Palestinian Territories

With the reactivation of the al-Aqsa Intifada conflict (September 2000), poverty levels have tripled in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. In 2000, poverty affected 21% of the population, but this had risen to 66% by 2002. A large proportion of the population does not have access to basic services: according to UNDP, 14% of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have no access to drinking water.

In view of the increase in vulnerability, the number of humanitarian organizations operating in the area has risen: 55% of Palestinians (1.8 million people) are dependent on international aid.

However, humanitarian organizations' access to the vulnerable population is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of mounting political instability. Despite the road map to guide the peace process, since 2002 radical Palestinian groups have shown insufficient will to put an end to the suicide bombings directed against Israeli civilians.

The Israeli armed forces have used this as an argument to pursue their policy of occupying Palestine, to expropriate land, to attack civil infrastructure supposedly controlled by Palestinian radicals and to restrict movement. The radical groups use the same argument to justify the suicide bombings. On the part of both the Israelis and Palestinians (extremist groups and Palestinian National Authority), there is a lack of compromise towards achieving the road map.

Neither has the international community shown enough confidence in the process. On one hand, it has lacked the will to guarantee the security of the Israelis; on the other, it hasn't defended the basic rights of the Palestinians sufficiently - rights that are increasingly vulnerable under the policy of selective assassinations and of isolation from Palestine due to the construction of the wall.

There are more than 120 Israeli Army control posts in Palestine. In many parts of Gaza and the West Bank, the civil population spends 70% of its time under curfew. The radicalization of the conflict from 2000 and the ever greater distancing of Israeli and Palestine society make any future rapprochement seem a distant prospect.

The small amount of support provided by the Palestinian National Authority only serves to accommodate radical organizations, whose strategy for acceptance is providing social support to the most vulnerable populations. The election of Hamas and the international community's reluctance to work with the new government unless it recognizes the existence of Israel and condemns violence can have humanitarian consequences.