Northern West Bank Humanitarian Response Update | 21 January - 30 April 2025

Overview

Just after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect on 19 January 2025, Israeli forces launched on 21 January a major militarized operation in the West Bank, dubbed “Iron Wall”. The operation began in Jenin, but soon expanded across the northern West Bank, with the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams being at the centre of operations. Since its start, the operation has entailed helicopter gunfire, airstrikes, ground force operations and the deployment of tanks for the first time since the early 2000s. Tens of thousands of camp residents have been forcibly displaced and UNRWA has been forced to fully suspend services. In Tubas governorate, an operation was carried out between 2 and 12 February and was concentrated in Tammun town and El Fara’a refugee camp.

Of the 126 Palestinians, including 23 children and five women, killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank between 21 January and 30 June, nearly 60 per cent (74) took place in Jenin (41), Tubas (20), and Tulkarm (13) governorates. These included 12 children and three women. The majority (53) of people were killed in the first 40 days of the operation, 23 of whom were killed in airstrikes.

Overall, and for more than five months, the Israeli forces’ operation has generated what has become the longest and largest displacement crisis in the West Bank since 1967. By 10 February, UNRWA estimated that operations had displaced over 40,000 Palestine refugees from the camps and surrounding areas, including several thousand residents displaced during the earlier operation by Palestinian forces in and around Jenin and the rest during the Israeli forces’ operation. Displaced families have sought shelter in nearby cities, towns and villages, with over half renting temporary accommodation, 30 per cent staying with relatives and 20 per cent taking refuge in public shelters or seeking other temporary accommodation options. While verification of the number of displaced people remains ongoing, as of the end of May, UNRWA-verified displacement figures, based on self-registration of displaced families, indicates that at least 29,338 Palestine refugees have been displaced from the three refugee camps.

Israeli forces have established military posts in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps and continued to carry out major bulldozing of housing units and other civilian infrastructure, including roads, water and stormwater infrastructure and telecommunications networks. Beyond the refugee camps, extensive damage was reported in surrounding areas, including in Jenin and Tulkarm cities. Despite limited access to assess the full extent of damage within the camps, municipal reports suggest that the ongoing operations in Jenin and Tulkarm have so far destroyed all functioning or recently repaired water and sewage infrastructure across the refugee camps and some of the surrounding urban areas.

In addition to barring access to the camps, Israeli forces have intensified movement restrictions, including through road closures and checkpoints. This has significantly disrupted access to schools, health centres, workplaces and markets, further heightened humanitarian needs, and posed additional challenges to humanitarian operations.

On 23 February, the Israeli Ministry of Defence announced that he had instructed the Israeli military to prepare for a “long stay” for the coming year in the three northern West Bank refugee camps that were emptied and that residents would not be allowed to return. To date, the Israeli military has issued demolition orders against 162 structures in Jenin camp and 241 structures in Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, while notifying residents via the Palestinian District Liaison Offices to coordinate the evacuation of belongings from their homes ahead of their demolition. Dozens of homes have already been demolished, but not all were slated for demolition in advance nor were their residents allowed to retrieve their belongings. Access constraints have prevented aid agencies from carrying out needed assessments inside the camps.

In response to the crisis, and despite significant operational challenges, the UN and its partners have scaled up humanitarian assistance across the northern West Bank to ensure that displaced and affected families from refugee camps and surrounding areas have adequate access to shelter, food, health, protection, nutrition, education and WASH services. These interventions were guided by multi-sectoral and sector-specific needs assessments, in close coordination with local and national-level institutions to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication.

This update by Clusters and select Technical Working Groups operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) covers key response activities and challenges in the northern West Bank, focusing on Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates for the period between January and April 2025, unless otherwise specified. For an overview of priority needs and activities by cluster, please see the Flash Appeal.

“My daughter didn’t even get the chance to live in her house. She had just bought it, and now it’s marked for demolition. Our homes have turned into streets.”

- Um Fares, a resident of Nur Shams Camp, told OCHA.

Food Security Sector (FSS)

>93,000 people reached with food parcels, hot meals, and cash- or voucher-based assistance.

