Humanitarian Situation Update #337 | 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 12 or 13 November.

Key Highlights

• October 2025 recorded the highest monthly number of Israeli settler attacks since OCHA began documenting such incidents in 2006, with more than 260 attacks resulting in casualties, property damage or both – an average of eight incidents per day.
• Settler violence during this olive harvest season has reached the highest level recorded in recent years, with about 150 attacks documented so far, resulting in the injury of more than 140 Palestinians and the vandalism of over 4,200 trees and saplings across 77 villages.
• The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator called for the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank amid the rise in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property.
• One in every five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces so far in 2025 across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was a child.
• Israeli authorities issued 14 demolition or stop-work orders against approximately one third of structures in Umm al Kheir Bedouin community in the southern Hebron governorate, placing about 70 people, including 30 children, at risk of displacement.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 28 October and 3 November, six Palestinians were killed across the West Bank: five, including two children, by Israeli forces, and one by an Israeli settler. In addition, one Palestinian died in an Israeli prison. In total, since January 2025, 42 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces, or one in every five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year. Below are details of the incidents that resulted in fatalities during the period:
  • On 28 October, three Palestinians were killed and had their bodies withheld by Israeli forces, after the latter reportedly surrounded a cave 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.
  • On 30 October, a 15-year-old boy was shot by Israeli forces during a raid in Silwad village, in Ramallah governorate. According to the Israeli media citing the Israeli military, troops shot a child who set a suspected explosive device on fire. Medical teams reported that Israeli forces delayed ambulance access to the boy for about 20 minutes.
  • On 3 November, a 17-year-old boy was shot by Israeli forces in a raid in Beit Furik, in Nablus governorate, during which Palestinian residents threw stones at Israeli forces, who shot live ammunition. The boy was first taken to the village’s medical centre and then transported to hospital in Nablus city, where he was pronounced dead.
  • On 3 November, a Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli settler on Road 35 near the Ras al Jora entrance to Hebron city. According to the Israeli media citing the Israeli police, the settler shot the man after he allegedly tried to steal his vehicle. Medical sources indicated that Israeli forces prevented a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance team from reaching him. The body was returned to the family for burial on 4 November.
• On 2 November, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a Palestinian man from Jenin who had been under administrative detention since 6 August 2024 died in Israeli custody in unclear circumstances. According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), between 7 October 2023 and 5 November 2025, at least 80 Palestinians, including a 17-year-old child, died in Israeli detention, including 51 from the Gaza Strip, 27 from the West Bank and two Palestinian citizens of Israel. As of November 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,204 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,242 sentenced prisoners, 3,389 remand detainees, 3,368 administrative detainees held without charge or trial, and 1,205 people held as “unlawful combatants.”
• Between 28 October and 3 November, OCHA documented the Israeli authorities’ demolition of 11 Palestinian-owned structures, including six in Area C and five in East Jerusalem, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Demolished structures included three inhabited houses, two uninhabited houses, five agricultural structures and a water pipeline. The demolished inhabited houses were in Al Walaja and At Tur, in East Jerusalem, and in Shuqba village, in Ramallah governorate, displacing 13 people, including nine children. In one incident that had a direct impact on water supply, on 29 October, Israeli authorities bulldozed a donor-funded 250-metre-long water pipeline in Area C of Zif village, in southern Hebron, affecting 150 families comprising about 1,000 people, including over 500 children.

Demolition Orders and Settler Incidents in Umm al Kheir

• On 28 October, Israeli authorities delivered some 13 demolition orders and one stop-work order in Umm al Kheir Bedouin community, in southern Hebron governorate, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. The structures include residential shelters, kitchens, a fodder storage unit, a greenhouse, the community centre that houses the village council office, a kindergarten and a health clinic, and other structures. Together, they represent approximately one third of all structures in the community. The demolition orders place 13 families comprising about 70 people, including 30 children, at risk of displacement. The potential demolition of the community centre would impact the community’s 35 families, comprising about 200 people, including more than 100 children. Since 2009, OCHA documented the demolition of 56 structures in Umm al Kheir, of which 23 were provided as humanitarian assistance and 14 were demolished over the past two years.
• The recently issued demolition orders in Umm al Kheir come against the background of heightened settler harassment associated with the establishment of a settlement outpost near the community in mid-2025. In October, residents of Umm al Kheir village filed a petition against the establishment of a new settlement outpost adjacent to the community that has effectively divided the village and restricted residents’ movement. Although an Israeli court issued a temporary injunction on 12 October barring settlers from inhabiting caravans or carrying out construction in the newly established settlement outpost, settlers moved into the caravans the following day and continued construction work, according to Peace Now, an Israeli NGO. Residents later submitted an affidavit documenting multiple breaches of the court order.
• Since the beginning of 2025, settlers, often armed and accompanied by Israeli forces have repeatedly raided Umm al Kheir, harassed residents, and carried out attacks that resulted in casualties or property damage. In one fatal incident on 28 July, Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured another while operating a bulldozer to level Palestinian-owned land near the community’s main water network. In the following days, settlers repeatedly returned, bulldozing the area and damaging large sections of the community’s main water connection. When residents attempted to repair the line, settlers cut it again, disrupting the community’s access to water and temporarily forcing them to rely on water trucking, which, according to local sources, is at least 10 times the cost of obtaining water through the network.

