Humanitarian Situation Update #322 | 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 17 or 18 September.

Key Highlights

• Six Israelis were killed in a Palestinian shooting attack at a bus station in Ramot settlement, in East Jerusalem; two Palestinian perpetrators, identified to be from Al Qubeiba and Qatanna villages in northwestern Jerusalem, were shot and killed.
• About 40,000 Palestinians in villages in northwestern Jerusalem have been placed under a complete closure by Israeli forces for the fourth consecutive day, cutting them off from essential services and livelihoods.
• Israeli forces killed two 14-year-old boys at the entrance to Jenin Camp and evacuated nearly 20 families from their homes near Tulkarm Camp, amid large-scale operations ongoing across the northern West Bank since January 2025.
• Two other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during the period, both in Nablus governorate.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 2 and 8 September, six Palestinians, including two children, and six Israelis (all adults) were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, at least 56 Palestinians, including 12 children, and 22 Israelis were injured. The following are details of the incidents that resulted in fatalities:
  • On 5 September, Israeli forces fatally shot a 58-year-old Palestinian man at the Al Murabba'a checkpoint, east of Tell village, one of the main entrances leading to Nablus city. According to local community sources, Israeli soldiers stopped the man who was inside his car at the checkpoint and ordered him to exit his vehicle. A verbal altercation ensued, and Israeli forces opened live fire, killing him on site. According to the Israeli military, the Palestinian man threw a suspicious object and ignored soldiers' instructions. An Israeli ambulance transported the body to Huwwara checkpoint, but the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that their ambulance was prevented from reaching the checkpoint for about an hour before they could retrieve the body through coordination with the Palestinian Coordination Liaison (DCL).
  • On 3 September, Israeli forces carried out an operation in Balata refugee camp in Nablus governorate that included the deployment of undercover units. During the operation, an Israeli sniper shot in the chest a 25-year-old Palestinian man, who died shortly after arriving at the hospital. According to a local human rights organization that documented the incident, Israeli soldiers killed him after he opened the rooftop door of his home, which was adjacent to a house besieged by the military. According to the Israeli military, the killed Palestinian man had thrown a rock at soldiers.
  • On 8 September, at the entrance to Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian boys, both aged 14 years, and injured at least two others. Following news of an Israeli military withdrawal from the refugee camp, residents had entered the refugee camp to check on their homes and were then fired upon by Israeli forces.
  • On 8 September, two Palestinians opened fire at a bus station in Ramot settlement, in East Jerusalem, killing six Israelis and injuring 21 others. The Israeli police shot and killed one assailant, while an armed Israeli shot and killed the other at the scene. Israeli forces reported that the two assailants, identified to be from Qattana and Al Qubeiba villages in northwestern Jerusalem governorate, opened fire at the bus station, shooting inside a bus and at people waiting nearby. Seven people were critically injured with gunshot wounds, and 14 others suffered shrapnel injuries. Israeli forces arrested another Palestinian at the scene, whom media reports alleged had driven the assailants to the location.
• Following the above-mentioned shooting attack in East Jerusalem, Israeli forces imposed widespread movement restrictions across the Ramallah and Jerusalem governorates, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians stranded for hours and further isolating entire communities:
  • On 8 September, Israeli forces raided Qattana and Al Qubeiba villages and have since maintained a continuous military presence there. All roads leading to the villages were sealed, and large-scale house-to-house searches were carried out, including in the perpetrators’ homes. Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters, imposed extensive movement restrictions, and arrested several relatives, including the fathers and two brothers of the perpetrators. Nearly all homes in Qattana and Al Qubeiba were raided, ransacked, and residents interrogated. Israeli forces have also been occupying at least four homes in Qattana, confining residents to a single room and converting their homes into military posts. To date, at least 30 Palestinian men have been arrested, while dozens more have undergone field interrogations. As cited in Israeli media, on 9 September, the Israeli Defense Minister announced punitive measures against residents of the two villages, including the issuance of demolition orders against homes built without Israeli-issued permits and the revocation of work permits for West Bank ID holders to enter Jerusalem and Israel. Following this, 16 demolition orders were delivered against residential and public structures in Biddu, Qattana, and Al Qubeiba.
