The report provides an overview of the West Bank context and an update on the impact of the hostilities between Israel and Hamas since October 7. It highlights key drivers of humanitarian needs that are already affecting the lives of Palestinians and anticipates how they will likely worsen in the coming weeks, shedding light on the situation experienced by specific groups.

As at 7 October, an estimated 18,000 residents of the Gaza Strip held work permits issued by the Israeli authorities. On 10 October, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories revoked all work permits. This announcement was followed by mass arrests and detentions of Gazans working in Israel by Israeli authorities.

This report provides an overview of how the humanitarian situation has evolved over the past month since the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. It is meant to highlight priority needs and humanitarian response constraints.

On 7 October 2023, the Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip) launched a military operation called Al Aqsa Storm with other armed Palestinian groups against Israel. As a response, the Israeli Government declared war on Palestine on 8 October and retaliated using heavy air strikes, military bombardment, and attacks on military and civilian targets.

On 3 July 2023, Israeli forces conducted a two-day largescale air and ground operation in Jenin Refugee Camp and its surroundings. This is the largest Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank since 2002. The objective of the operation, as stated, was to counter the presence of armed Palestinians in Jenin.

On 9 May 2023, Israel launched air raids on several areas across the Gaza Strip, with claims to target members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement. On 13 May, a ceasefire was declared between the Israeli authorities and PIJ. The destruction of homes and safety concerns had displaced more than 1,200 Palestinians and about 3,000 housing units have been reported as damaged, severly damaged or totally destroyed. 

Since 26 February 2023, there has been an increase in violence against Palestinian citizens in Huwara, a Palestinian town located in Nablus governorate, northern West Bank. On 26 February, more than 400 Israeli settlers stormed Huwara and three surrounding villages, vandalising and torching 75 houses and more than 100 cars of Palestinian residents in what has been described as a ‘pogrom’ by an Israeli commander overseeing the West Bank. 

Since November 2022, Gaza has been experiencing intermittent heavy rainfall that has accumulated in Israeli-controlled dams and reservoirs near the Gaza Strip. Between 24–26 December 2022, Israeli authorities opened dam gates and levees along the perimeter fence east of Gaza, flooding the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip with accumulated rainwater.

This report approaches the analysis of the humanitarian situation in Palestine with a focus on social impacts. It is part of a series of independent analysis products to support humanitarian decision-making in Palestine in the aftermath of the escalation of violence in May 2021.

Four months after the escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, humanitarian needs remain, and reconstruction efforts are stalled.  This paper is part of a series of independent analysis products to support humanitarian decision-making in Palestine in the aftermath of the escalation of violence in May 2021.

This report investigates the sectoral impact of demolitions on Palestinians living in the West Bank, focussing on Area C. The analysis identifies common characteristics of vulnerability present in the West Bank, aiming to highlight how demolitions further affect access to essential services and the availability of covping mechanisms. This paper is part of a series of independent analysis products to support humanitarian decision-making in Palestine in the aftermath of the escalation of violence in May 2021.

Restrictions on Palestinian access to land and resources – enforced through a complex system of administrative, bureaucratic, and physical constraints – contribute to the stagnation of economic and social development for Palestinians living in the West Bank, especially in Israeli-controlled Area C. The crisis is directly linked to the occupation and expansion of Israeli control in areas across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Hebron H2.

This report provides an overview of the main stakeholders in Gaza and looks at the impact of the May 2021 conflict escalation on social and public infrastructures, and the agricultural sector. It is part of a series of independent analysis products to support humanitarian decision-making in Palestine.

This report provides an overview of the recent conflict escalation in the State of Palestine and highlights humanitarian needs in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip by analysing current needs, humanitarian constraints, underlying vulnerabilities, and aggravating factors that could lead to further hostilities.

In April 2020, the Israeli coalition government signed an agreement containing an article allowing the annexation of the West Bank territories. At the time of the writing of this note, the formal annexation has yet to start, despite initial plans to begin on 1 July. The potential impact of the annexation remains major for Palestinians, as was seen following the East Jerusalem annexation in 1980. 

This thematic report analyses the most pressing humanitarian needs in Gaza against the backdrop of long-standing vulnerabilities, access restrictions, and political developments. Research was conducted through the secondary data analysis and conversations with key informants in Gaza, West Bank, and Israel.

As of 17 July, 227 Palestinians have been killed, and 1,585 injured as a consequence of the hostilities. According to OCHA, nearly 80% of the casualties were civilians, of whom over a quarter were children.

Some 1,660 homes have either been destroyed or damaged, prompting the displacement of 9,900 individuals.

This is an update of the Briefing Note on the Humanitarian Impact of Operation Protective Edge on the Gaza Strip, published by ACAPS on 17/07/2014, in which drivers of the current conflict are fully elaborated.