occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund - Annual Report 2017

2017 IN REVIEW

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT

Humanitarian situation in 2017

The humanitarian context of the oPt is unique among today’s crises and remains directly tied to the impact of the occupation, which marked its 50th year in June 2017. A protracted protection crisis continues. At least 1.9 million Palestinians experience, or are at risk of, conflict and violence, displacement and denial of access to livelihoods, among other threats. The most vulnerable Palestinians are currently denied or restricted in their access to essential services such as water and healthcare. A recurrent cycle of shocks, natural and man-made, has eroded the resilience of vulnerable households to cope with the pro-longed nature of the humanitarian crisis. These dynamics are significantly magnified in the Gaza context by the protracted blockade, imposed by Israel citing security concerns after the takeover of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, three major escalations of hostilities in less than ten years and the intensification of the internal divide between the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) and the de facto Hamas authorities during the course of 2017. Combined, these factors have devastated public infrastructure, disrupted the delivery of basic services and undermined already vulnerable living conditions.

Gaza Strip

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip deteriorated markedly in 2017 due to an escalation in the internal Palestinian political divide, following the decision in March by the de facto Hamas leadership to establish a parallel structure to run local ministries in Gaza. In response, the PA reduced payments for electricity, the allowances of public employees, and payments for the referral of patients for treatment outside Gaza. Longer power outages have negatively impacted basic health and water and sanitation services and limited the ability of farmers to irrigate their lands, further undermining food security and livelihoods. Following Egyptian mediation, the two sides reached an agreement in October 2017, which envisages the PA resuming control of the Gaza crossings, as a necessary first step towards alleviating the humanitarian situation and achieving the goal of Palestinian unity under a single, democratic and legitimate national authority. Nevertheless, no real progress was made.

The magnitude of the challenges facing Gaza is under-lined in a recent United Nations report projecting the situation of Gaza in the year 2020. The study revisited key indicators first published in 2012, and found “that most of the projections for 2020 have in fact deteriorated even further and faster than anticipated” with the population increasing and the economy and basic infrastructure and services deteriorating, and “simply unable to keep up with demand.” Real GDP growth in Gaza has slowed to only 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, while the unemployment rate for the second quarter rose to 44 per cent. Unemployment among those aged between 15 and 29 has reached a “staggering” 62 per cent. According to The Economist, “In real terms, Gazans are about 25 per cent poorer today than they were at the time of the Oslo Accords.” The standard of living in Gaza, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person of $1,700 a year in 2015, is comparable to Congo-Brazzaville; the West Bank figure, $3,700 a year, is similar to Egypt; while Israel, $35,000 a year, is “much the same as France”.

The August 2014 ceasefire continues to hold, with a relatively low number of Palestinian fatalities (28) and injuries (1181) by Israeli forces, and no further conflict-related displacement recorded. Approximately 23,500 people still remain displaced from the 2014 conflict. The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) has played a key role in facilitating increased imports of construction materials; however, it has been less successful in facilitating the import of dual use materials beyond cement and re-bar, also critical for public works projects. As of December 2017, 5,827 out of the 11,000 totally destroyed housing units have been reconstructed and work on an additional 829 is underway. Insufficient funding is the primary obstacle to completing the remaining residential re-construction projects. Most of the two million Palestinians in Gaza remain unable to access the remainder of the oPt and the outside world, with only a minority eligible for exit permits via Israel, primarily patients, business people and the staff of international organizations. Although the number of Palestinian exits increased after the 2014 hostilities, figures have declined significantly again since the second half of 2016, with the figure for 2017 is well below the 2016 average. While there has been a gradual increase in the absolute number of medical patients allowed through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing, the approval rate has also been declining. Movement constraints have been compounded by the protracted closure of the Rafah terminal, which has only partially opened for 29 days in 2017, allowing 1,222 patients to exit for medical treatment.

West Bank

Within the context of continued Israeli occupation, the wave of Palestinian attacks, which erupted in late 2015, continued into 2017 but at a significantly reduced level. The killing of two Israeli police officers at the entrance to Haram Ash Sharif/Temple Mount and Israel’s subsequent installation of metal detectors on the site led to a significant escalation in violence in July, which declined with the removal of these measures. Concerns remain over the possible excessive use of force and extra-judicial killings by Israeli forces against Palestinians who have carried out attacks or are suspected to have carried out at-tacks, as well as the lack of sufficient accountability regarding these cases. After a three-year decline, at least partially attributed to preventive measures adopted by the Israeli authorities, settler attacks rose during most of 2017.

Palestinians throughout the West Bank continue to be subject to a complex system of physical and bureaucratic barriers, imposed by Israel, citing security concerns, which restrict their right to freedom of movement, undermines livelihoods, and increases dependency on humanitarian aid. In recent years, the Israeli authorities have eased some long-standing obstacles, but Palestinians are still restricted from entering East Jerusalem, areas isolated by the Barrier, “firing zones”, the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron H2, and land around or within Israeli settlements. Many Palestinians throughout the West Bank are also at risk of displacement and/or forcible transfer due to a coercive environment generated by deliberate Israeli policies and practices. These practices, which include the demolition – or threat of demolition – of homes, schools and livelihood shelters due to lack of building permits which are almost impossible to obtain; aggressive promotion of plans to relocate communities to urban townships; restrictions on access to natural resources; the denial of basic service infrastructure; and the lack of secure residency, are often implemented against a backdrop of the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements. The expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law, continues, with the number of housing units advanced, approved or tendered since the beginning of 2017 reaching more than 10,000, or more than double the total during all of 2016.