  • The Biddu Barrier enclave, which comprises nine villages and is home to about 40,000 Palestinians, remains under near-complete closure as of the publication of this report; these include Biddu, Beit Surik, Qattana, Al Qubeiba, Kharayeb Umm al Lahim, Beit ‘Anan, Beit Duqqu, Beit Ijza, and Beit Iksa (which has a checkpoint at its entrance). After these villages were cut off from Jerusalem by the Barrier, the main access point to the enclave is an underpass road that links the villages to the Ramallah urban centre; the road gate at this key access route has remained almost continuously closed by Israeli forces, opening only briefly once a day before being re-shut. In addition, Israeli forces erected earth mounds in villages inside the enclave, which have effectively severed movement on all secondary roads, leaving only one main road accessible, primarily for military use. These restrictions have severely disrupted daily life: education has come to a halt as teachers from outside the enclave cannot access schools, and students and teachers from inside the enclave have been unable to reach schools and universities elsewhere. Access to emergency medical care has also become heavily constrained, with delays reported in evacuating urgent medical cases. The Biddu medical centre has been converted into a 24-hour emergency facility despite its limited capacity.
  • In parallel, Israeli forces imposed wider movement restrictions across the Jerusalem and Ramallah governorates. On 8 September, they installed three new road gates at the entrances to Shuqba, Rantis, and Deir Abu Mash’al villages all in Ramallah governorate, further isolating these communities and intensifying control procedures at existing checkpoints in the area. On 8 September, tens of thousands of Palestinians were held up for hours at checkpoints and road gates, while Israeli forces closed Jaba’, Ein Siniya, and 'Atara checkpoints for at least seven hours and continue to enforce stringent checks. Residents of nearby communities in Ramallah and Jerusalem governorates opened public halls to shelter those stranded.
• Between 2 and 8 September, OCHA documented the demolition of 55 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. These included 51 structures in Area C and four others demolished by their owners in East Jerusalem. The demolitions included 15 residences, 35 agricultural and livelihood structures, and five water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) structures. These demolitions resulted in the displacement of 57 people, including 28 children, and otherwise affected the livelihoods of more than 160 people. Key demolition incidents during the reporting period include:
  • On 2 September, Israeli authorities demolished nine structures in the Palestinian community of South ‘Anata Bedouins (Wa’ar al Beik), in Jerusalem governorate, displacing 14 people, including eight children. The community is near the area designated for the E1 settlement plan, which, if implemented, could lead to cutting off the northern and central West Bank from the south, and heighten the risk of forced displacement for 18 communities.
  • On 2 September, nine structures were demolished in Al Khader village, in Bethlehem governorate, including three residences, three animal structures, two water cisterns and a stone wall, displacing 14 people, including three children.
  • On 4 September, a Palestinian family in Silwan comprising eight people, including six children, was forced to demolish its house following the receipt of a final demolition order in April 2025 and to avoid the payment of additional fines.
  • On 8 September, 11 people, including seven children, were displaced in the community of Tell al Khashaba, in Nablus governorate, after the demolition of two tents and one latrine provided as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions.
• Operations by Israeli forces continued across multiple cities, towns, and villages in the northern West Bank, including concurrent raids reported on 8 September in Al Judeida, Meithalun, Sir, Sanur, Siris, Anza, and Misliya villages in Jenin governorate. In Qabatiya town, also in Jenin, Israeli forces carried out a two-day operation between 8 and 10 September, during which they searched homes, deployed forces in the streets and converted two residential buildings to observation posts. Access to the upper floors of the two buildings was restricted, while families were ordered to remain inside. Palestinians threw stones at forces deployed in the streets, and forces fired live ammunition, critically wounding a Palestinian man, who sustained an abdominal injury and was transferred to hospital for medical treatment. Although the academic year was scheduled to begin on 8 September (see below), the Ministry of Education’s directorate in Jenin suspended classes in the town until Israeli forces withdrew on 10 September. Also, on 4 September, Israeli forces evacuated nearly 20 Palestinian families, comprising about 100 people, from four residential buildings in the eastern neighbourhood near Tulkarm refugee camp. According to local sources and the Palestinian DCL, residents were given two hours to vacate their homes. This came a few days after Israeli authorities provided maps to the Palestinian DCL outlining the boundaries of a newly designated military zone, which encompasses parts of Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps and areas within the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Ongoing Israeli Settler Attacks

