northern West Bank. According to a rapid WASH Cluster damage assessment conducted in Tulkarm, Jenin and Tubas in February 2025, the Israeli operation damaged over 40 kilometres of water networks and one water well, 11 kilometres of sewage network, 1.5 kilometres of stormwater network, 873 solid waste containers and one trash truck, cutting off adequate access to water and sanitation services for tens of thousands of people. In the first quarter of 2025, nine WASH partners implemented 91 water-related interventions for an estimated 91,000 people across 62 communities in the West Bank. A substantial portion of these interventions came in response to the Israeli operations in the northern West Bank, particularly through water trucking services, distribution of water storage tanks, support to municipalities in emergency water network repairs, and provision of over 1,000 solid waste containers to both Tulkarm and Jenin. In the same period, WASH partners provided sanitation services to more than 37,000 people across 38 communities in the northern West Bank. Sanitation support included the provision of mobile latrines, the installation of sewage networks and support in the maintenance of wastewater facilities. In the first quarter, nearly all the hygiene response focused on the operation in the northern West Bank. WASH partners distributed about 4,000 standardized family hygiene kits, primarily to residents of refugee camps who were displaced and were staying in public shelters or hosted in other communities.

Intensification of Attacks by Israeli Settlers

• Between 27 May and 2 June 2025, OCHA documented at least 32 settler attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both. As a result, 30 Palestinians, including three children, were injured – of whom 16 were injured by settlers and 14 by Israeli forces. In addition, four settlers were injured during an attack perpetrated against Palestinians in Al Mughayyir. In the same period, some 145 Palestinian-owned fruit and olive trees and saplings and 24 vehicles were vandalized.
  • On 27 May, 20 Palestinians were injured during a raid by a group of Israeli settlers believed to be from Shilo settlement*, in the village of Qaryut, in Nablus governorate. The settlers damaged 14 vehicles and seven homes both with stones and flammable material. Israeli forces then arrived and fired tear gas canisters in the village to disperse Palestinians who were scuffling with the settlers. Of the 20 people who were injured, 13 were injured as a result of tear gas inhalation, four were injured by stones thrown by Israeli settlers, and three were injured as a result of inhaling smoke from the fires ignited by Israeli settlers.
  • On 27 and 30 May, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a pregnant woman and an elderly woman in two separate attacks in two herding communities (Susiya and Khallet ‘Athaba) in Masafer Yatta, in Hebron governorate. In both incidents, the settlers attempted to break into their residences and assaulted the women who attempted to prevent them from entering. In Susiya, the elderly woman was assaulted as settlers attempted to break the door to her house, and in Khallet ‘Athaba, settlers assaulted the pregnant woman as they attempted to break into her residential cave. This was the second residential cave raided by settlers in Khallet Athaba’ in less than a week.
  • On 31 May, Israeli settlers injured three Palestinian children with stones when they attacked the property of a Palestinian on the outskirts of Deir Dibwan village, in Ramallah governorate. When villagers gathered to protect the house, settlers threw stones and injured three Palestinian children, injured several sheep and damaged solar panels and a solar heating unit. Israeli forces arrived and intervened by dispersing both Israeli settlers and Palestinians.
  • In two incidents in East Jerusalem on 28 May and 1 June, settlers living in properties taken over from Palestinians in the Karm al Jaouni area in Sheikh Jarrah, carried out two attacks against a family residing on the same street. On 28 May, setters broke window glass and sprayed pepper gas into the house while the family was inside. On 1 June, settlers vandalized the solar energy system on the rooftop, furniture placed in the front yard, and other property.
• In early June 2025, Israeli media reported that the Israeli security cabinet had approved the establishment of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, which entails the retroactive legalization of existing settlement outposts and their establishment as new settlements. While settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law, Peace Now highlighted that the Israeli government has already retroactively “legalized” 12 out of the 22 settlement outposts and that nine will be established as new settlements. This brings the total number of settlements approved by the Israeli government since 7 October 2023 to 49, compared with an annual average of seven outposts in the nearly three decades prior, according to Peace Now. Several of these newly approved outposts are located deep within Palestinian areas; for instance, in the Ramallah governorate, Beit Horon North settlement outpost, situated south of the Palestinian village of Ein ‘Arik, has already seen initial construction. In the Jerusalem governorate, Nofei Prat settlement, previously considered a neighborhood of Kfar Adumim settlement, will now be recognized as an independent settlement and its future expansion will deepen the fragmentation of Palestinian territory in an already sensitive area near Ma’ale Adumim settlement, where settlement expansion risks to sever the connection between the central and southern West Bank. Meanwhile, in the northern Jordan Valley, five new settlements have also been approved, further entrenching settlements in a strategic area where Palestinian access to land and resources has been increasingly restricted.
