BEIT JIBRIN REFUGEE CAMP

A shelter demolished during the intifadah

Beit Jibrin was established in 1950 in the heart of Bethlehem. It is the smallest West Bank camp, covering only .02 square kilometres. Its original residents came from the destroyed village of Beit Jibrin, on the western hills of Hebron. The camp is also often called the Azzeh camp, since more than 60% of the camp’s residents descend from the Azzeh family. Like other West Bank campus, it was established on land UNRWA leased from the government of Jordan.

The camp's residents receive services from UNRWA installations in the nearby Aida refugee camp and the UNRWA sub-area office in Bethlehem. The UNRWA camp services office is also based out of the Dheisheh camp. Following the Israeli army redeployment in 1995, the camp came under Palestinian Authority control. All shelters are connected to public water and electricity infrastructure.

Registered Refugees

• Total: 1,078 (December 2007)
• Average family size: 4.7
• Poverty rate: 25.4%; 15.7% in absolute poverty
• Unemployment rate: 29.7%; affected by inaccessibility of the Israeli labor market. Average monthly income: NIS 1,731
• Average Age: 23.6
• Demographic Profile

UNRWA Education Programme

• Boys attend the boys’ school in Aida; Girls attend the girls’ school in Dheisheh

UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme

• Social Safety Net (SSN) Programme beneficiaries: 59 families
• UNRWA collects trash and disposes of it in an UNRWA compactor truck
• 18 of 19 shelters damaged by IDF incursions during the second intifada repaired.

UNRWA Health Programme

• Patients use the health facilities in the Dheisheh Camp

UNRWA Emergency Programme

• 239 families receiving emergency food and cash assistance

Community Services

• 1 kindergarten

• 1 mosque

• 1 library

• 1 local NGOs provides services, primarily to women