• Between 2 and 8 September, OCHA documented at least 29 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both. These attacks led to the injury of 24 Palestinians all by Israeli settlers and one Israeli settler by Palestinians. In addition, at least 30 trees, mainly olive trees, 12 vehicles, four houses, two plant nurseries, a school, a carpentry workshop, pipelines, water tanks and solar lights and panel slabs were vandalized by settlers during these attacks.
• Most of the Palestinian injuries (20 out of 24) occurred in Hebron governorate, particularly in Masafer Yatta and in the Farsh al Hawa area in Hebron city. Key incidents resulting in casualties include:
  • On the night of 4 September, more than a dozen Israeli settlers raided Khallet Athaba’, a community in Masafer Yatta located in Firing Zone 918, and attacked residents with sticks fitted with knives. Fourteen Palestinians were injured, including seven children (one an infant), an elderly man, and a woman. The infant was affected due to pepper spray, while the others sustained bruises and fractures. The attack also caused damage to five structures, including four homes and the community’s school, as well as water tanks, solar lights, solar panel slabs, water pipelines, furniture, and household items. The settlers fled before Israeli forces arrived.
  • On 6 September, armed Israeli settlers blocked the way of a Palestinian vehicle in Farsh al Hawa area in Hebron city and forced a family of four out of the vehicle at gunpoint and compelled them to lay on the ground. The settlers physically assaulted the family, which comprised an elderly couple, their daughter and grandson, with sticks, and forced them to drive to an isolated area. According to local community sources, when community members, some of whom witnessed the settler attack, gathered, and a PRCS ambulance arrived, the settlers opened fire in their direction, preventing medical teams from reaching the family. The settlers left the area after approximately four hours.
• Out of 28 documented settler-related attacks between 2 and 8 September, at least three attacks targeted Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities that resulted in the injury of two Palestinians by live ammunition and damage to at least four structures. On 3 September, Israeli settlers cut a water network in Sateh al Bahr, in Jericho governorate, which cut the supply of water to the community for about a day. On the night of 6 September, settlers shot and injured two Palestinians in a raid on Khallet al Ayiasa herding community in Ash Shuyukh village, in Hebron governorate, when they clashed with the residents under the pretext of searching for stolen livestock. One residential house sustained partial damage, while a carpentry workshop was completely set on fire. Also on 6 September, Israeli settlers raided the Bedouin community of Ma’azi Jaba’, in Jerusalem governorate, setting fire to a tent and an animal structure and throwing stones at homes.
• In the Ramallah governorate, Israeli settlers blocked roads and vandalized at least six Palestinian-plated vehicles. On 4 September, Israeli settlers blocked for about four hours a main road between Deir Jarir and Silwad villages and stoned Palestinian-plated vehicles passing by, damaging at least one vehicle. On 7 September, armed Israeli settlers, believed to be from a newly established settlement outpost on the western outskirts of Deir Nidham village and wearing semi-military clothing stoned Palestinian-plated vehicles and stopped a taxi driver. The settlers intimidated the driver, demanded his identification card, and damaged the side mirror of his vehicle. On 8 September, settlers blocked a roundabout near Ein Ayoub area on Road 463 near Ras Karkar village in Ramallah governorate, and threw stones at Palestinian vehicles, damaging at least one vehicle.
• In two separate attacks in the northern West Bank on 8 September, Israeli settlers raided the villages of Osarin and Deir Sharaf, both in Nablus governorate, resulting in five injuries and extensive damage to property. Surveillance cameras caught seven masked Israeli settlers carrying out an arson attack on a Palestinian agricultural facility that serves as a plant nursery in Deir Sharaf village. The nursery includes greenhouses, storage structures for pesticides and plant seeds, and machinery and equipment. In an attempt to put off the fire after the withdrawal of the settlers, three Palestinians sustained burns. During the raid in Osarin, a group of Israeli settlers carried out an attack on Palestinian houses and property, raiding house yards and vandalizing the windows of three Palestinian vehicles. Two residents sustained injuries after falling while running during confrontations with the settlers.
• For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement and settler violence between January 2005 and July 2025, please refer to the West Bank Monthly Snapshot on Casualties, Property Damage and Displacement, covering July 2025.

