HIGHLIGHTS
● Reconstruction or repair of the homes of 74 per cent of families displaced during the 2014 hostilities in the Gaza Strip is yet to start, exacerbating frustration and vulnerability.
● New movement obstacles across West Bank roads impede access to services and undermine economic activity, directly impacting on at least 850,000 Palestinians, the majority in Hebron governorate.
● Increase in the number of Palestinian children in Israeli custody, alongside concerns over their conditions of detention and allegations of violence against them.
Overview
“Security measures alone will not stop violence” - UN Secretary General
The impact of the 2014 Gaza-Israel hostilities continues into 2016; more than 16,000 families (approximately 90,000 individuals) in Gaza remain displaced due to their homes being destroyed or severely damaged. Despite progress in repairing some 160,000 homes that suffered minor to major damage, reconstruction has been at a slow pace. By the end of January 2016, only 15 per cent of displaced families had been able to return to repaired or reconstructed homes. Work is ongoing to an additional 2,000 homes, but the reconstruction or repair of the homes of 74 per cent of displaced families is yet to start.
In his monthly briefing to the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains perilous ... chronic security and governance challenges and funding shortages have slowed the pace of reconstruction .... [which] cannot be accomplished without critical support from donors.” To meet humanitarian needs throughout the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is to be launched in February and includes 206 projects worth US$571 million. At least 65 per cent of the project requirements are for Gaza.
In the West Bank, Palestinian attacks against Israeli forces and settlers have continued.
In January 2016, these resulted in the killing of two Israeli women and 14 Palestinian perpetrators or suspected perpetrators, including one girl and five boys. The frequency and intensity of protests and clashes with Israeli forces declined sharply during the month, leading to 530 injuries (no deaths) compared with a monthly average of nine deaths and over 4,000 injuries in the previous three months.