Response

• As of 30 April 2025, FSS partners, including UN agencies, international NGOs and local partners, reached over 93,570 people, including about 39,350 in Jenin, 48,340 in Tulkarm, and 5,880 in Tubas, addressing both immediate and long-term needs. In total, this included the distribution of food parcels to 12,575 households, hot meals to 108 households, and the provision of cash or voucher-based assistance to 51,341 households. The response focused on displaced families, vulnerable households, and families affected by mobility restrictions and livelihood losses in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates. This effort contributed to alleviating food insecurity and ensuring continued access to basic food supplies across some of the most affected areas by the Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank.
• FSS partners supported small-scale farmers and food producers who faced difficulties in accessing markets and selling their produce due to the current crisis. Fresh produce was sourced directly from 79 local farmers and herders (including 24 in Jenin, 22 in Tulkarm and 33 in Tubas) and distributed through community-level supply chains. This approach helped sustain local food production, provided income to affected producers, and ensured that displaced and other vulnerable families received fresh, locally grown food as part of emergency food distributions.
• FSS partners supported more than 3,000 farmers, small-scale food producers and herders affected by the crisis, including about 1,500 in Jenin, 1,300 in Tulkarm, and 300 in Tubas. Support included rehabilitation of greenhouses and livestock farms, supplying agricultural inputs and kits, repairing or providing water storage facilities, and distributing fodder. These areas were heavily affected by the large-scale Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank, with many producers either directly affected or were hosting displaced families. The support helped some producers continue supplying food to local markets and, in some cases, partners were able to purchase this locally produced food and distribute it to displaced families, linking livelihood support with emergency food assistance.

Challenges

• The intensification of movement restrictions in the northern West Bank, including through checkpoints and frequent security-related closures, disrupted access to essential services and disproportionately affected displaced families. Access impediments also hampered the ability of small-scale farmers, displaced families, daily wage laborers, and other vulnerable groups in accessing markets, workplaces, farmland and income opportunities, thereby increasing dependence on food aid.
• Access constraints and insecurity disrupted FSS humanitarian activities and caused delays to field operations during the first four months of 2025, negatively affecting the ability of partners to carry out assessments and reach families in need of assistance. To address some of these challenges, partners used remote data collection methods to monitor needs and inform response efforts, prepositioned supplies in safer locations, coordinated closely with local actors to support last-mile distributions, and prioritized locations where access was possible.
• The Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank severely disrupted agricultural activity. Farmers faced repeated access restrictions, destruction of infrastructure, and direct damage to farmland. In Tulkarm and Jenin, incursions destroyed irrigation systems, greenhouses, and agricultural roads, while water cuts and damaged power infrastructure reduced farmers’ ability to irrigate and harvest. In Tubas city and Tammun town, known for openfield vegetable and livestock production, farmers struggled to maintain operations due to movement restrictions and rising input costs. Moreover, across areas, access to essential supplies, such as fodder, seeds, and water became more difficult, forcing some producers to suspend production.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

27,000 people reached with emergency water trucking and hygiene kits.

Response

• WASH partners mobilized urgent water trucking services to secure the basic needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) and other households cutoff from the public supply network due to damage sustained during the Israeli forces’ operation. Between January and 30 April, partners provided about 7,500 cubic metres of water, benefiting over 27,000 people, including 15,500 in Jenin, 7,000 in El Far’a refugee camp in Tubas, and 4,500 in Tulkarm.
• WASH partners distributed 22 cubic metres of bottled mineral water (equivalent to nearly 15,000 large water bottles) to hundreds of displaced families in Tulkarm.
• WASH partners distributed 340 water tanks serving 1,883 people in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, especially in areas where rooftop tanks were damaged by live ammunition, including refugee camps (169 tanks) and the eastern neighborhood of Jenin city (171 tanks).
• WASH partners supported municipalities and water providers to repair damaged water networks in refugee camps (when access was possible) and surrounding areas. As of 30 April, close to 23 kilometres of water pipelines were supplied and/ or installed by partners, benefiting about 53,500 people (30,000 in Jenin, 20,000 in Tulkarm, and 3,500 in Tubas). Additional support included the prepositioning of water infrastructural materials, spare parts and equipment as well as five mobile water tankers.
• WASH partners provided 20 emergency gender and disability sensitive mobile latrines to IDPs in two collective centres in Jenin and Tulkarm, serving about 400 people. Additionally, to enable emergency repairs of sewage networks damaged in operations, at least four kilometres of pipes were supplied and/or installed by partners, benefiting over 36,000 people.
• WASH partners distributed nearly 5,000 gendersensitive, standardized family hygiene kits to over 26,000 IDPs from the northern West Bank refugee camps, delivering kits to them in both collective centres and host communities.
• WASH partners provided 1,060 solid waste containers, serving 50,000 people (30,000 people in Jenin and 20,000 in Tulkarm) and transferred to landfills 274 tons of waste for the benefit of refugees in both governorates, including IDPs sheltering in collective centres.

