The housing sector in Palestine is a central component of the urban system, with strong linkages to land use, infrastructure, service delivery, and socio-economic stability. The sector has long faced structural challenges, including limited land availability, housing affordability constraints, and institutional and regulatory fragmentation, all of which have affected its ability to respond to growing demand and evolving development needs.
According to SDG 11 indicator 11.1.1, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) reported that 19.5 per cent of the urban population in Palestine was living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing, reflecting pre-existing structural challenges in access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing. Since then, and even though there is no available data yet, the situation has significantly deteriorated due to the accelerated geopolitical context and recent developments on the ground intensifying pressure on an already fragile housing sector, widening the gap between housing needs and available solutions.
Since late 2023, the housing sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has undergone significant and unprecedented changes. In the Gaza Strip, large-scale destruction of housing stock, widespread displacement, and disruptions to infrastructure and basic services have drastically altered housing conditions and needs. The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) reports that approximately 81 per cent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have sustained various levels of damage resulting in a significant loss of housing stock, and placing additional pressure on already limited shelter options, while exacerbating displacement and housing insecurity. At least an estimated 1.7 million people are sheltering in approximately 1,600 displacement sites. As of 11 January 2026, a total of 283,566 shelters/tents were identified across the Gaza Strip from space imagery. Estimations show that at least 30 per cent of those shelters were potentially affected by or directly exposed to flooding and additional 14 per cent of those shelters are located close to the shoreline in areas highly exposed to sea surge risk and strong winds.
At the same time, violence and coercive policies and practices in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remain high, causing casualties, damage, and further displacement and raising serious protection concerns. In East Jerusalem, housing conditions are increasingly precarious, marked by a growing pattern of forced evictions and displacement of Palestinian households, particularly in areas such as Silwan. These trends, driven by legal and settlement-related pressures, are contributing to heightened housing insecurity and instability.
On 20 August 2025, the Israeli government approved the construction of over 3,400 housing units for settlers as part of the E1 settlement expansion plan. The plan entails the construction of thousands of settlement housing and commercial units, creating a continuous built-up area between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem which would effectively contribute to separating the northern and central West Bank from the south, would further threaten the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and heighten the risk of forced displacement of about 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities.
In the West Bank, including its northern areas, increased demolitions, displacement, and access restrictions have further constrained housing supply and exacerbated housing insecurity. Since 2023, more than 5,600 people have been displaced across the West Bank within this context, including from 38 communities that have been completely depopulated. Displacement linked to settler violence and access restrictions continues to sharply increase. Since the beginning of the year and as of 30 March 2026, more than 1,700 Palestinians displaced of whom over two-thirds were in the Jordan Valley, surpassing the total number of people displaced witnessed in the past three years.
In this context, UN-Habitat seeks to undertake a comprehensive housing sector situational assessment, primarily based on an in-depth literature review and stakeholders’ interviews, to provide an updated and evidence-based understanding of the sector. As part of this process, the National Urban Policy (NUP), endorsed in July 2023 as a long-term strategic framework for sustainable urban development, will be selectively reviewed and updated to ensure that housing-related policy directions reflect current realities while maintaining its overarching vision.