Latest developments in the H2 area of Hebron city

• On 2 September, Israeli settlers from a religious school (Yeshiva) began moving into the second floor of a multi-storey building, located in the old municipality square (Bab al Baladiya) where Palestinians previously resided near the old market in the H2 area of Hebron city. The property lies outside the closed military zone in H2. For decades, the building had been used by Palestinian families and for municipal workshops, and its ownership has been subject to prolonged legal disputes between the heirs of Palestinian residents and the Israeli Custodian of Government Property.
• In November 2022, Israeli forces evicted a Palestinian family living in the building next to the one taken over on 2 September 2025, and in July 2025 a carpentry workshop in the building was sealed after the Palestinian tenant was forced to vacate from the second floor. According to Peace Now, this is the first case in the H2 area of Hebron where the Custodian has allocated property outside established settlement areas to settlers. The Civil Administration granted the building to the Shavei Hebron Yeshiva, which has announced plans to house students there.
• Palestinian residents fear that the establishment of a settlement will cause additional restrictions on their movement in the area, where longstanding closures and checkpoints and daily harassment by Israeli forces (including at ad-hoc checkpoints) have constrained access for residents as well as for traders and visitors. While already restricted, this area has one of the last remaining access routes for Palestinians to the Old City, the Ibrahimi Mosque, and to soup kitchens that many families rely on for hot meals. In other parts of the H2 area of Hebron, such as Ash Shuhada Street, the establishment and subsequent expansion of settlements was a precursor to the imposition of severe movement restrictions that have hindered or altogether prohibited Palestinian access to certain streets and shops.

Challenges facing Education in the West Bank

• According to the Education Cluster, the start of the 2025–2026 school year on 8 September was overshadowed by protection risks, movement restrictions, and the impact of more than 2,000 education-related incidents documented during the last academic year. These challenges are compounded by financial pressures, including the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal crisis, which has disrupted salary payments and shortened school days. During the 2024–2025 academic year, 541 schools, 84,749 students, and 4,711 teachers were affected by such incidents, with frequent operations by Israeli forces forcing closures and shifts to remote learning. As of September 2025, 84 schools face pending demolition or stop-work orders, threatening the education of 12,855 students and the livelihoods of 1,076 teachers, most of them in Area C and East Jerusalem.
• These challenges are particularly acute in the northern West Bank, where more than 4,000 children have been unable to return to their classrooms, as 10 UNRWA schools in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps remain closed due to the Israeli forces’ “Operation Iron Wall.” These children are instead relying on alternative education modalities, including remote learning, self-study materials, and temporary learning spaces. In addition, two PA schools near Jenin refugee camp remain closed, forcing the relocation of about 1,130 students, while the Palestinian DCL secured the reopening of two government schools nearby, serving more than 1,100 secondary-level students. In Tulkarm, all schools reopened, including those near Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, except for those inside the camps, which remain closed. On 1 September, UNRWA underlined that “education should be a safe haven for children, and yet over the last two years there have been unprecedented levels of disruption to education in the occupied West Bank.” The Agency further noted that schools have been damaged and raided, while ongoing violence and displacement continue to cause distress and trauma among children and their families.
• Additionally, in East Jerusalem, nearly 800 children remain affected by the forced closure of six UNRWA schools by Israeli authorities in May 2025. The Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank stressed that “in East Jerusalem – for the first time in our history – UNRWA has been obstructed from opening our six schools.” While most of the affected students have been able to enroll in other schools, some continue to face uncertainty in accessing education. Across the West Bank, nearly 46,000 Palestine refugee children began the school year on 1 September at UNRWA schools, including some 5,000 boys and girls attending for the first time.
• New laws and legislative initiatives adopted in the 2024-2025 school year are reshaping the education landscape in East Jerusalem, according to a recent report by Ir Amim. This is already impacting or is projected to impact access to education in the city, where all new schools must now adopt the Israeli curriculum and where classroom shortages persist. At a time when six UNRWA schools were forced to close in the city, about 1,460 classrooms are missing or substandard and only 20 new classrooms were built over the past year, the report notes.

Funding

• As of 10 September 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$985 million out of the $4 billion (24 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 August 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 104 ongoing projects, totalling $62.3 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 48 are being implemented by INGOs, 42 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 35 out of the 62 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Servicewebpage 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.