Challenges

• Access constraints and insecurity severely hindered the movement of partners and hampered the implementation of WASH activities, forcing them to often delay deliveries or redirect them based on daily conditions in specific neighbourhoods. In some instances, the repair of critical infrastructure, such as water networks, was contingent on approval by Israeli forces of the dispatch of repair teams and equipment.
• The scale and duration of the current Israeli forces’ operation, combined with the massive influx of IDPs, posed significant financial and operational challenges to sustaining service provision, which was partially mitigated through the allocation of additional funds to support the WASH emergency response. Additionally, building on their interventions to previous, smaller-scale operations by Israeli forces, partners had enhanced their preparedness for potential emergencies, as outlined in the WASH Cluster’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan 2025.

Health

12,000 people reached by sexual and reproductive health and maternal health interventions.

Response

• Health Cluster partners reinforced emergency stocks at hospitals by delivering medical supplies and equipment to hospitals in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates, serving up to 25,300 IDPs and other people in host communities in need of humanitarian health support. In addition, partners deployed 76 healthcare workers and 10 midwives across hospitals and emergency centres in the same areas.
• Health partners trained 24 community volunteers in first aid in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm governorates, distributed first aid kits, and trained 610 health workers in life-saving techniques.
• UNRWA extended the days of operation at Qabatiya health centre, in Jenin governorate, from one to five days a week. Since the beginning of 2025, the average number of UNRWA daily medical consultations has increased by 20 per cent across the West Bank, due to the increased demand for services in the northern West Bank, reaching 4,200 consultations per day compared with 3,500 in 2024.
• In the three governorates in the northern West Bank most directly affected by the large-scale operation by Israeli forces (Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas), Health Cluster partners operated mobile clinic services, immunized 2,000 children through the Expanded Programme on Immunization, and provided 125 people with disabilities with assistive devices and prosthetics. In total, across the West Bank, mobile clinic services during the reporting period served 60,000 people in 49 locations in Area C and Jenin and Tulkarm cities, 387 trauma and 430 rehabilitation consultations, and 23,000 non-communicable disease (NCD) related consultations.
• Partners organized gender-based violence (GBV) awareness sessions for IDPs in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas and distributed menstrual hygiene kits to displaced women and girls. In total, 12,000 people were reached by these sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and maternal health interventions.
• Health partners provided 5,900 psychosocial support and psychological first aid consultations to IDPs and other affected people in the three governorates.

