Humanitarian Crisis in Palestine

Palestine has been dealing with a humanitarian crisis for many years now, with roadblocks and electricity issues being at the heart of the start of their issues. Due to these issues the Palestinian economy has had to heavily rely on external assistance to make it through. The two places that are suffering the most are the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Overall, the economy was receiving more than three hundred dollars for each of the 3.5 million Palestinians that are living in these areas in 2004, but they are still struggling and have seen less aid than promised be given (Shearer).

Due to the Geneva Conventions, Israel is responsible for the welfare of those under its control and the humanitarian assistance that is given to them. This has made the humanitarian assistance and crisis more complex for Palestine as well. Israel decided that it was necessary to impose many intense security measures in Palestine in order to fight against many suicide attacks that were targeted at the citizens. Some of the security measures included setting curfews and many roadblocks. There were also many closures that resulted around Palestine, and between this and these security measures, Palestine saw their economy collapse. In 2000 poverty was around 22%, and just three years later in increased to over 58%. A year later in 2004, “1,480,000 people, or 39% of the population, were receiving regular food aid from the WFP and the UN Relief Works Agency” (Shearer). Israel’s closure policies have continued to affect the Palestine people and have continued to have a great economic impact.

Today, there has continued to be restrictions that have been imposed by the Israeli government and tensions between Israeli Security and the Palestine citizens resulted in many deaths and injuries. There has been a major increase in protests in Palestine, which has resulted in this violence. Some of the restrictions have prohibited entry of any goods besides medical and food supplies and have banned the exit of all goods. “The long-standing blockade and ongoing electricity crisis are likely to continue affection access and provision of health and WASH Service” (Humanitarian Overview). The electricity situation in Gaza has continued to worsen and they are faced with many blackouts due to the loss of development gains and restrictions on movement of goods and people. Daily, the citizens are seeing regular blackouts of 12-17 hours which impacts delivery of services like health and water and sanitation (State of Palestine). Hospitals are currently running on generators and emergency fuel that is funded by humanitarian aid funds.

UNICEF has been a major contributor to offering humanitarian aid in Palestine. They have coordinated their humanitarian response with the Palestinian Authority. Two incentives that they lead are the “Education Cluster with Save the Children in Gaza and the Education in Emergencies Sector Working Group in the West Bank” (State of Palestine). UNICEF has largely focused on helping the children in Palestine and have contributed many pediatric medicines. They have tried to improve access to safe schools for the children and provided educational supplies. The other main focus in their humanitarian aid efforts are to help with the water and sewage systems in Palestine. They have been able to improve access to safe drinking water in many communities in Gaza and the West Bank. In 2017, “more than 32,685 people benefited from improved access to water as a result of UNICEF’s interventions” (State of Palestine). There have also been many smaller non-profits that have tried to offer aid and support the rights of the Palestine citizens.

Recently, President Trump cut more than $200 million in aid to Palestine. It has been stated that the previous funds will go to more high-priority projects (France-Presse). There have been very stressed relations between the United States administration and Palestine after Trump announced the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Clearly Palestine is still a very needy nation, which made me think about our class discussion and where the United States chooses to give aid. As we talked about, often our foreign aid doesn’t go to the neediest nations but instead those where we can get the most back from (SOC 376: 2/20). This seems like a similar situation, as the crisis has not improved in Palestine so they are still very much in need of aid.

Protest in Gaza

Works Cited:

France-Presse, Agence. “Donald Trump Cuts More than $200m in Aid to Palestinians.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2018.

“Humanitarian Overview: An Analysis of Key Crises into 2018”. ACAPS.

 Shearer, David. “The Humanitarian Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: An Overview.” HPN.

 SOC 376: “Being/Becoming a Global Citizen” (SOC 376: 2/20)

 “State of Palestine.” UNICEF, Dec. 2017.