Occupied Palestinian Territories - Humanitarian Update, January 2007

Summary of monthly Humanitarian Monitor report produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

KEY ISSUES OVERVIEW

Internal violence
Violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip killed 56 Palestinians, including 10 children, and injured 24. In the West Bank there were 2 deaths and 12 injured. Attacks on public and private property increased and 35 kidnapping incidents were reported.

Demolitions
House demolitions continued particularly in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, with 19 structures, including 14 homes, destroyed. These demolitions left 64 people displaced. The Jerusalem municipality continues its punitive policy against Palestinians building without the relevant permits, despite the Palestinians having full ownership of the land.

Movement restrictions
Movement for Palestinians within the West Bank remains more difficult than a year ago, with little improvement noted despite the Israeli Prime Minister's announcement of easing of restrictions in January.

Two other new restrictions were announced by the Israeli Government. One prohibits West Bank Palestinians from travelling in Israeli-registered vehicles, exceptions being for UN personnel and Palestinians holding ID cards of registered humanitarian organisations. The second order requires international visitors to obtain a visa before travel into the West Bank.

PA fiscal crisis
Israel transferred US$136 million (out of US$600m) of withheld Palestinian revenues to the Palestinian President's Office. This was the first such payment since the Palestinian elections in January 2006, and allowed hospital bills and public sector employees' salaries to be paid.

Public sector strike ends
A signed agreement between the Union of Public Sector Employees and the Palestinian Authority saw the end of a public sector workers' strike which began in September 2006 in protest at the PA's failure to pay salaries to its workers since March 2006. This means that public schools and hospitals have been able to re-open.

REGIONAL OVERVIEW

West Bank & East Jerusalem

Demolitions - The route of the Separation Wall through Jerusalem and Bethlehem municipalities has seen house demolition or "stop construction" orders delivered to 15 Palestinian homes in Wad Rahal and Jabal Al Diek in Bethlehem area, and 5 homes demolished in A Tur, Eizariyya and Beit Hanina neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. In total 64 people were displaced.

The infrastructure surrounding construction of the Separation Wall also seriously affects the Palestinian community. Bypass roads, settlement expansion and declared "closed areas" between the Wall and the 1967 Green Line often forces Palestinian families out of their homes.

Obstacles blocking Palestinian movement - Transport of goods in and out of Nablus is no longer possible. To import/export from/to Israel, Palestinian trucks must negotiate three checkpoints between Nablus and Tulkarem, including a back-to-back checkpoint at At Tayba (Tulkarem) - where goods are moved from one truck to another on either side of the checkpoint. The At Tayba checkpoint services four major Palestinian urban centres - Nablus, Tulkarem, Qalqilya and Salfit. The Nablus Truck Drivers Union estimates transportation costs will increase by 25-30% due to delays at checkpoints and alternative routes.

Gaza Strip

Electricity supply still a problem - The Israeli bombing of Gaza's main electricity power station on 28 June 2006 left the Gaza Strip with unprecedented power outages - ranging from 2 to 36 hours - during the winter. These outages have seriously affected water supply, which relies largely on electric pumps. Replacement transformers only arrived from Egypt in November 2006, and electricity capacity remains 30% less than before the June bombing.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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