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Current Requirements (US$)$376.7 million
Analysis of the context, crisis and needs
The Occupied Palestinian territory remains a protracted political crisis characterized by more than 55 years of Israeli military occupation, 15 years of the Gaza blockade, internal Palestinian divisions, lack of adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law, and recurrent escalations of hostilities between Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups. The results are chronic protection concerns and humanitarian needs, which will continue in the absence of a sustainable political solution.
Across the OPT, humanitarian assistance addresses Palestinians’ immediate needs while also providing a critical stabilizing force. 2022 saw a deepening of these needs due to intensifying conflict and political divisions, increasing poverty, and increasingly repressive and restrictive policies at a time of declining aid inflows. November 2022 was on course to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the UN started systematically tracking fatalities in 2005, with more than 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Israeli authorities have maintained and intensified practices in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, such as search-and-arrest operations, demolitions, evictions and settlement expansion. At the same time, settler violence has continued to rise, which includes the targeting of productive assets and equipment. This results in unstable livelihoods, which undermines economic potential.
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory
A boy plays in the rubble of his partially destroyed home. He is one of some 60 children and 20 adults from the same family living in the house, which was hit during an air strike last year.
UNICEF/Iyad El BabaIn Gaza, the most recent escalation in August lasted two days yet resulted in 49 deaths, 360 injuries and damage to approximately 2,000 housing units before a ceasefire was reached. The violence, in combination with related closures and increased restrictions on the movement of people and critical goods, further eroded the coping capacities of Palestinians in Gaza while driving new needs, especially in mental health and psychosocial support services, shelter, livelihoods, cash assistance and essential goods, including medicines and medical supplies, food, construction materials and fuel. This compounded existing vulnerabilities in Gaza, including widespread food insecurity, lack of reliable electricity, insufficient access to clean water, high unemployment and rapid population growth. In total, upwards of 21,300 families live in unhygienic and overcrowded shelter conditions.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Projected situation in 2023 and beyond
In 2023, the situation is expected to deteriorate, and the severity of needs is expected to increase unless there is conflict de-escalation, policy changes, positive movement on mending internal Palestinian political divisions, and development and economic improvements.
The key drivers of the humanitarian crisis, combined with aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis and reduced funding, have deepened Palestinians’ vulnerability and, in turn, increased the demand for humanitarian assistance across the OPT, a trend likely to continue in 2023. In the absence of a political process, improvements are not expected.
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Destruction in Gaza following an Israeli strike.
OCHA/Mohammad LubbadResponse priorities in 2023
In 2023, an estimated 2.1 million Palestinians across the OPT will require some form of humanitarian assistance. The majority, 61 per cent, live in Gaza.
Findings from the recently completed Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) indicate a deterioration in the situation for many households, particularly in Gaza, where more than half of households are identified as being in severe to catastrophic conditions. The humanitarian assistance provided to vulnerable communities, notably in Gaza and Area C of the West Bank, enables access to adequate levels of food security, health care, education and other immediate needs while serving as a critical stabilizing force. One such example is the protective measures now in place for 4,705 of the 5,024 (93.6 per cent) pending cases of housing and structure demolitions, which prevent the execution of demolition orders while litigation is ongoing. People in the OPT will continue to depend on this and other forms of humanitarian aid to meet their increasing needs.
Humanitarian partners in the OPT are encountering a progressively challenging operating environment, hindering their ability to rapidly deliver assistance. The imposition of physical and administrative measures continues to restrict humanitarian programmes, including constraints on access and the delivery of required materials. Increasing violence across the OPT has come in parallel with increases in harassment and attacks on personnel, most notably health-care workers.
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Internally displaced people in Gaza following Israeli air strikes.
OCHA/Mohammad LubbadHumanitarian partners aim to assist 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people in 2023. Ensuring access to basic services and building the resilience of increasingly vulnerable people are key components of the 2023 humanitarian strategy, aimed at mitigating the impact of this prolonged crisis on civilians across the OPT. The current reliance on negative and unsustainable coping mechanisms heightens vulnerability and endangers recovery from recurring shocks. An emphasis will also be placed on ensuring the ‘right to health’ and addressing the mental health and psychosocial challenges arising from the chronic violence.
The Humanitarian Response Plan and the UN Strategic Cooperation Development Framework are being developed concurrently. They were both informed by the MSNA, providing a basis for identifying programmatic linkages between humanitarian and development actors and the Palestinian Authority with the aim of reducing structural vulnerabilities.