Humanitarian Situation Update #335 | 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 Wednesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update on the West Bank will be published on 5 or 6 November.

Key Highlights

• Three Palestinian men were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces and by an Israeli airstrike in Jenin. The UN Human Rights Office emphasizes that the use of airstrikes in the occupied West Bank is unlawful.
• Over the past week, 60 Israeli settler attacks were recorded across the West Bank, more than half in relation to the olive harvest, resulting in the injury of 17 Palestinians and extensive property damage.
• The 2025 olive harvest season has so far witnessed the highest level of damage and number of affected communities due to settler attacks since 2020, with 126 attacks recorded in 70 towns and villages and over 4,000 olive trees and saplings vandalized.
• Israeli settlers from newly established settlement outposts in the West Bank have increasingly imposed restrictions on Palestinians’ access to their olive groves, including in areas that were previously accessible without ‘prior coordination’ with Israeli authorities.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 21 and 27 October, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian young men in Nablus and Hebron governorates. One of the fatalities was a Palestinian man who, on 24 October, died of wounds sustained a day earlier when Israeli forces opened live fire during a raid in Askar Camp, in Nablus city, where stone throwing at Israeli army jeeps was reported. According to local community sources, the man was a bystander. Medical teams reported that Israeli forces stopped the ambulance for about 12 minutes before they were able to take him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The second fatality was a Palestinian man who was shot and killed by Israeli forces on 26 October near Ar Ramadin village, south of Hebron city, while attempting to cross the Barrier near an Israeli checkpoint to reach Israel. Since 7 October 2023, 14 Palestinians have been killed and about 197 injured by Israeli forces while attempting to cross the Barrier, reportedly to access workplaces in East Jerusalem and Israel.
• On 28 October, Israeli forces killed and withheld the bodies of three Palestinian men after reportedly surrounding a cave in which they were hiding on the outskirts of Kafr Qud village, in Jenin governorate. An exchange of fire reportedly took place between Israeli forces and the Palestinian men, and an Israeli airstrike hit the area. Referring to the incident, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) emphasized that the use of airstrikes in the occupied West Bank is unlawful: “1. The use of weapons and tactics developed for the conduct of warfare, such as airstrikes, is inconsistent with the standards of international human rights law applicable to civilian law enforcement. 2. Israeli security forces’ use of firearms and similarly lethal weapons must be restricted to situations where as a last resort it is strictly necessary for protection against an imminent threat of death or serious injury. 3.Extrajudicial executions, regardless of the target, are unlawful at all times.”
• Between 21 and 27 October, 52 Palestinians, including eight children, and five Israeli settlers, were injured. Of the injured Palestinians, 39 were by Israeli forces and 13 by Israeli settlers. Of note, these include seven Palestinians who were injured in the Jerusalem governorate while attempting to cross the Barrier to reach East Jerusalem and Israel. Another two, including a 15-year-old boy, were injured by live ammunition during a raid by Israeli forces on 26 October in Qabatiya town, in Jenin governorate, where, according to community sources, armed clashes between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians were reported.
• In Nablus governorate, Israeli forces carried out two consecutive raids between 21 and 22 October. On 21 October, during the evening hours, forces raided Burin village, southwest of Nablus city, and forcibly evacuated two residential buildings, converting them into military observation posts for around 24 hours. Two families, comprising six people, were temporarily displaced before being allowed to return the following day. Israeli forces closed the village’s entrance, forcing residents to take a 12 to 15-kilometre detour. As a result, school classes were cancelled, and many people were unable to reach their workplaces. On 22 October, Israeli forces raided Ras al Ein area of Nablus city, during which they fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters and Palestinian residents threw stones. As a result, 21 Palestinians were injured, including one child; 11 were hit by live ammunition and transferred to hospital and 10 suffered from tear gas inhalation. No arrests were reported.
• Between 21 and 27 October, OCHA documented the demolition of 11 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Ten structures were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain, and one was demolished on punitive grounds. In Area C, four of the nine demolished structures were homes, displacing 16 people, including seven children. In East Jerusalem, a Palestinian family was forced to demolish their own home in Beit Hanina to avoid additional fines and fees; three people, including a child, were displaced. In Salfit governorate, Israeli forces demolished one home on punitive grounds in Bruqin town. The house belonged to two brothers who are in Israeli custody and were accused of involvement in a shooting attack and killing an Israeli pregnant woman on 14 May 2025 near the town; her baby died two weeks later. According to a family relative, the house had been used as a military post by Israeli forces during repeated raids in the town.
• In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces continued to carry out large-scale operations across cities, towns, and villages as part of the ongoing operation that began in early 2025. On 26 October, Israeli forces detonated two residential buildings, each comprising two housing units, in the Al Manshiya neighbourhood of Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm governorate, rendering them uninhabitable. The buildings had been vacant since their residents were displaced earlier this year as part of ongoing Israeli operations in the camp.

