Humanitarian Situation Update #316 | 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 27 or 28 August.

Key Highlights

• The Israeli government’s advancement of the E1 settlement plan in eastern Jerusalem governorate would effectively separate the northern and central West Bank from the south, further threaten the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and heighten the risk of forced displacement of about 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities.
• Attacks, harassment and intimidation by Israeli settlers against Palestinians continue unabated. Between 12 and 18 August, OCHA documented 29 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both.
• On 13 August, an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man during a settler attack near Duma south of Nablus. Since the beginning of this year, Israeli settlers have killed five Palestinians in attacks perpetrated by settlers, compared to three in 2024.
• OCHA has documented more than 1,000 attacks by Israeli settlers in 230 communities across the West Bank since the beginning of 2025, which resulted in the killing of 11 Palestinians and the injury of roughly 700 others by Israeli settlers or forces as well as property damage.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 12 and 18 August, two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, one by Israeli forces and one by an Israeli settler. During the same period, at least 18 Palestinians, including two children, were injured, half by Israeli forces and half by Israeli settlers.
  • On 13 August, an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man during a settler attack near the village of Duma, south of Nablus. According to the village council, since the establishment of a new outpost on 30 May 2025, settlers have been bulldozing and vandalizing agricultural lands in the area to construct a new one-kilometre road that extends from the outpost toward the village. Video footage shows Palestinian residents arguing with the settlers, during which Palestinians threw stones at the settlers. One of the settlers then opened fire at the Palestinians. According to the Israeli military, Palestinians threw stones at Israelis who were doing engineering work near Duma, one of which was an off-duty soldier, and two were injured. According to the Israeli military, one of the Palestinians attempted to grab the weapon of the off-duty soldier who opened fire at the Palestinians.
  • On 16 August, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian following a settler attack in Al Mughayyir village, in Ramallah governorate. At noon, dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property in the area located between the villages of Al Mughayyir and Khirbet Abu Falah, blocking access between the two villages and causing damage to Palestinian property, including livestock, an animal shelter, a residential tent, a caravan, vehicles, several agricultural rooms, trees and saplings, solar panels, and farming equipment. The settlers and Palestinians from the two villages threw stones at each other and Israeli forces arrived to disperse both groups. Later that day, Israeli forces raided the village, and Palestinians threw stones at the forces, who fired live ammunition at Palestinians, killing one of them.
• Between 12 and 18 August, OCHA documented the demolition of eight Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which affected over 60 Palestinians. The demolitions included six structures in Area C and two in East Jerusalem. In two incidents on 12 and 13 August, Israeli authorities demolished two ready-to-be-inhabited, two-storey residential buildings in Area C of Silwad town, in Ramallah governorate, and Qalandiya village, in Jerusalem governorate, respectively, affecting around 40 Palestinians. Between 1 January and 18 August 2025, at least 230 empty and inhabited residences have been demolished across Area C for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, compared with 185 and 91 in the parallel periods of 2024 and 2023, respectively.
• As the summer heat wave persists, many Palestinian communities across the West Bank, are facing extreme water shortages. During the reporting period, water supply from the Israeli water company (Mekorot) was reduced by at least 10-15 per cent for communities in Jerusalem and Ramallah governorates, without a clear reason given for the continuous reduction. The supply to the network serves two cities, Ramallah and Al Bireh, 10 towns, five refugee camps and over 40 villages. Some of these areas have been further affected by multiple settler attacks on Ein Samiya Spring, its water wells and the surrounding infrastructure in July 2025; this source normally provides water to 20 villages, serving an estimated 100,000 Palestinians. In addition to settler violence, many communities face water shortages due to the demolition of water structures by Israeli authorities. Since 1 January 2025, OCHA has documented the demolition by Israeli authorities of more than 130 water and sanitation structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Advancement of the E1 settlement plan

