West Bank Protection Analysis Update

Severity of protection risks and needs in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem continue to be driven by a protracted protection crisis impacting a large number of Palestinians, struggling to live their life with dignity. This crisis is characterized by more than 55 years of Israeli military occupation, 20 years of the Wall separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, lack of respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, recurrent spikes in violence and IF use of force, settler violence and intra-Palestinian violence.

Palestinians are directly impacted by frequent use of excessive force by Israeli Forces (IF), demolitions and seizures of Palestinian structures and resulting forced evictions and displacement, movement restrictions, settlement-related activities, including settler violence, widespread arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions. At the same time, for Palestinians living under the effective control of the Palestinian Authority, the situation is marked by and increasing repression of civic space, arbitrary arrests, intra-Palestinian tensions and violence, and repressive tactics of the Palestinian Security Forces (PSF).

It is estimated that approximately one million people across the West Bank including East Jerusalem are in need of protection assistance.

The priority protection risks include:

1. General protection and human rights risks, in particular deterioration in physical well-being due to violence and conflict;
2. Displacement and risk of forcible transfer;
3. Psychosocial distress and deterioration in mental well-being;
4. Child protection threats or grave violations against children;
5. Specific protection risks facing women and girls: gender-based violence and child, early and forced marriages;