Operations in the Northern West Bank

• On 28 October, Israeli forces ordered approximately 12 Palestinian families to evacuate their homes in the Jabriyat neighbourhood, south of Jenin Camp, giving only a two-hour notice before bulldozing nearby roads and parts of the adjacent area, citing the presence of explosive devices. According to the Palestinian District Coordination and Liaison Office (DCL), the families were subsequently allowed to return to their homes.
• In Tulkarm governorate, on 3 November, Israeli forces issued new military orders with maps, extending until January 2026 previous military orders that prohibit entry into and exit from large parts of Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps and surrounding neighbourhoods except with authorization by Israeli authorities. Since the same orders were initially issued on 31 August and 1 September, Israeli forces have repeatedly conducted operations in the affected areas and ordered dozens of families to vacate their homes, including in Al Hadayda and Rabay’a in northern Tulkarm Camp and Jabal an Naser area in Nur Shams Camp, sometimes giving families notices to vacate within as little as two hours. Many of these families have faced multiple cycles of displacement and return over recent months, heightening their vulnerability and disrupting their access to basic services.
• According to UNRWA, their teams continue to deliver multi-sectoral support to address the evolving needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northern West Bank. As of September 2025, UNRWA-verified displacement figures, based on self-registration of displaced families, indicate that at least 31,919 Palestine Refugees have been displaced from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps – the largest displacement crisis in the West Bank since 1967. In the education sector, UNRWA has maintained continuity of learning for about 4,000 affected students through the distribution of self-learning materials, online sessions, and the temporary use of governmental schools. In the health sector, UNRWA has established alternative health facilities across Jenin and Tulkarm governorates, complemented by two emergency mobile medical teams to reach areas hosting high concentrations of displaced people. About 94,000 medical consultations have been provided to IDPs in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates to date, out of nearly 800,000 consultations delivered by UNRWA across the West Bank since the beginning of 2025. In the sanitation sector, UNRWA and municipal partners are coordinating waste collection in host communities, where IDPs are currently residing, collecting an average of 13 tons of waste per day.

Israeli Settler Attacks

• In October 2025, which coincides with the olive harvest, OCHA documented 264 Israeli settler attacks resulting in casualties, property damage or both across the West Bank, marking the highest monthly total since OCHA began recording such incidents in 2006 (see chart below). This represents an average of eight incidents per day and reflects a sharp escalation in both the frequency and severity of settler violence, with about 18 per cent of this year’s total incidents documented in October alone. The surge in October continues a steady upward trend observed throughout the year, with approximately 1,485 settler attacks documented since January 2025, including 172 incidents resulting in casualties, 1,129 causing property damage, and 184 involving both casualties and property damage.

• Between 28 October and 3 November, OCHA documented about 44 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. These comprised 20 attacks related to the olive harvest. The attacks led to the injury of 18 Palestinians (13 by Israeli settlers and five by Israeli forces). In addition, about 280 Palestinian-owned olive trees and saplings and 30 vehicles were vandalized.
• Eight out of the 44 settler attacks reported over the past week resulted in damage to five residential structures, a school and a mosque and took place across five different governorates. The attacks involved night raids, arson, theft and property destruction. For example, in Ma‘azi Jaba’ Bedouin community, in Jerusalem governorate, about 20 settlers raided the area in the early morning hours and set fire to a house and a fodder storage structure. In Khallet an Nahla community, in Bethlehem governorate, settlers physically assaulted and injured a 60-year-old man after storming his home, damaged an agricultural terrace, and threw stones at nearby houses. In Madama village, in Nablus governorate, settlers threw stones at seven homes and parked vehicles near the main street, broke sewage pipes, and set one car on fire. In Ibziq, in Tubas governorate, settlers from a newly established outpost raided the community’s school, damaging chairs, boards, screens, electronic equipment and water tanks, disrupting the next school day for 25 pupils between 1st and 6th grade and six teachers. In Deir Dibwan village, in Ramallah governorate, Israeli settlers broke into the village during Friday prayers, threw stones at a mosque and nearby houses, and set fire to two vehicles parked outside a mosque, causing damage to windows and other property while worshippers were inside.

