The global pandemic crisis has highlighted the inherent weaknesses of governance in poor countries. Those governments are struggling with an ongoing legitimacy crisis, and the pandemic has revealed the state’s weak public services. These countries pursue economic relief and support from the international community to overcome the growing economic impacts of the crisis. This political apathy is covered by non-state actors and the private sector, which offer healthcare provision to address the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper focuses on the role of state and non-state actors in the case of Palestinian refugees. After exposing the methodological challenges during COVID-19, the paper provides an overview of the Palestinian refugee camps and focuses on camp governance during COVID-19 and on coordination between state and non-state actors. My analysis is based on observations and informal discussions with actors in the camps and an analysis of discussion groups on social networks, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, press reviews between 1 March and 23 June 2020 and informal interviews in the fall of 2020.