Challenges

• Access to health care continued to be precarious in areas where operations by Israeli forces are ongoing, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm. For example, particularly in the first several weeks of the operation, access to Jenin Governmental Hospital was limited; it was surrounded by Israeli forces, the main roads leading to the hospital were destroyed, and concrete blocks were placed at its entrance, preventing the delivery of food, medical supplies, and urgent necessities.
• Escalating attacks on health care, including hospitals, health workers and ambulances, are straining the health system. Between 1 January and 15 June 2025, WHO documented 142 attacks on health care across the West Bank, of which 60 per cent (85) took place in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates, disrupting services and endangering both patients and medical staff.
• Five primary health care clinics, including three UNRWA and two Ministry of Health (MoH) clinics, were damaged during the operations and needed renovation, disrupting access to health care. Moreover, access to lifesaving health care was hindered by damage to roads and electricity infrastructure as well shortages of staff and supplies at Trauma Stabilization Points.
• UNRWA is facing a severe operational and financial crisis, aggravated by the 2024 Israel Knesset laws prohibiting UNRWA from importing medications from abroad, which has forced the Agency to rely solely on high-cost local suppliers, further straining limited resources. As of June 2025, UNRWA faces a 12 per cent shortage in essential medical items; without an urgent intervention, up to 75 per cent of essential medications will reach zero stock levels in the coming months, including medications critical for managing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and asthma.
• The MoH financial crisis has reduced the functionality of health facilities, which has only been partially mitigated by the opening of new health service points by Health Cluster partners to address the needs of IDPs in the northern West Bank. At present, out of 190 health service delivery points in the Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm governorates, 62 per cent (117) are partially functional, including four hospitals, 96 PHCs, 16 mobile clinics and one emergency centre, 30 per cent (58) are fully functional, including five hospitals, 11 PHCs, 42 mobile clinics, and eight per cent (15) are nonfunctional, including three PHCs and 12 mobile clinics.

Nutrition

656 families received cash for nutrition, alongside nutrition counselling and growth monitoring services.

Response

• As of 30 April, WFP enrolled 656 families with children under five and/or pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) in the cash-for-nutrition programmes, which were accompanied with social behaviour change (SBC) interventions and nutrition counselling, in the governorates of Jenin (482 families), Tulkarm (113 families) and Tubas (61 families). Across the West Bank, a total of 4,618 families have been reached.
• UNRWA has scaled up the integration of growth monitoring and nutrition counselling for PBW and children under five in all its clinics in the West Bank, with a focus on the northern West Bank.
• The Nutrition Cluster, in collaboration with UNICEF, has supported MoH in integrating nutrition awareness in the risk communication and community engagement plan.
• The Nutrition Cluster supported MoH in analysing available nutrition surveillance data. Compared with 2024, findings for January to April 2025 showed low levels of acute malnutrition in children 12 to 15 months old in Jenin (1 per cent vs. 1.4 per cent in 2024), Tubas (1.6 per cent vs. 1.6 per cent in 2024), and Tulkarm (1.3 per cent vs. no data for 2024). However, across the West Bank, the analysis showed slightly higher levels of acute malnutrition during the 2024 summer months, with 2.15 per cent of screened children between 12 and 15 months identified as acutely malnourished, compared with 1.15 per cent for January to April 2024, 1.5 per cent for the whole of 2024, and 1.1 per cent for January to April 2025. Yet, as of April 2025, stunting prevalence (or low height-for-age, which is also called chronic malnutrition) among children of the same age group showed a deteriorating trend, including in Jenin (10 per cent vs. 4 per cent in 2024) and Tubas (6.4 per cent vs. 6.1 per cent in 2024). Since April, UNICEF and WHO have been jointly working to support enhancements to the surveillance system.
• Nutrition partners jointly organized a series of two-hour online sessions for 88 staff members of partner organizations on nutrition in emergencies, with an emphasis on Infant and Young Child Feeding practices and the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition, including the treatment of wasting, with a follow-up face-to-face training planned for early July. To support implementation, UNICEF has procured essential supplies, sufficient for 2,000 children, for the screening and treatment of malnutrition cases. In parallel, WHO has facilitated the training of two MoH paediatricians through an international exchange programme on inpatient care for identified cases of severe acute malnutrition with complications.

Challenges

• The overall degradation in socio-economic indicators in the West Bank, movement restrictions, ongoing displacement, and the functioning of MoH health centres only two days per week, all contribute to increasing the vulnerability of children to multiple forms of malnutrition (e.g. stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies). This is especially concerning since surveillance data in the West Bank are already showing an increase in stunting (chronic malnutrition). Experience in Gaza has shown that acute malnutrition levels can increase from less than one per cent to emergency levels (corresponding with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 3 and above) in only a few months. Each episode on malnutrition, at a young age, has consequences on the physical and mental development of the children.
• There are only five Cluster partners who are currently running emergency nutrition programmes in the West Bank, necessitating additional capacity strengthening to complement development-oriented interventions, adapt them to arising humanitarian developments (e.g. displacement, loss of livelihood sources), or integrate nutrition support within other humanitarian interventions (e.g. mobile clinics, food assistance).
• Funding for nutrition in emergency preparedness and response in the West Bank remains limited, posing a challenge to timely and adequate interventions.

