[Israeli] Violence and restrictions continue to drive humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank [Palestine], while shortfalls in humanitarian funding are further holding back relief efforts

Humanitarian organizations provide emergency shelter and other essential support to #Palestinians displaced from their homes. But displacement continues to rise by the year while funding and operational space remain limited.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory mobilizes and coordinates assistance to people in need. 

Humanitarian Situation Report | 25 September 2026

Highlights

• Demolitions displaced 147 Palestinians across the West Bank in one week, more than three times the 2026 weekly average, including 58 people in South ‘Anata Bedouins, near the area designated for the E1 settlement expansion plan.
• Israeli forces’ operations and movement restrictions disrupted access to essential services for thousands of Palestinians in Ramallah governorate, while operations by Israeli forces in Nablus temporarily displaced families and closed schools and a health clinic.
• Funding shortfalls threaten mobile health services in Area C: 20 locations are at risk of losing mobile-clinic coverage without continued funding, while 17 locations are already without services.
• In Gaza, shortages of cancer medications, chemotherapy and radiotherapy supplies, dialysis materials, insulin and engine oil – caused by underfunding and lack of clearance for limited available medicines to enter Gaza – are disrupting life-saving services.
• The new academic year in Gaza began on 19 September with an estimated 200,000 children remaining out of school, amid funding shortfalls. Partners had prepared by removing rubble, cleaning some classrooms and providing bags and stationery. In the Strip, approximately 495,000 preschool and school-aged children are enrolled in learning spaces supported through the UN and partners’ humanitarian response.
• Funding shortfalls and restrictions are severely constraining preparations for the rainy season, with very limited available stocks covering only a fraction of the needs; hundreds of child-friendly spaces and protection services face disruptions.
• Across the Gaza Strip, 451 displacement sites identified as being at high risk of flooding are hosting an estimated 464,402 people.

Overview

Violence and restrictions continue to drive humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while shortfalls in humanitarian funding are further holding back relief efforts. Addressing Member States as part of the General Assembly High-level Week, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that "we must not lose sight of the devastating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory."

Regarding Gaza, he said that “the resumption of assistance since the ceasefire was announced last October has brough some relief – but conditions remain intolerable... International law, including international humanitarian law, is brazenly violated. Humanitarian access remains severely restricted, and the level of human suffering is still off the charts.” He reiterated the need to allow the UN to perform its mandates in Gaza and for UN and humanitarian personnel to be protected, stressing that all parties must comply with international law and the orders of the International Court of Justice.

Regarding the West Bank, he said that "record levels of settler attacks and relentless efforts to expand settlements are pushing Palestinian communities to the breaking point. Such actions are unlawful and unjust." The Secretary-General further said that violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel "are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the spectre of ethnic cleansing."... READ MORE  https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-report-25-september-2026

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Gaza: WHO appeals for massive aid influx ahead of winter- Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more [food, clean water...etc...] from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the war-torn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said [warned] on Friday

UN News A child with his homemade kite in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of central Gaza City (file).

United Nations News 

By Daniel Johnson in Geneva

2 October 2026 Peace and Security

Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the war-torn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. 

“A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

Almost 12 months into a fragile ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and Israel marked by ongoing Israeli airstrikes and other military activity, Gaza’s humanitarian situation remains “overwhelming”, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. 

Approved aid can only be brought into the Strip via Kerem Shalom in the southern tip of the enclave, while Rafah (also in the south) is open for the limited movement of people including patients requiring medical treatment abroad. At least four other main entry points into Gaza for aid remain closed: Kissufim, Gate 96, Erez and Erez West.

'Dual use' denials 

In a call to the Israeli authorities to “release the pressure on medical supplies”, Dr Van De Weerdt also stressed that essential medicines “should not be considered as dual use” – and therefore banned by Israel on the grounds that they could be used by Hamas fighters – “as they are globally accepted standards on medical items anybody needs anywhere to run a hospital or a clinic”.

