West Bank Protection Risk Assessment

Executive Summary

Escalation Since October 7, 2023

• Violence and rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank have escalated sharply since October 7, 2023.
• Israeli forces and settlers increasingly act in collusion, carrying out raids, demolitions, and attacks with impunity.
• These practices constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes

Key Findings

• Safety & Security: 89% of respondents feel unsafe; 72% directly experienced settler violence in the past 3 months.
• Settler & Military Violence: Beatings, shootings, arson, destruction of farmland, and night raids are widespread. Soldiers often fail to intervene or actively cooperate. Women and children are increasingly targeted.
• Mass violence and denial of rights: Mass arrests, curfews, and administrative detention without charge deliberately target families and communities.
• Housing, Land & Property: 94% reported violations; demolitions and land confiscations surged across Area C and also in areas B and A. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians displaced between Jan 2024–Aug 2025 from military operations in the West Bank.
• Movement Restrictions: Over 900 checkpoints and barriers recorded in early 2025, with 146 new iron gates since October 2023. Delays of 1–5+ hours are common, with humiliation, beatings, and arbitrary arrests happening at checkpoints.
• Livelihoods: 68% reported major income loss; 23% lost all income. Farmers and herders face land seizures, livestock theft, and destruction of crops. Women, especially single women, are disproportionately affected.
• Access to Services: 85% reported new barriers to healthcare, education, and markets. Medical emergencies are frequently obstructed, with testimonies of deaths and life‑threatening delays at checkpoints.
• Women & Girls: reports of harassment, strip searches, and sexual violence risks at checkpoints and during raids. Survivors face stigma and exclusion.
• Children & Youth: Increasingly targeted in night raids and arrests, leaving families traumatized.
• Mental Health: 97% reported worsening mental health; widespread trauma, anxiety, and isolation are fragmenting communities and eroding resilience.
• Humanitarian & Legal Implications
• Systematic violations create an increasingly coercive environment fostering forcible transfer, undermining Palestinian demographic continuity.
• Documented practices of collective punishment, forced displacement, and destruction of property violate the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• The ICJ advisory opinion (July 2024) and UNGA resolution (Sept 2024) reaffirm the illegality of the occupation and settlements and the need for those to be brought to an end.

Key Recommendations

For Donors & Aid Actors

• Scale up funding for West Bank programming, including community‑based protection, MHPSS, and resilience initiatives.
• Strengthen links between protection monitoring, legal aid, and documentation.
• Prioritize monitoring of impacts on vulnerable groups (women, children, farmers, Bedouins, displaced families).

For International Policymakers / Duty Bearers

• Provide stronger backing for protective presence interventions to deter settler violence.
• Apply pressure to end forced displacement, demolitions, and land confiscations.
• Demand removal of arbitrary checkpoints and movement restrictions.
• Take concrete steps, in line with the ICJ ruling, to end the illegal occupation and halt settlement expansion.
• Ensure that violations occurring in the West Bank are not overshadowed by Gaza, recognizing both as interconnected parts of the same crisis.