• On 20 August, the Israeli government approved the construction of over 3,400 housing units for settlers as part of the E1 settlement expansion plan. The plan entails the construction of thousands of settlement housing and commercial units, creating a continuous built-up area between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem. The area is also planned to be surrounded by the Barrier. According to Peace Now, on 6 August 2025, objections submitted by affected Palestinian communities and Israeli NGOs against the construction of thousands of housing units for the E1 settlement plan were rejected by the Israeli Higher Planning Council.
• On 20 August, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, condemned the E1 settlement expansion plan, stating that “Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are a violation of international law and run directly counter to United Nations resolutions. The advancement of this project is an existential threat to the two-State solution...The Secretary-General reiterates his call on the Government of Israel to immediately halt all settlement activity and to comply fully with its obligations under international law and to act in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and in line with the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024.”
• Humanitarian partners are concerned that the plan would further disrupt the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory by cutting off Palestinians in the northern and central West Bank from the south, further disconnect East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, heighten the risk of forced displacement of 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities of over 3,500 people residing in the area, and have a devastating humanitarian impact on them and other Palestinians across the West Bank. In the same area designated for the E1 settlement plan in eastern Jerusalem governorate, the Israeli Security Cabinet had approved on 29 March 2025 the construction of a road that would link Az Za’ayyem and Al ‘Eizariya towns – this is part of a broader, alternative road network that would divert Palestinian traffic away from the existing Road 1, which connects Jerusalem to Jericho. The area is also slated to be encircled by the Barrier, which was approved by the Israeli Cabinet in 2006 and has not been completed (see map). Additionally, Israeli authorities had previously advanced a plan to relocate Bedouin communities from the area, which was rejected by residents, the majority of whom are Palestine refugees. Some 18 Bedouin communities in the area are directly affected and have been long deemed to be at risk of forcible transfer due to these settlement*, Barrier and relocation plans as well as a coercive environment generated by Israeli practices that encompassed the demolition of homes, schools and animal shelters, denial of access to basic infrastructure, rejection of applications for building permits, and restricted access to grazing land and markets.
• On 21 August, the UN Office for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a statement condemning the approval of the E1 plan by stating that “[the plan] represents another grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation of the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law...By dramatically restricting Palestinians' ability to move within the occupied West Bank, it will have catastrophic effects on their enjoyment of fundamental rights to access health, education, employment, and maintain family and society connections.”

Bedouin Communities at risk of displacement in the area designated for the E1 settlement plan

• Since 2009, Israeli authorities have demolished more than 500 Palestinian-owned structures in the 18 Bedouin communities located in an area designated for the E1 settlement plan in the eastern Jerusalem governorate, displacing over 900 people. These include 181 donor-funded structures provided as humanitarian assistance. The highest number of demolitions were recorded in the Az Za’ayyem Bedouin community, which accounted for 31 per cent of all demolished structures in the area, followed by Abu Nuwar and Jabal al Baba. The highest annual figures were recorded in 2016 and 2023, when 85 and 76 structures were demolished, respectively. So far this year, 68 structures have been demolished in these communities, including nine homes and 52 animal shelters. This is an average of eight structures demolished per month, surpassing the monthly average of seven structures demolished per month in 2016. Recently, over the course of three days between 12 and 14 August 2025, Israeli authorities delivered demolition orders in several of the affected Bedouin communities in this area, issuing orders against a total of 42 structures, mostly residential and animal shelters, including in Jabal al Baba (20 structures) and Wadi al Jimel (12), which are located immediately adjacent to the planned road between Az Za’ayyem and Al ‘Eizariya.