In the last six months, one shipment of prosthetics and assistive devices was rejected four times. "Every rejection means another delay for someone who has already lost a limb and is simply waiting for the chance to walk again," stressed the WHO official, who noted that medicines "by contrast, move relatively well", with almost 87 per cent approved and just over 1 per cent rejected.

UN aid agencies operating in Gaza still provide critical assistance to families across the Strip in coordination with the Israeli authorities, but this lifesaving work is impeded by a lack of reliable and timely access.

“Our ask is simple and has not changed: we need the unimpeded and predictable entry of humanitarian and health supplies into Gaza at scale. We also need a multi-crossing model so that aid isn't forced to trickle down through a limited number of crossings,” the WHO senior official said.

Highlighting the “extraordinary health workers” still risking their lives to help others in Gaza, Dr Van De Weerdt said that too few supplies were reaching them and not enough patients were getting the care they needed and deserved. The already dire humanitarian situation risks getting even worse soon, once autumn ends.

Rodent threat

“As winter begins, this urgency to get supplies into Gaza only deepens. Almost two million people are in need of shelter to protect against the cold and the risk of flooding, exposing people to serious health and safety risks, let alone [their] dignity,” the WHO official explained.

As in previous winters in Gaza, the enclave’s residents are expected to face a heightened risk of preventable disease outbreaks, linked to the absence of safe shelter, a lack of clean water and the high number of rats, whose bites transmit infection. The destruction of public health laboratories has complicated the task of identifying potential epidemics, WHO explained.

The development follows a warning from OCHA on Thursday about serious public health risks linked to the accumulation of solid waste in the heart of Gaza City.

Recent gains in improving sanitation in Gaza remain fragile because of a lack of reliable access to heavy machinery and equipment, OCHA explained, “or to engine oil and spare parts required to keep them running. Sustained funding for fuel is also critical.”

Meanwhile, mine action partners reported that they still lack “permissions and equipment” to remove unexploded ordnance hazards identified in the rubble during 37 assessment missions.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/10/1168508 

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4 principles guide the United Nation's humanitarian work: Humanity + Neutrality + Impartiality + Independence

United Nations

@UN

 

Humanity  

Neutrality  

Impartiality  

Independence 

 

These 4 principles guide the UN's humanitarian work. Learn more ahead of Wednesday's #WorldHumanitarianDay: https://un.org/en/observances

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https://x.com/UN/status/2089683981998395798 

Let’s make protecting each other our greatest achievement

On 19 August, we mark World Humanitarian Day: a time to honour humanitarian workers and to stand with people affected by crises around the world.

When lives are at risk, the people who come to help should never be targets. Yet humanitarian workers continue to be killed, injured, abducted, detained and obstructed while carrying out their work. Most are national staff serving their own communities.

Under international humanitarian law, civilians — including humanitarian and medical personnel — must be respected and protected. Parties to armed conflict must allow and facilitate humanitarian relief for people in need, in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Attacks on humanitarian personnel have consequences far beyond the individuals directly affected. They interrupt food deliveries, health care, protection and other life-saving services, leaving communities with even fewer ways to survive and recover.

Concern is not protection. Condemnation is not accountability.

International law and humanitarian principles must be upheld in practice. Preventing attacks, protecting humanitarian access and ensuring accountability are essential to preserving life and human dignity.

This World Humanitarian Day, we call on States and parties to armed conflict to:

• Respect and protect civilians, humanitarian personnel and medical personnel.
• Allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
• Prevent arbitrary arrest and detention, and release humanitarian workers who are unlawfully detained.
• Conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into alleged violations and ensure accountability in accordance with international law.
• Support survivors and the families of humanitarian workers who have been killed or injured.
• Strengthen practical measures that help keep humanitarian personnel safe, including appropriate equipment and technology, security training, and mental health and psychosocial support.

                 

                  

Join the #ActForHumanity campaign

Protecting humanitarian workers protects the people who depend on them for food, health care, shelter, protection and hope. Let’s make protecting each other our greatest achievement.

