Situation Report – Ukrainian Refugees in Israel February 2026

“They used to be uncomfortable asking if they could come and get food. When I was at work, I
would offer and they would say, ‘No thanks, we don’t need.’ Now, even when I’m on vacation,
they ask me, ‘When can I come and get some?'”

(Oliana, ASSAF coordinator for Ukrainian refugees)

In Israel, there are approximately 23,000 people with Ukrainian citizenship who are not
eligible to stay under the Law of Return.

1 They are all in Israel legally, under collective protection
from deportation due to the known danger to their lives in their country of origin. The vast
majority of them are women and their children who fled the war in Ukraine.2 Four years since
the Russian invasion of Ukraine and two years since the outbreak of war in Israel, they still lack
regular refugee status, basic social rights, and certainty about the future. Fleeing war in their
home country and dealing with the war in Israel intensifies their vulnerability. The war in Israel
rekindles the trauma from which they fled, as some members of this community were tragically
killed or injured in the conflict between Israel and Iran in May 2025.

In the first months after these women and children arrived, the State of Israel provided
them with basic assistance (health services, food stamps, and housing assistance in extreme
cases); however, these were soon reduced and eventually eliminated altogether. They became
almost completely dependent on relatives and volunteers for clothing, food, and shelter, but
this too has dwindled over the past four years. Their worsening humanitarian situation is
evident to ASSAF: since October 7, 2023, there has been a 70% increase in requests for
assistance from this population.

Ukrainian Refugees Feb 2026 Full Report

For more information: Hadar Pesya Aviel, Public Policy Coordinator, ASSAF., [email protected]