Israeli Settler Attacks

• Between 21 and 27 October, OCHA documented 60 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both. These comprised 36 attacks related to the olive harvest season. The attacks led to the injury of 17 Palestinians (14 by Israeli settlers and three by Israeli forces), five Israeli settlers by stones thrown by Palestinians, and two international activists by settlers. In addition, over 680 Palestinian-owned olive trees and 19 vehicles were vandalized. On 22 October, a five-year-old girl fell and injured her hand while fleeing from settlers who had chased her school bus in Tuwani, in southern Hebron. The bus was forced to stop and drop the children off in Umm Fagarah, where settlers continued to chase the children; the girl fell and injured her hand.
• In one key incident in Al Mughayyir village, in Ramallah governorate, on 24 October, dozens of armed and masked Israeli settlers raided the village in the late evening hours, burnt four vehicles at a car repair shop, and attempted to set fire to an adjacent residential house. Palestinian residents gathered to protect their property and threw stones at the settlers. According to Israeli media sources, two Israeli settlers were injured by stones. Al Mughayyir village is surrounded by seven settlement outposts, including one established in 2023 south of Al Mughayyir near Kochav HaShachar settlement and four established since mid-2024, including one in Area B in the northwestern area of the village. So far in 2025, OCHA has documented 43 settler attacks against Palestinians in Al Mughayyir village that resulted in casualties (six incidents), property damage (30 incidents) or both (seven incidents), with an average of roughly four incidents per month. This is roughly equal to the number of incidents documented in the preceding two years combined, when 44 settler attacks documented in the village resulted in casualties, property damage or both.
• Another key incident took place in Mikhmas Bedouin community, in Jerusalem governorate, on 23 October, when settlers cut the water pipelines linking the community with Mikhmas village. Two days later, on 25 October, Israeli settlers from the surrounding outposts of Mikhmas Bedouin community launched a violent attack on the community, completely burning six structures, most of them uninhabited, following gradual displacement from the community (see below). Residents who were present managed to flee and two female activists providing protective presence were violently assaulted by settlers, sustaining injuries to the head and hands. Following the incident, Israeli forces arrived and closed all entrances to the community and transferred the injured activists to hospital in an Israeli ambulance.
• Recurrent attacks by Israeli settlers believed to be from five outposts that are now encircling Mikhamas Bedouin community have forced the community to gradually relocate children, women, the elderly and livestock to other areas over the past months. The outposts surrounding the community have been mainly established or expanded over the past two years. Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has documented about 30 settler attacks against Mikhmas Bedouins that led to extensive property damage, compared with almost no attacks recorded prior to 7 October 2023. These attacks entailed the burning of shelters, damage to residential and agricultural structures and solar panels, and injury to residents and activists volunteering to provide protection by presence in the community. This is in addition to incidents of harassment, such as settlers driving their motorbikes among shelters, intimidating children on their way to and from school and blocking the community’s entrances. Most recently, in October, settlers have repeatedly cut and damaged the water pipelines connecting the community to Mikhmas village, causing severe water shortages.

2025 Olive Harvest Season

• Between 1 and 27 October 2025, OCHA documented 126 olive-harvest-related settler attacks against Palestinians resulting in casualties, property damage or both. Incidents entailed attacks on farmers inside or on their way to olive groves, theft of crops and harvesting equipment, and vandalism of olive and other trees and saplings. This is compared with 110 attacks during the corresponding period in 2024, and up from a range of 30 to 46 attacks between 2020 and 2023. The geographic scope of attacks has also significantly increased, with 70 towns and villages witnessing olive-harvest-related attacks that resulted in casualties and/or property damage so far this year; this is nearly double the number of affected communities in 2023 and more than three times the number of communities affected during the same period in 2020. Incurred damage has also been the highest recorded over the past six years, with over 4,000 trees and saplings vandalized, more than double that recorded during the same period in 2024 (see chart).