1. Use your voice: Share verified campaign information and call for the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel using #ActForHumanity.
2. Support humanitarian action: Support organizations delivering life-saving assistance, particularly local and national responders working in their own communities.
3. Stand for accountability: Call for respect for international humanitarian law and for credible investigations and accountability when violations occur.
4. Remember the people behind the numbers: Honour humanitarian workers who have been killed and stand with their families, colleagues and communities.

Protecting those who help others

Every life is more than a number

Every humanitarian worker killed leaves behind family members, friends, colleagues and communities whose lives are forever changed. World Humanitarian Day honours their lives, service and legacy, while renewing the call to protect those who continue this work.

Local humanitarian workers face the greatest risks

Most humanitarian personnel affected by violence are national staff working in the places where they live. Protection efforts must reflect the risks they face and ensure that local and national responders have the resources, training and support they need.

Drones and other emerging war technologies

From armed drones to artificial intelligence, the technology of war is changing. Our humanity cannot. Whatever weapons or technologies are used, parties to armed conflict remain bound by international humanitarian law.

• All feasible precautions must be taken to avoid, and in any event minimize, civilian harm.
• Human judgment and accountability must remain central to decisions involving the use of lethal force.
• Humanitarian and medical personnel, their facilities, vehicles and work must be respected and protected.
• Technology used to identify or track humanitarian operations must never be misused to target them.

Background

On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian workers, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 63/139, designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day.

Each year, World Humanitarian Day brings together partners from across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of humanitarian workers.

World Humanitarian Day is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

2026 Campaign Message

The time for concern is over. The time for consequence is now.

Join the campaign! #ACTFORHUMANITY now!

Facts & Figures

• By the end of May 2026, more than 252 million people were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection — 13 million more than when the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview was launched. (source)
• At mid-year, humanitarian partners were planning to assist 143.2 million people, with nearly 89 million people facing the most severe needs prioritized for life-saving support. (source)
• By the end of April 2026, humanitarian partners had provided an estimated 45.2 million people with at least one form of assistance or protection — about one in six of all people in need. (source)
• As of 31 May 2026, humanitarian plans required US$33.66 billion and had received US$8.21 billion — 24.4 per cent of the amount required. (source)
• OCHA reported that at least 326 humanitarian workers were killed across 21 countries in 2025, bringing the number killed over the three-year period to more than 1,000. (source)
• The United Nations recorded more than 37,000 civilian deaths across 20 armed conflicts in 2025 — approximately one recorded civilian death every 14 minutes. The figure is a documented minimum and does not represent the full toll. (source)

Figures reflect the reporting dates indicated in the cited sources and may be revised as additional information becomes available.

Documents

• 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview Mid-Year Review
• Report of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians in armed conflict (S/2026/390)
• OCHA statement on the protection of humanitarian workers
• WHO Health Emergency Appeal 2026
• General Assembly resolution establishing World Humanitarian Day (A/RES/63/139)
• Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel
• General Assembly resolution on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel (A/RES/74/116)
• OCHA's 2025 in Review

Related websites

• World Humanitarian Day
• United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
• Delivering humanitarian aid
• Inter-Agency Standing Committee
• World Food Programme
• UN Refugee Agency
• UNICEF
• World Health Organization
• Remember the Fallen
• UN News: Humanitarian Aid

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Israeli authorities granted only 66 building permits to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over an 11-year period, while illegal settlers were given 22,000 permits, an Israeli newspaper reported Sunday, Anadolu reports.

 Middle East Monitor

@MiddleEastMnt

 

Israeli authorities granted only 66 building permits to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over an 11-year period, while illegal settlers were given 22,000 permits, an Israeli newspaper reported Sunday, Anadolu reports. 

 

According to Haaretz daily, only 66 building permits were issued to Palestinians between 2009 and 2020, while 22,000 permits were granted to illegal Israeli settlers during the same period. 

 

“As most of the West Bank is off-limits to Palestinian development, residents are forced to build without permits,” the paper commented. 

 

It cited widespread demolitions carried out by the Israeli authorities since January in the Taawun neighborhood, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. 