Protection

36,000 people reached with psychological first aid.

Response

• Protection monitoring and documentation efforts continued through field visits to identify protection risks and potential violations of international humanitarian and human rights law related to operations by Israeli forces in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas.
• Protection Cluster partners provided cash-forprotection assistance and Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) to about 100 people, aiming to meet urgent needs and mitigate further harm.
• Protection Cluster partners delivered a range of case management services, reaching about 90 per cent of displaced families (approximately 36,000 people) with Psychological First Aid (PFA) and about 7,000 displaced adults (approximately 40 per cent of the displaced adult population) through group counselling sessions. Partners organized 1,500 group counselling sessions and 700 individual sessions, delivered through both in-person and remote modalities, to promote social cohesion and a protective environment for both displaced people and host communities.
• Partners activated community-based protection mechanisms, including early warning, safety planning, and referrals. Referral pathways were strengthened to ensure timely access to services and heightened community awareness of available services through helplines, dissemination of leaflets, social media platforms, close communication with emergency committees and focal points across governorates, and during the delivery of protection services.
• Partners delivered stress management and selfcare support to over 150 frontline responders in the northern West Bank.
• Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AoR) and gender-based violence AoR partners developed a disability inclusion action plan to improve support for children with disabilities and strengthen capacities in this regard.

Mine Action

• Between 1 January and 30 April 2025, 117 Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) and Community Protection Program (CPP) sessions reached 1,911 people across the West Bank, promoting safer behaviors, reducing the risk of accidents, and equipping communities with life-saving knowledge.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

~10,000 people reached with gender-based violence services, including case management.

• About 10,000 people, including 4,105 in Jenin, 3,414 in Tulkarm and 554 in Tubas, received one or more GBV services, such as case management services and psychological support across the West Bank. These comprise 4,473 were women and girls who are either survivors of or at heightened risk of GBV, including 2,159 in Jenin, 1,689 in Tulkarm and 250 in Tubas. Services were delivered by 12 partners through Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS), community centres, women-led organizations, or through remote modalities managed by mobile outreach teams to overcome access constraints, including due to insecurity and checkpoints.
• Local referral mechanisms were strengthened by the GBV AoR through regular updates of referral pathways, comprehensive service mapping and the development of a Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces map. Coordination was enhanced through periodic meetings to address gaps and improve referrals. Furthermore, the GBV AoR supported capacity strengthening efforts of frontline and non-GBV actors to ensure safe and ethical survivor referrals.
• Partners organized 21 community sensitization and awareness sessions, reaching 2,854 people across the West Bank, including 1,138 in Jenin, 253 in Tulkarm and 304 in Tubas.
• Partners distributed dignity kits and provided Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) to 2,005 displaced women and girls at risk to address urgent hygiene and protection needs, including 1,223 in Tulkarm and 707 in Jenin.
• GBV AoR partners organized seven capacity-building and training sessions, reaching 169 GBV and non- GBV frontline workers, on GBV case management, MHPSS, GBV mainstreaming, as well as safe referral pathways.

Child Protection

>7,900 children reached with case management, rehabilitation, and other child protection services.

