Key issues

Violence has increased in the oPt, and particularly in the Gaza Strip. In October 2006, 60 Palestinians were killed and 180 were injured in Israeli-Palestinian violence. The number of casualties1 was considerably higher than during the same period last year.

Internal violence among Palestinians also increased during the year, reflecting the breakdown in law and order since the beginning of 2006. The vacuum created by failing security structures is at great risk of being filled by multiple armed factions and private militias. Since January 2006, 102 Palestinian civilians have been killed in internal violence in the oPt – an increase of more than 800% on the same period in 2005 – with 90 deaths in the Gaza Strip and 12 in the West Bank. A further 660 people have been injured - a rise of more than 400% on the same period in 2005 – 29 of them in the West Bank and 331 in the Gaza Strip.

The PA fiscal and political crisis has continued to have an increasingly devastating effect on the Palestinian population, particularly in the West Bank. As of 31 October, because of the PA employees' strike:

- Public medical services have drastically reduced their provision with almost all routine services, such as the immunisations, severely affected. ICRC estimates that West Bank hospitals are operating at 20% of their capacity. Only emergency life-saving services and emergency caesarean sections are provided. NGOs and private public facilities cannot cope with the increased number of patients;

- 80% of school students in the West Bank, i.e. all but the Tawhiji (12th grade) and the first grades, received no education because schools are closed

- Passports are being issued or renewed in smaller numbers, hampering international travel, including that for patients needing medical treatment abroad;

- Vehicles and drivers licences are not being renewed on timeleading to the cancellation of insurance. Insurance and driver/vehicle licences are required by the IDF for permit applications within the West Bank;

- Deaths and births are not being regularly registered, leading to a massive backlog and a distortion of population figures.

- The national census of the Palestinian population, which is due to take place in 2007 may be seriously compromised by the lack of resources and current dysfunction of PA services.

- There are 49,000 legal cases awaiting for a Court decision.

- Reports indicate that people are increasingly relying upon traditional tribal customs or Shariah law to solve disputes and conflicts because of the current dysfunction of law and order procedures, risking a further weakening of the formal system.

- Because of the virtual 'siege' of the Gaza Strip normal market mechanisms have faltered, and dependency on aid has risen. Palestinian goods have been consistently unable to move out of the strip, leading to the closure and relocation of businesses.

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