The number of
Palestinians killed in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip was the highest since 1967, UN report says
With so many hot points currently raging in the Middle East, each day creating more casualties and refugees and requiring ever more generosity from the coffers of the international community for humanitarian needs, what does the future hold for the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories?
According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) titled “Fragmented Lives,” Palestinian civilians continue to be subject to threats to
their life, physical safety and liberty. Last year witnessed the highest
civilian death toll since 1967.
Humanitarian needs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are
driven by practices related to Israel’s prolonged occupation and recurrent
escalations of armed conflict, OCHA says in its 2014 Annual Humanitarian
Overview released on March 26.
“2014 was a
devastating year for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,”
said James Rawley, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. In Gaza, 1.8 million people experienced an escalation of
hostilities, which resulted in over 1,500 Palestinian civilian fatalities,
including more than 550 children, and left some 100,000 residents without a
home. On the Israeli side, five civilians, including a child, as well as a
security guard were killed. Serious concerns were raised over the conduct of
hostilities of both Israeli forces and armed Palestinian actors. Reconstruction
in Gaza has been slow, hampered by the continued blockade and the lack of
funding, although the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism has enabled the
import of construction material.
“In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he added,
“conflict-related casualties increased, a record number of 1,215 Palestinians
were displaced due to home demolitions by Israeli authorities, while settlement
and settler activity continued, in contravention of international law, and
contributed to humanitarian vulnerability of affected Palestinian communities.”
According to the OCHA report, movement and access
restrictions continued to fragment the occupied territory, undermining
Palestinians’ livelihoods and impeding their access to basic services.
“Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians
to live normal lives. Were these factors removed and related policies changed,
international humanitarian assistance would not be necessary here,” Rawley
concluded.
The violence spiked during the second half of 2014, due to the
51-day Israeli offensive on Gaza between July 7 and August 26 -- the deadliest
escalation in hostilities since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in
1967.
Overall, some 4,000,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip remain under an Israeli military occupation that prevents them from
exercising many of their basic human rights.
 |
| The barrier in Abu Dis (OCHA) |
This is the fourth year in which OCHA has detailed the key
humanitarian concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The purpose of
the report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the underlying causes or
drivers of the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
in a given year.
The concerns outlined in the Humanitarian Overview reflect
the advocacy priorities identified by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), the
main humanitarian coordinating body for UN agencies and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In 2014, these priorities remain: Accountability; Life,
Liberty and Security; Forced Displacement; Movement and Access; and
Humanitarian Space.
The Overview is structured around these priorities, with the
issue of accountability addressed throughout. Each section contains a calendar
of the main developments in 2014 and a Way Forward, which details the main
steps required to rectify policies and practices inconsistent with
international law and reduce humanitarian vulnerability.
As with all OCHA reports, the Humanitarian Overview is based
on data collated and cross-checked from multiple sources that include OCHA,
other UN agencies, international NGOs, Palestinian and Israeli NGOs and, where
relevant, government sources.
The overall situation described in the report is a protection-based
crisis, with negative humanitarian ramifications. This crisis stems from the
prolonged occupation and recurrent hostilities, alongside a system of policies
that undermine the ability of Palestinians to live normal, self-sustaining
lives and realize the full spectrum of their rights, including the right to
self-determination.
Were these factors removed, Palestinians would be able to
develop their government institutions and economy without the need for humanitarian
assistance.
To achieve progress in this regard, a range of actions is
required by all relevant parties, particularly the following:
-- Israel, the occupying power, must fulfill its primary
obligations to protect the Palestinian civilian population, and ensure that
people’s basic needs and human rights are met. This would include taking action
to secure the physical protection of Palestinian civilians, cease their
displacement, ensure accountability for violence and abuse, and lift
restrictions on the movement of people and goods, as well as on access to land
and resources.
-- All parties to the conflict, including armed groups, must fulfill
their legal obligations to conduct hostilities in accordance with international
law to ensure the protection of all civilians during hostilities and to ensure
accountability for acts committed in contravention of the laws of armed conflict.
-- Third states share responsibility for ensuring respect for
international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and for
promoting compliance with human rights obligations, and should take all
necessary actions stemming from that responsibility.