• Between January and April 2025, Child Protection (CP) AoR partners reached 7,937 children and 3,491 caregivers, including 147 children and caregivers with disabilities in the Tubas (1,036), Jenin (3,880) and Tulkarm (3,021) governorates. Provided services included: case management, MHPSS, cash assistance, child protection awareness sessions, distribution of assistive devices, rehabilitation services for children with disabilities, and referrals of children and families to essential services.
• Among the 7,939 children reached, CP AoR partners provided MHPSS services to 5,630 children, including 58 children with disabilities, and 3,308 caregivers across Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates. Children received individual and group MHPSS sessions and PFA, while caregivers participated in parenting sessions aimed at strengthening emotional resilience, improving coping mechanisms, and reducing the risk of neglect, abuse, and harmful coping strategies.
• CP AoR partners reached 1,282 children and 169 caregivers across Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas with awareness-raising sessions. The sessions focused on safe evacuation procedures, preventing family separation, supporting children with disabilities during emergencies, and enhancing children’s safety and preparedness during displacement.
• CP AoR partners distributed winter clothing kits to 612 displaced children, ensuring protection from the cold weather and enabling access to education in a dignified manner.
• A mapping of services and referral pathways was updated for the northern West Bank, complementing existing tools for the West Bank to strengthen coordination and minimize service duplication.
• On 20 February, a technical webinar was organized for about 40 staff to support disability inclusive approaches that address the needs of children with disabilities.
• On 27 February, CP AoR issued a joint statement with the Protection Cluster AoR to highlight the impact of militarized operations on children’s rights.

Challenges

• Limited access, shortages in pre-positioned supplies (e.g. PSS kits), and the dispersed nature of displacement across multiple locations hindered and delayed response activities. This was exacerbated by the sudden sharp increase in the need for MHPSS and case management, which initially overwhelmed response capacity.
• A marked increase in militarized operations, settler violence, movement restrictions and widespread displacement, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm, have significantly increased the risks of GBV, especially sexual harassment, domestic violence and psychological abuse, disrupted in-person interventions, and limited survivors’ ability to safely access service points, especially in remote and rural areas. Some women and girls living in displacement sites reported a lack of privacy, inadequate facilities, and exposure to heightened GBV risks, disproportionately affecting women with disabilities, older women and adolescent girls.
• GBV service providers and other frontline protection staff reported high levels of burnout and stress due to insecurity, understaffing, and limited access to essential resources such as transportation to work.
• Structural gaps remain in multisectoral integration – particularly in linking GBV services with livelihoods, legal, health, and MHPSS – and referral pathways require further improvements to ensure timely, accountable access to services, particularly for survivors in remote areas or collective shelters.
• Critical funding shortages have limited response capacity, including operational presence, negatively affecting the scale and continuity of services, including MHPSS, cash for protection, legal aid, GBV, Mine Action services such as VA and EORE-CPP, and community-based protection.

Education

>9,300 displaced children reached with learning, recreational, and stationary kits. Accelerated remote learning launched by UNRWA.

Response

Between January and 30 April, Education partners delivered psycho-social support (PSS) to enhance social emotional learning (SEL) through art, sport, storytelling and other gender-responsive recreational and resilience-building activities. In total, 4,718 school-aged children who have been displaced or are in host communities were reached. In addition, seven sessions were organized targeting 112 teaching staff, caregivers and university students in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas to support them in helping children cope with the crisis. Special attention was given to children who were considered at high risk of developing serious psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other symptoms, with one-on-one sessions organized for children in need of personalized support.

• Education partners provided remedial education for 8,759 children in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. The learning support was focused on areas such as reading, writing, mathematics and general cognitive development.
• Education partners provided learning, recreational and stationary kits to 9,380 displaced children in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. These kits were provided to students at 25 schools and 12 community-based organizations (CBOs).
• Education partners supported 29 teachers working with children with disabilities in Jenin and Tubas, by training them to better support children with learning difficulties, autism and other needs. They also recruited 29 shadow teachers to support teachers inside the classroom.
• UNRWA launched a remote learning programme on 23 February to cover eight weeks of curriculum content in five weeks.