2025 Olive Harvest Season

• The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, called for the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank amid the rise in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property, including during the olive harvest season. He stressed that more trees and communities have been affected this year than in the past six years and urged accountability, emphasizing that impunity cannot prevail.
• Between 1 October and 3 November 2025, OCHA documented 150 olive-harvest-related settler attacks against Palestinians resulting in casualties, property damage or both. Incidents included 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. In total so far, 77 villages and towns have been affected by a range of attacks that resulted in the injury of about 140 Palestinians (including 73 by Israeli settlers and the rest by Israeli forces) and vandalism of over 4,200 trees and saplings, mainly olives. This is compared with about 145 attacks documented during the corresponding period in 2024.
• During the 2025 olive harvest season, Palestinian access to agricultural land near Israeli settlements and newly established settlement outposts remained severely restricted across the West Bank. In the northern West Bank, access to agricultural land near settlements was repeatedly disrupted or cancelled. For instance, in Burin village, in Nablus governorate, despite ‘prior coordination’ with Israeli authorities, harvesting was halted, leaving some 300 dunums of olive groves unharvested when the Yitzhar settlement guard prevented Palestinians from harvesting olives along Road 60, fired shots into the air to force them away, and claimed authority over access decisions.
• Moreover, for the third consecutive year, Palestinian farmers from multiple villages have been completely denied access to their olive groves located inside Israeli settlements. This was the case, for example, for: farmers from Salfit city as well as Marda, Kifl Haris and Iskaka villages who have been denied access to their olive groves inside Ariel settlement, in Salfit governorate; farmers from Isla, An Nabi Elyas, Azzun, and Kafr Thulth villages who have been denied access to their olive groves in Alfe Menashe settlement, in Qalqiliya governorate; and farmers from Huwwara, Burin, Einabus, Urif, Asira al Qibliya, Madama, ‘An Naqura, and Deir Sharaf villages who have been denied access to their olive groves in Yitzhar and Shavei Shomron settlements, in Nablus governorate.
• In Ramallah governorate, according to the Palestinian DCL, Israeli authorities required farmers from 11 villages to coordinate their access to olive groves in 14 areas located near settlements and settlement outposts, including one area that was accessed during the last season without ‘prior coordination’ in Al Mughayyir village. Of these, seven areas had ‘prior coordination’ arrangements approved by Israeli authorities, three were denied due to claimed land destruction, and four remain pending. However, in some cases, farmers with approved coordination arrangements with Israeli authorities refrained from accessing their lands in fear of settler violence and low olive yields this year. In other cases, the designated access period was very limited, such as in Ein Yabrud village, where families were able to access their land for only three days and, when they were attacked by Israeli settlers, decided not to return.
• In Hebron governorate, coordination arrangements for Palestinians to access their land near settlements have come to apply to less productive or smaller agricultural areas that are farther away from Israeli settlements. For example, in Tarqumiya town, coordination was granted for a single day to farmers above 40 years of age covering only 500 dunums (123 acres) out of over 5,000 previously accessible lands. In Bani Na’im town, access dropped from about 150 dunums (37 acres) in previous years to just 12 dunums (three acres) this season, while no ‘prior coordination’ requests were approved for 250 dunums (62 acres) in Masafer Yatta that were accessible before October 2023. In Beit Awwa village, farmers were allowed entry for only six hours before being ordered to leave their land near Negohot settlement, which has remained inaccessible since last year.
• 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 6 November 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately $1.46 billion out of the $4 billion (36 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 is for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. During October 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 135 ongoing projects, totalling $77.7 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 63 are being implemented by international NGOs, 56 by national NGOs and 16 by UN agencies. Notably, 69 out of the 79 projects implemented by international NGOs 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 area webpage.