 

The neighborhood is located in Area C and “did not receive building permits from the Israeli authorities, despite being far from any settlement or access road,” said the daily. 

 

Al-Taawun, it added, is “just one example of the accelerating pace of demolitions across the West Bank.” 

 

 In January alone, the Israeli army demolished a total of 24 Palestinian buildings in Area C due to the lack of building permits. 

 

 Haaretz, citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at least 2,461 Palestinian buildings were demolished over the past two years due to the lack of building permits, up from 4,984 structures over the previous nine years. 

 

As a result, around 3,500 people lost their homes during that two-year period, it added. 

 

OCHA did not specify whether the demolitions took place exclusively in Area C or across the West Bank as a whole. 

 

According to Haaretz, the demolition campaign over the past two years has coincided with the displacement of around 80 Palestinian communities due to the rapid expansion of illegal settler farms and outposts. 

 

The 1995 Oslo II Accord divided the West Bank into three administrative areas: Area A under full Palestinian control; Area B under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control; and Area C under full Israeli civil and security control, which covers about 61 percent of the West Bank. https://middleeastmonitor.com/20260222-pales

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"The movement restrictions imposed by these checkpoints and gates severely disrupt the access of nearly 90,000 people to their lands, healthcare, education, and livelihoods." Between olive groves and gates: A Palestinian’s struggle for land and livelihood September 27, 2025 by Fareed Taamallah

Group of Palestinian children in Bureyc Camp raise the Palestinian flag over the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes following announcements of recognition of the State of Palestine by Canada, Australia, the UK, and Portugal, on September 22, 2025, in Gaza City, Gaza. [Moiz Salhi – Anadolu Agency]

As a Palestinian living in Ramallah, with ancestral roots in the village of Qira in the Salfit Governorate, life has long been intertwined with the land. For generations, my family has cultivated olive trees in Qira, a tradition that sustains both livelihoods and cultural heritage. Yet this year, the olive harvest faces unprecedented threats—not only from seasonal droughts or pests, but also from the systemic obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation.

Each time I want to visit my hometown — to see my family, to walk the streets where I grew up, or to tend to my olive groves — I am confronted by gates and checkpoints. What used to be a 30-minute drive can now take hours, or be impossible. Like thousands of other Palestinians, I feel my life narrowing, not by chance but by design.

Checkpoints and gates: Tools of dispossession

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), up until 2024 the Israeli occupation has established a total of 849 checkpoints across the occupied West Bank, with gates blocking roads constituting a third of these obstacles. The number has dramatically increased in 2025. Approximately 1,000 military gates and checkpoints massively fragment the West Bank, which covers an area of no more than 5,000 square kilometers, meaning there is a gate or checkpoint every five kilometers. For Palestinians, these statistics are not abstract. Each gate is a choke point in our daily lives.

Gates mean more than inconvenience, they mean economic collapse, and deprivation of basic services and cutting social life. Villages once connected to markets now see their shops shuttered, their youth unemployed. When access roads are blocked, workers cannot reach cities or Israel for employment. Farmers cannot reach groves or sell their produce.

In Salfit governorate, where Qira is located, the situation is particularly dire. The movement restrictions imposed by these checkpoints and gates severely disrupt the access of nearly 90,000 people to their lands, healthcare, education, and livelihoods. Gates have severed rural communities from Salfit city, where hospitals, administrative offices, and markets are located. The entrance to my hometown has been closed for months due to locked gates, forcing residents to take long, unpaved, and rough roads to reach the village.

Perhaps worst of all, gates break families apart. Weddings, funerals, and daily visits that once required a short drive now become logistical nightmares or impossible journeys. The feeling of unpredictability — never knowing if a road will be open or closed — has seeped into the fabric of Palestinian life, a constant reminder of powerlessness.

Settler violence: A growing threat

The challenges posed by checkpoints and gates are compounded by the escalating violence from Israeli settlers. These incidents include physical assaults, threats, and the destruction of olive trees.