• Nearly half (48 per cent) of all olive-harvest-related settler incidents this month occurred in the central West Bank, with Ramallah governorate alone accounting for 40 per cent of all cases. Another 38 per cent took place in the northern West Bank, mainly in Nablus governorate (17 per cent), while about 14 per cent were recorded in the southern governorates of Bethlehem and Hebron.
• Despite the formal start of this year’s mechanism regulated by Israeli authorities for Palestinians to access agricultural lands located in or near Israeli settlements and those isolated by the Barrier, access remains highly restrictive and inconsistently implemented. For example, on 22 October, nearly 50 Palestinian families from Awarta town, in Nablus governorate, obtained prior coordination with Israeli authorities through the Palestinian District Coordination and Liaison Office (DCL) to access their olive groves for only two days, on 22 and 23 October. The land is located between Awarta and Yanun, in proximity to the Israeli settlements of Alon Moreh and Itamar. Although Palestinians were granted two days of access, Israeli settlers, reportedly from nearby outposts, gathered at the main road gate leading to the area and blocked the passage of farmers. Israeli forces then redirected farmers to an alternative 15-kilometre detour. Only five families managed to reach their groves and harvest olives, while the rest were unable to do so due to the long route and fear of further settler harassment along the way.
• The establishment of new settlement outposts has further undermined Palestinian farmers’ ability to reach their lands, including areas that were previously accessible without any coordination, including in Areas A and B. Already in December 2024, Peace Now and Kerem Navot, two Israeli NGOs, reported that Israeli settlers living in shepherding outposts are estimated to control approximately 786,000 dunums of land, representing nearly 14 per cent of the West Bank’s total area. As a result, some communities in the West Bank have been altogether denied access to their agricultural land, as illustrated in the three examples below:
  • In Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya and the nearby villages of Sinjil, Silwad, and Kafr Malik in Ramallah governorate, Palestinian farmers have been increasingly denied access to their agricultural lands following the establishment of at least four new settlement outposts between April and June 2025 in the area among these villages. The affected area, comprising thousands of dunums of privately-owned olive groves across Areas A, B, and C, had been fully accessible in previous years but has since been rendered largely off-limits due to repeated settler attacks and intimidation. On 20 October, groups of armed settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, prevented farmers from reaching their lands and stole the harvested olives from those who were able to reach their groves. On 27 October, settlers from one of the outposts launched another attack, again seizing crops and damaging agricultural equipment.
  • In Kobar village in Ramallah governorate, Palestinian farmers have been denied access to their agricultural lands following the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost on the village’s western outskirts in early March 2025. The affected area, encompassing thousands of dunums of privately-owned olive groves, had been fully accessible in previous years but has since been rendered off-limits due to repeated settler harassment and attacks. It was further blocked in May 2025, when settlers installed a metal gate on the road leading to the agricultural area. Although this area was not previously subject to ‘prior coordination’ requirements, settlers from the outpost, often accompanied by Israeli forces, have demanded that Palestinian farmers first coordinate their access through the settlement’s guard and repeatedly intimidated farmers attempting to reach their groves. In one incident during the current olive harvest season, Israeli settlers, some wearing military uniforms, expelled farmers trying to reach their olive groves and refused to open the gate. Settlers then withdrew, reportedly firing live ammunition in the air. Israeli forces subsequently arrived and fired rubber bullets and tear gas cannisters, injuring a 55-year-old man in the chest by a tear gas canister. In another incident over the past week, Israeli settlers stole harvesting equipment from Palestinian-owned vehicles. Of note, four Palestinian herding families, comprising 29 people including 19 children, from Kobar Bedouins community were displaced in June 2025 following repeated attacks and access restrictions imposed by Israeli settlers from the same outpost.
  • In Kafr Ra’i and Ya’bad towns in Jenin governorate, Palestinian farmers have increasingly been denied access to their agricultural lands following the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost near Mevo Dotan settlement earlier this year. The affected areas, which were previously fully accessible without ‘prior coordination’ with Israeli authorities, have since become sites of repeated settler attacks and intimidation. While Palestinians coordinated their access through the Palestinian DCL, over the past week, settlers physically assaulted farmers and their families while they were harvesting olives and stole harvested crops and agricultural tools. In one incident on 20 October, settlers opened fire and sound grenades in the direction of families harvesting olives, causing panic and forcing them to flee. In another incident on 21 October, settlers physically assaulted farmers and injured a 78-year-old man in the head after he refused to give them his sacks of harvested olives. Israeli forces then arrested 20 Palestinian farmers, reportedly after settlers claimed that they posed a threat, before releasing them the following day.
• For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement and settler violence between January 2005 and September 2025, please refer to the OCHA West Bank September 2025 Snapshot.

Funding

• As of 30 October 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$1.4 billion out of the $4 billion (35 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 under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian responses in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. During September 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 95 ongoing projects, totaling $57.1 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 43 are being implemented by INGOs, 38 by national NGOs, and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 57 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.