Challenges

• The ongoing Israeli operation in the northern West Bank has disrupted the learning process, including due to the closure of 10 UNRWA schools in Jenin (four schools), Tulkarm (four schools) and Nur Shams (two schools) refugee camps serving about 4,400 students, which further exacerbated psychological and social stress. Moreover, some students had limited or no ability to access remote learning services launched by UNRWA due to the lack of access to internet services and remote devices. Of 4,429 UNRWA students, 4,060 were out of school or unaccounted for, of whom only 27 per cent enrolled in online classes, according to UNRWA.
• Many students and caregivers found it unsafe to commute to school due to intensified movement restrictions (checkpoints, damaged and blocked roads) and settler violence, combined with the lack of public transportation. Between 21 January and the end of February, 161 governmental schools in Jenin, 140 in Tulkarm and 51 in Tubas and surrounding areas, serving a total of about 104,540 students, shifted either to remote learning or assignment days due to insecurity or because they have served as shelters for displaced families. As of 25 March, there were 40 government schools, including 32 in Tulkarm and eight in Jenin, that have been implementing remote learning modalities, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education (MoE). By 6 April, in-person governmental education resumed in Jenin and Tulkarem cities for the first time, except for six schools (four in Tulkarm, two in Jenin) that remained closed due to their proximity to affected refugee camps. By 31 May, all the schools had resumed inperson learning.
• Shortages in schools supplies and limited space at alternative schools meant that not all displaced school-aged children were able to access learning in alternative schools or through remote learning programmes. As of 26 February, 11,942 children under 18 were displaced. In only half of the collective shelters were children attending school through the UNRWA and governmental systems, either online or in-person. For instance, in Jenin area, some displaced children living in rented accommodation enrolled in Az Zababdeh governmental school while others could not, due to the lack of space and parents’ reluctance and/or concerns to send their children to a new school. In Tulkarm, children attending online classes reported severe impediments, such as the lack of computers and other devices as well as unstable and costly internet connections.
• Operations by Israeli forces made it impossible to safely conduct PSS activities, forcing partners to temporarily suspend some SEL activities, especially in Jenin city. For example, the International Rescue Committee and the Teacher Creativity Center reported that they had to postpone their SEL activities that served 200 children in Jenin for about a month.

Shelter

3,960 displaced families reached with non-food items, including blankets and kitchen sets.

Response

• Between January and April 2025, Shelter partners distributed 10,500 non-food items (NFIs), such as mattresses, blankets, pillows, kitchen sets, and sleeping bags, to 3,960 families who were displaced in the northern West Bank.
• Shelter partners provided cash support to displaced families who were displaced and forced to rent apartments in nearby neighbourhoods, towns and cities. In total, 180 families were supported with cash for rent, covering three months.

Challenges

• There was an inadequate quantity of NFIs prepositioned to handle the unexpected, large-scale displacement in the northern West Bank, due to the lack of funding.
• Displaced families were widely dispersed across different villages, cities and towns, which made identification and delivery of assistance timeconsuming and resource intensive. Multiple waves of displacement further complicated efforts to track displaced people and provide consistent support.
• Displacement began during the winter season, increasing the need for seasonally appropriate items such as heaters, winter clothing and essential NFIs such as blankets.

Cash Working Group (CWG)

>7,600 households received the first round of multi-purpose cash assistance.

Response

• Since the beginning of the Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank on 21 January, and as of 19 June, the Cash Working Group (CWG) distributed Emergency Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (EMPCA), amounting to 1,640 NIS (US$469) per family, to 7,634 households, including 3,498 households from Jenin refugee camp, 2,275 from Tulkarm camp, and 1,861 from Nur Shams camp. Most households have already redeemed their assistance. Preparations for the second round of payments are ongoing and will prioritize the most vulnerable displaced households, in coordination with UNRWA and other humanitarian partners.

Challenges

• Verification challenges with up-to-date information for thousands of people sometimes stalled the distribution process.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)

Response

• Between February and June 2025, PSEA network members referred 3,193 persons to protection services and organized several awareness raising sessions on PSEA that reached 64 community members (50 women and 14 men). Most of the training and awareness sessions have been carried out voluntarily by PSEA network members.

Challenges

• Funding shortages and restricted access have affected the scale and consistency of PSEA interventions across the northern West Bank. This has created a need to expand the pool of trainers among members of local committees and volunteers, which remains limited.
• Protection against sexual abuse and exploitation (PSEA) remains a cross-cutting priority for all clusters. Aid distribution must be delivered with dignity and respect. Any wrongdoing can be reported through the SAWA toll-free number 164. SAWA will assist and provide services free of charge and confidentially.