OCHA documented over 200 settler-related incidents during the 2024 harvest season, in which more than 1,600 olive trees were vandalised, burned, or cut. Tools and harvests were stolen; farmers were assaulted.

Between January and March 2025, settler violence increased by an estimated 30 per cent compared to the same period in 2024. This surge in aggression is often carried out with impunity, as Israeli security forces frequently fail to intervene or even provide protection to Palestinian communities under attack.

My village has witnessed numerous settler crimes, the most recent of which occurred last March when a number of settlers sneaked in under the cover of darkness, attacked a house on the outskirts of the village, and set fire to a farmer’s vehicle. The occupation authorities did not bring any settlers to justice and the incident was recorded—as usual—as an unknown person.

The olive season is approaching, and it is unclear to me and my family – like many Palestinians – whether we will be able to reach our olive groves.

The olive grove: A symbol of resilience

For Palestinians, olive season is part of our heritage, identity, and resilience. The harvest season is a time of family gatherings and collective labour, a ritual passed down for generations. These trees have witnessed centuries of history, bearing witness to our ancestors’ toil and perseverance.

The olive tree, a symbol of Palestinian identity and resilience, has become a target in the broader strategy of displacement and dispossession. A report issued by the Palestinian Land Research Center revealed that the Israeli army and settlers uprooted more than 59,000 trees and confiscated approximatel 50,000 dunams of land in the occupied West Bank during 2024.

The numbers are staggering: between 1967 and 2011, over 800,000 trees were uprooted. From 2010 to 2023, another 278,000 were destroyed. Each tree takes years to grow; each uprooted grove... READ MORE  https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250927-between-olive-groves-and-gates-a-palestinians-struggle-for-land-and-livelihood/

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Israeli airstrikes on Saturday leveled three schools run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City, displacing thousands of civilians who had been sheltering there from months of bombardment

Smoke rises from three schools belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and several apartment buildings, where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge, after being targeted by Israeli forces in the al-Shati Refugee Camp in the western Gaza Strip on September 13, 2025. [Khames Alrefi – Anadolu Agency]

Thousands displaced as Israel targets UNRWA schools sheltering civilians in Gaza City

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250913-thousands-displaced-as-israel-targets-unrwa-schools-sheltering-civilians-in-gaza-city/

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September 13, 2025

Israeli airstrikes on Saturday leveled three schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City, displacing thousands of civilians who had been sheltering there from months of bombardment, Anadolu reports.

Witnesses told Anadolu that the army carried out heavy strikes on the Sit Sura, Al-Alya and Shaheiber schools in Gaza’s Beach refugee camp, where thousands of displaced people had sought refuge after fleeing earlier attacks.

They said the military had issued phone warnings for evacuation but gave families little time to collect belongings before the bombardment began. Residents described scenes of panic as people rushed into the streets under fire, leaving behind food, mattresses and documents.

The raids also struck a multi-story apartment block in the al-Firouz Towers area of western Gaza’s al-Nasr neighborhood and a home on al-Sinaa Street in the south of the city.

Earlier Saturday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets ordering residents of Gaza City to head south toward Khan Younis and Rafah, where more than 800,000 people are already crammed into makeshift shelters with little food, water or medical care. Palestinians have largely refused the evacuation orders, fearing permanent displacement.

READ: 7 more Palestinians including 2 children die of malnutrition in Gaza, taking toll to 420

The government media Office in Gaza said 1.3 million people remain in the city despite intense bombardment, most of them pushed into its western districts that have come under concentrated attacks since Friday.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said Israel’s actions amounted to “a death sentence on Gaza City,” adding that residents face the choice of “leaving their homes or dying under bombardment.”

The bombardment comes as part of Israel’s latest ground offensive, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots 2,” launched Sept. 3 to fully occupy Gaza City. The plan has faced criticism inside Israel over fears it could jeopardize the lives of soldiers and captives held in the enclave.

Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza had already surpassed 700 days, with Israel having killed over 64,700 Palestinians. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.