Palestine's Struggle for Survival: Unveiling the Humanitarian Crisis and Pathways to Lasting Solutions

Abstract

For more than a decade, Israel blockade and military interventions have actually made the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine – especially in Gaza – catastrophic. In this paper we analyze the destructive effect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Palestinian civilians especially the grave results of the occupation, displacement, and the ban of accessing necessary facilities. Key findings of the research include destruction of infrastructure on a wide scale, breakdown of healthcare and education systems and worsening of living conditions for over two million people in Gaza. The paper also investigates how international law, international aid organizations and regional political dynamics have made the situation worse or, alternatively, have helped to alleviate them. This study argues that humanitarian reports of the crisis and analysis of the political barriers to peace dictate a multifaceted response to solving the conflict that includes attention to political reconciliation in Palestinian leadership, the implementation of international law, and increased grassroots peace building efforts. The very premise of the findings calls for urgent coordinated international action to allow immediate humanitarian needs to be met while setting the course for a sustainable peace that is premised on the Palestinians’ rights and dignity.