Attachments
OVERVIEW
Since October 2023, Israel has been launching air and ground operations against Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, causing widespread destruction, killing 539 Palestinians, including 131 children and injuring 5420 others, including 830 children by 03 July (OCHA 03/07/2024). Israel mounted the invasion in response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed over 1,200 people in Israel and led to the abduction of over 250 hostages, of whom around 116 remain in Gaza, including at least 40 who had died as of 30 June (BBC 30/06/2024; Reuters 08/06/2024).
This conflict has also contributed to escalating violence, destruction, and associated humanitarian needs in the West Bank since 7 October 2023. Increased Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operations, the militarisation of settlers, and Palestinian armed group activity have increased civilian casualties, home demolitions, and the displacement of Palestinians.
Heightened violence and displacement, along with increased movement restrictions, have also restricted Palestinian access to livelihoods and essential services across the West Bank. Israel has imposed additional economic and bureaucratic constraints on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and West Bank Palestinians, including a current ban on West Bank workers from entering Israel and the intermittent freezing of tax revenue, compounding livelihood losses. All of these trends have aggravated shelter, livelihood, WASH, protection, and other humanitarian needs, which an under-resourced humanitarian response is struggling to address.
In the coming months, there is a significant risk of large-scale conflict erupting in the West Bank as a result of economic deprivation and associated PA weakness; cycles of violence between Israeli forces, settlers, and Palestinian armed groups; and regional factors, including possible conflict between Israel and Lebanon.