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Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 27 September 2018

Countries
oPt
Sources
UNSCO
Publication date

Executive Summary

The past six months have witnessed a further deterioration of the overall humanitarian and economic situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). This has been felt most acutely in the Gaza Strip where on both counts, it has reached crisis proportions with unemployment over 53%, a breakdown in service delivery and violence and tensions increasing with the highest number of casualties since 2014.

The more than a decade old internal Palestinian division continues to push Gaza and the West Bank further apart with a combination of Israel’s closure regime, Hamas’ militant rule and measures put in place by the Palestinian Authority (PA) contributing to an overwhelming feeling of isolation in Gaza.
The prevailing sense of despair has fueled the regular demonstrations along the fence between Gaza and Israel that began in March. These events have included peaceful protests as well as targeted violent acts aimed at Israel, including the launching of incendiary devices, the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), attempts to breach the perimeter fence into Israel and sniper fire across the fence targeting Israeli soldiers. On many occasions, Israeli security forces responded with live fire, which resulted in significant numbers of Palestinians killed and thousands wounded, including many with life-altering injuries. This escalation brought Israel and Hamas to the closest point of renewed conflict since 2014, with several rounds of rockets and mortars fired by Hamas and other militant groups towards Israel, and missiles and shells fired by Israel against targets in Gaza, causing casualties on both sides.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the Palestinian Government continues to implement its National Policy Agenda, now in its second year, but in an environment characterized by territorial fragmentation, lack of jurisdiction, limited access to natural resources, and dwindling financial support. Potential is stunted by the continued inability to access Area C and East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlement expansion has continued in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Plans for some 2,800 units were advanced, some additional 900 units reached the final stage of approval and tenders for about 1,100 housing units in Area C and 600 housing units in East Jerusalem were announced. Violent incidents between Palestinians and Israeli security forces and civilians continued on an almost daily basis.

At the same time, the unprecedented reduction in funding, greatly exacerbated by the United States (U.S.) decision to divert its humanitarian and most of its development funding for Palestinians this year, has brought into question the ability of the international community to effectively respond to the increasing needs on the ground.

Faced with an overwhelming funding shortfall, UNRWA responded with an escalated fundraising drive, internal ‘austerity measures’ and efforts to prioritize support to Palestine refugees with the most critical needs. Other UN agencies and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come under pressure on account of the non-disbursal of more than $200 million from USAID’s approved budget from fiscal year 2017. At the same time, despite the significant amount of aid still coming into the oPt, the needs remain greater than the availability of funds with the Humanitarian Response Plan a mere 29% funded for 2018.

The collective impact of the lack of funding to support the Palestinian economy and other development needs, UN Agencies and NGOs as well as on the humanitarian situation, in particular in Gaza, is tremendous. This is most obvious with regard to Gaza’s humanitarian situation; however, offsetting the skyrocketing unemployment rate in Gaza is also a daunting task. For example, it will take an additional 53,000 jobs per quarter to lower the unemployment rate by 10 percentage points and will cost some $16 million per month in wages.

Despite the myriad challenges, the UN and the international community continue to engage in Gaza in an effort to prevent another armed conflict and to ease the impact of violent confrontations, restrictions on access and movement, a devastated economy and failing basic services. The UN has also enhanced its capacity to support project implementation in Gaza and, together with partners, is actively moving forward on a number of projects to address some of the immediate challenges, particular with regard to electricity, water, health and employment. At the same time, the UN is working closely with the Governments of Israel and Palestine to review and improve the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), so as to be better placed to facilitate such projects and mitigate the impact of continued closures on the economy.

However, as described, the situation is dire and the international community must come together in a more concerted effort to support these and other initiatives for Gaza as they present the only viable path to prevent an outright humanitarian disaster and avoid future confrontations.