Intensification of Israeli Settler Attacks

• Since the beginning of 2025, OCHA has documented more than 1,000 attacks by Israeli settlers in 230 communities across the West Bank that resulted in casualties, property damage or both, more than 60 per cent of which were in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron governorates. In total, 11 Palestinians were killed in these attacks, including five by Israeli settlers, five by Israeli forces and one where it remains unknown if he was killed by Israeli settlers or forces. In addition, 696 Palestinians were injured in these attacks, including 473 by Israeli settlers, 217 by Israeli forces and six where it remains unknown if they were injured by Israeli settlers or forces. In comparison, 11 Palestinians were killed in attacks by settlers in 2024, including three by Israeli settlers, two by Israeli forces and six where it remains unknown whether they were killed by Israeli settlers or forces. In addition, last year, there were 486 Palestinians injured in settler attacks, including 362 by Israeli settlers, 115 by Israeli forces, and nine where it remains unknown if they were injured by Israeli settlers or forces.
• Between 12 and 18 August, OCHA documented at least 29 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both in 23 communities across the West Bank. These attacks led to the injury of 11 Palestinians, including an elderly man, a child and three women. Nine were injured by settlers and two by Israeli forces during or following settler-related incidents. Settlers also vandalized or destroyed almost 700 trees, mostly saplings. Key incidents resulting in casualties included the following:
  • On 13 August, Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian family in their tent in Al Farisiya–Ihmayyer herding community, in the northern Jordan Valley in Tubas Governorate, injuring two men. The settlers broke into the family’s tent at night, beating one man with a spiked metal club and attempting to strangle his father with a metal chain. Both men required hospital treatment. The settlers fled the area after the family began throwing stones at them and other residents of the community began gathering around.
  • On 15 August, a large group of armed and masked Israeli settlers, believed to be from surrounding outposts, attacked Palestinians in the area between Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya and Silwad villages in Ramallah governorate. Settlers threw stones and fired live ammunition at the Palestinians, injuring two men. In another incident, on 17 August, a group of armed settlers from a nearby outpost raided a Palestinian-owned swimming resort in ‘Abud village, west of Ramallah. The resort’s owner was injured after being pepper-sprayed. About an hour later, the same group returned to the resort and threw stones at Palestinian families and property, damaging chairs, tables, and plastic coverings.
  • On 15 August, a group of armed settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, assaulted a Palestinian family near Beit Awwa village, in Hebron governorate. Settlers attempted to seize the family’s vehicle. Israeli forces then fired tear gas cannisters and sound bombs and physically assaulted several family members, injuring two women. In another incident, on 16 August, settlers assaulted a Palestinian family of nine and prevented them from harvesting their grapes on their land in Halhul town, in Hebron governorate. The settlers beat the family with sticks, injuring three members, including a 55-year-old woman and two men, one of them elderly.
  • On 17 August, Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles and injured a five-year-old child in the head near the entrance of An Naqura village, in Nablus governorate. The injured child was transported to hospital for medical treatment.
• Out of the 29 documented settler-related attacks between 12 and 18 August, at least 23 incidents involved damage to Palestinian-owned property, the majority of which targeted agricultural lands and related structures across 18 communities. These attacks destroyed nearly 700 trees and vines, mostly olive and grape, which were uprooted, cut down, or burned, alongside the torching of an animal barracks and the vandalism of a water network. These incidents have severe repercussions for Palestinians to access livelihoods and services. Key incidents resulting in property damage included the following:
  • In Atara village, in Ramallah governorate, on 13 August, settlers raided the village at dawn, set fire to four vehicles, and sprayed racist graffiti on house walls.
  • In the Ma’azi Jaba’ Bedouin community, in Jerusalem governorate, on 13 August, armed and masked settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, raided the community at midnight, ransacked a residential house, broke doors, and cut surveillance system cables.
  • In Abu Falah village, in Ramallah governorate, on 15 August, settlers cut down about 60 olive trees.
  • In Madma village, in Nablus governorate, on 15 August, settlers vandalized a four-floor poultry farm, damaging facilities and leading to the death of about 100 chicks.
  • In Shufa village, in Tulkarm governorate, on 16 August, settlers grazed livestock on Palestinian farmland, damaging about 600 olive trees and saplings and a water spring.
  • In Al Mughayyir village, in Ramallah governorate, on 16 August, settlers burned animal shelters, tents, and agricultural rooms, damaged saplings, solar panels, and farming equipment, and stabbed and killed a goat.
  • In Halhul town, in Hebron governorate, on 17 August, settlers destroyed a grape arbor covering about 1.5 dunums and sprayed 10-year-old grape trees with chemicals; on the same day, they also installed a room on privately-owned grapevine land in the area.
  • In Al Farisiya–Nab’a al Ghazal, in Tubas governorate, on 17 August, settlers raided the community at dawn, damaged taps and emptied three water tanks, leaving families without access to already scarce water supplies.
  • In Umm Saffa village, in Ramallah governorate, on 16 August, settlers used slingshots to hurled stones at houses on the village’s eastern outskirts, causing minor roof damage and cutting a water pipeline.
  • In Turmus’ayya village, in Ramallah governorate, on 17 August, settlers cut underground pipelines supplying Palestinian homes, disrupting water access for several households. On the same day, settlers believed to be from a newly established outpost raided homes twice, cutting a water pipeline in the afternoon and later throwing stones at windows and solar lights. During the night raid, two men were assaulted and detained by settlers before being handed over to Israeli forces, who broke into the homes and confined women and children in one room for the duration of their search.
  • In Yanun village, Nablus governorate, on 18 August, settlers grazed livestock on agricultural land, damaging crops and trees.
• For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement and settler violence between January 2005 and June 2025, please refer to the OCHA West Bank June 2025 Snapshot.

Funding

• As of 16 August 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$912 million out of the $4 billion (22 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 July 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $65.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 54 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 43 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 39 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.