Humanitarian and political context
On 27 December 2008 Israeli forces launched a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip, the stated aims of which were to end the firing of rockets into Southern Israel. The offensive has proven to be the most deadly and extensive operation in the OPT since 1967. At the time of the ceasefire, on 17 January 2009, more than 1300 persons were reported killed, and over 5000 injured, of which figures, at least 40 percent of the fatalities and 50 per cent of the injuries are women and children.

The Israeli operation in Gaza closes a year where political, economic and social conditions have continued to deteriorate in the Occupied Palestinian territory. Negotiations between the parties have not produced any tangible results, and Israel has continued the construction of the West Bank Barrier and its settlement activity despite the ICJ ruling and Israel’s promises at the Annapolis summit to freeze all settlement growth . This, in addition to the closures, house demolitions, land confiscation and military operations have made internal displacement an increasing problem in OPT. The humanitarian space and capacity for interventions have also been severely reduced as a consequence of restrictions and sanctions.

The Palestinian economy is becoming increasingly aid dependent, and Israel’s closure regime is eroding the occupied territory’s industrial backbone and paralyzing its municipal services. A recent World Bank report shows that real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is now 30 per cent below its height in 1999 as the economy shrinks and the population grows. UN reports that unemployment has reached nearly 30 per cent, and in Gaza 42.3% of the workforce was unemployed during the first half of 2008.

As a consequence of the blockade, private enterprise is practically at a standstill in Gaza. 98 per cent of industrial operations have been shut down, and the construction sector, which prior to September 2000 provided 15% of all jobs, had effectively ground to a halt. The blockade has led to acute shortages in fuel, cash, cooking gas, water and medical services. Prior to the operation 80% of the population were receiving aid of some kind, and the food sector is projecting that the food-insecure proportion of the population will rise from 56% to over 76% as a result of the latest crisis.

Despite continued efforts to overcome Palestinian divisions and reunite the West Bank and Gaza, the division between the PA controlled West Bank and Hamas controlled Gaza strip is still a serious challenge to the internal stability and development in the oPt

NRCs priorities and programme implementation
NRC’s established its program in OPT in September 2006, with a Labour Intensive Project in cooperation with the Gaza municipalities of Rafah and Deir al-Balah. NRC was also active in setting up and heading the displacement working group in oPt. The NRC offices were temporarily closed at the end of March 2008, but reopened again in March 2009. Current activities include:

In the West Bank and East Jerusalem:

1. ICLA (Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance)
   A large number of Palestinians in OPT are at risk of displacement as a result of Israeli actions negatively affecting housing, land and property rights. More than 3,000 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank currently remain under pending demolition orders which can be executed without prior warning and at any given moment. In addition, it is estimated that approximately one third of the buildings in East Jerusalem have been built without permits, and as such, are in danger of being demolished. In the long term, forced displacement and confiscation of Palestinian land will contribute to redefining the demographic borders of the OPT and may very well undermine hopes for a two state solution.
   
   This process is further accelerated by Israel’s control of the Palestinian population registry, complicating the processes of late registration and family unification. The issue of civil documentation is particularly problematic in East Jerusalem, where Israeli authorities can easily revoke the residency rights of Palestinians who do not fulfill certain stipulations. Information and assistance to comply with the legal procedures required in order to petition decisions taken by the Israeli authorities or on preventive action is not always readily accessible, leaving Palestinians very vulnerable, in particular the poorer displaced persons in rural areas. Legal assistance is expensive, and adds an additional burden on displaced persons.
   
   NRC’s legal aid project in the West Bank and East Jerusalem offers information, counselling and legal assistance free of charge to displaced Palestinians and Palestinians at risk of being displaced through demolition of their homes or withdrawal of identity papers and documents securing their access to education, employment and social benefits. The project is particularly targeting vulnerable groups, and also aims at strengthening the capacity of local NGOs working in the field of legal assistance. Further; the program is also undertaking Public Interest cases and Precedent cases to the Israeli Supreme Court.

In Gaza:

1. Shelter
   Due to the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza, no building materials can enter and consequently no of the planned reconstruction activities have been implemented, So far the project has been focusing on job creation activities such as rubble removal related to social infrastructure and water utility companies.
   
   NRC has, as co-lead of the Shelter Cluster, been instrumental in setting-up and run the daily shelter coordination in Gaza together with UNRWA. Despite the lack of actual shelter reconstruction activities, the coordination mechanism has facilitated a joint approach and understanding among all involved stakeholders by developing “The Reconstruction Guidelines”, the “Gaza Emergency Contingency Plan”, setting up and run the “Unified Shelter Cluster Database” and lastly coordinating the shelter inputs for the 2010 CAP process.)
    
2. ICLA (Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance)
   The NRC Gaza ICLA project is currently in its start-up stage and has a direct case-load or 4,000 families. The process so far has highlighted the need for legal assistance on housing, land and property issues, due to the most recent Israeli military incursion in January 2009.
   
   The military incursions have resulted in a high number of Gazans who have lost their homes and an increasing number of Gazans that are unable to access their land or had their land destroyed due to the extending buffer zone on the Israeli/Gazan boarder. Many Gazans who have sought compensation for the destruction of their homes have had their claims suspended due to a lack of legal information/advice and providing the incorrect documentation (i.e. land ownership documentation and Power of Attorney).
   
   To address this issue and to provide access to justice in Gaza, Palestinians need to be provided with high quality free legal advice. Whilst, NRC has not been able to provide legal advice on actual reconstruction, it is attempting to address the legal gap in suspension of compensation claims that will allow for reconstruction.

Potential new NRC program activities
NRC continues to explore additional options for implementation both in Gaza and the West Bank, these include a food security project, education (teacher training), temporary classrooms, the expansion of ICLA related activities and the possibly of providing cash grants to shelter beneficiaries to allow them to begin construction of their destroyed homes using materials obtained from the local market.

NRC secondments
NRC provides secondees to several UN agencies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and countries in the region not least to the TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) force. Through its Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), NRC has also organized trainings on the Guiding principles on Internal Displacement in the West Bank and in Gaza including a training requested by UNRWA Jerusalem.