• All Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international humanitarian law. This includes settlement outposts, which are established in contravention of Israeli law, but are often supported by Israeli authorities. Settlements generate or deepen humanitarian needs by affecting livelihoods, food security, and access to essential services.
• Amid rising settlement expansion, affected Palestinian communities – specifically Bedouin and herding communities – report increased intimidation and violence, particularly in areas where new outposts have been established, deepening an already coercive environment and increasing the risk of forcible transfer, as illustrated in the following three examples:
  • In the Jerusalem governorate, the Ma’azi Jaba’ Bedouin community has witnessed a sharp escalation in settler violence following the establishment of a new Israeli herding outpost in February 2025. Since then, OCHA documented 35 settler-related incidents in the community, 10 of which resulted in casualties or property damage, compared with no documented incidents between 2006 (when OCHA began documenting settler incidents) and February 2025. The outpost, established approximately 500 metres from the community’s residential structures, has triggered daily raids by settlers who walk among homes and intimidate residents. During the reporting period, settlers stole a solar-powered light, scattered sharp nails on the main access road to the community – puncturing the tires of at least one vehicle – and vandalized a home by breaking furniture and destroying its solar panel system.
  • Also in Jerusalem governorate, Mikhmas Bedouin community has experienced a significant escalation in settler violence following the establishment of three Israeli herding outposts surrounding the area from the north, west, and east that started in May 2024. Since then, OCHA has documented 55 settler-related incidents in the community, 18 of which resulted in property damage, compared with no documented incidents between 2006 and April 2024. Most recently, in May 2025, Israeli settlers erected a tent, establishing a new outpost with links to two other settlement outposts in the area (Neve Erez and Ma'ale Michmash) and effectively encircling the community. Since then, settlers have regularly intimidated residents, entered homes, obstructed access to grazing land, destroyed fodders supplies, and caused damage to animal shelters. Between 27 May and 2 June, settlers believed to be from these outposts raided shelters, physically assaulted residents, and vandalized solar panels. The community now reports growing fear, coercion, and protection concerns.
  • In the Ramallah governorate, the villages of Al Mughayyir and Khirbet Abu Falah have experienced a sharp rise in settler-related violence, with 86 incidents documented by OCHA between June 2024 and May 2025 – 35 of which resulted in casualties or property damage – compared with 34 incidents reported during the preceding 12 months. This marks a more than two-fold increase, with over 70 per cent of all incidents recorded in the past two years following the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost east of Al Mughayyir in June 2024. Between 27 May and 2 June, settlers launched a large-scale arson attack, destroying hundreds of dunums of farmland and injuring a Palestinian journalist covering the event. Two days later, they erected a new outpost, triggering additional incidents. These included the raiding of a herding family’s shelter and cases of physical assault against residents. Settlers also repeatedly harassed residents living near the new outpost, contributing to an atmosphere of fear and heightened protection risks.
  • In the Jericho governorate, the Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community, which is surrounded by multiple Israeli settlements and herding outposts, has faced a sharp increase in settler violence since the establishment of a new outpost in May 2024, approximately 700 metres southwest of the community. This outpost has been closely linked to a surge in attacks that have severely disrupted access to water sources and grazing land and undermined the community’s ability to sustain traditional herding livelihoods. Since May 2024, OCHA documented more than 120 settler-related incidents in the community, over 45 of which resulted in casualties or property damage – a stark increase compared with just five incidents over the preceding 10 years. Between 27 May and 2 June, settlers repeatedly targeted essential infrastructure: on 28 May, they grazed livestock among shelters, cut donor-funded electricity wires, and severed a water pipe connected to Al ‘Auja Spring, and blocked access roads used for water delivery. On 31 May, settlers broke into animal pens, grazed camels within the residential area of the community, and emptied a filled water tank. The following day, on 1 June, settlers again cut the electricity wire, marking the third such incident and a continuation of an ongoing pattern of sabotage of the community’s access to basic utilities. On 29 May, settlers established an additional outpost on the northwestern outskirts of Al ‘Auja town, approximately 1.5 kilometres from Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja, further entrenching settler presence in the area.
• 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 April 2025 Snapshot.

Funding

• As of 5 June 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately $648 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 May 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 128 ongoing projects, totalling $74.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (88 per cent) and the West Bank (12 per cent). Of these projects, 63 are being implemented by INGOs, 49 by national NGOs and 16 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.