2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Gaza and West Bank

Active hostilities / escalations of violence Since 2008 and following subsequent escalations until May 2021 more than 17,000 housing units were destroyed and 20,000 were damaged leaving a third of Palestinians displaced many of whom were already registered refugees. Up to 14% of those surveyed in Gaza reported living in critical shelter conditions (damaged buildings, tents, collective shelters, containers, makeshift and unfinished buildings)43. The May 2021 escalation deepened the risk of displacement with more than 1,600 housing units destroyed or severely damaged and an estimated 59,000 housing units sustained some degree of damage. 44 Today, more than 7,250 people whose homes were damaged during the conflict are still internally displaced due to stalled reconstruction efforts and rising material costs. Only 1% of homes have been repaired/rebuilt, a while a further 1,000 have been funded works are yet to start. 45 About 550 housing units in multi- story buildings remain unfunded. Those displaced from their homes or villages feel less secure than those who were not displaced, indicating a correlation between displacement and feelings about safety. The feeling of being unsafe is highly prevalent in the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, consistent with how the Gaza Strip was impacted during the May 2021 escalation.46 Particularly concerning is the impact on vulnerable people and families. Households that are more impacted by war are at higher risk of poverty than those unaffected or with slight impact and an increase in their need for assistance. Further, after the May 2021 conflict, one study found female- headed households reported a higher rate of displacement (88%) than male-headed households (77%) and women report a slightly lower rate of resorting to shelters than men and tend to stay closer to home than men or remain in their damaged home. 47 Displacement also leads to a number of other risks and threats including barriers to accessing clean water posing serious health risks especially to children, the elderly, those with chronic illness and pregnant/ lactating women. Households with persons with disabilities are disproportionally impacted by displacement. Households with completely damaged homes are likely to announce changes in the psychosocial conditions of their members. 48 Evictions Protection partners observed several incidents of evictions this period including one in Rafah and more recently in Beit Lahia. Concerns surround the process of eviction and legality. In a recent eviction in Um El Nasser village in Beit Lahia, during a clash between Gaza security forces and local residents protesting against a demolition of a house deemed illegally built on public land, four men were shot allegedly with live ammunition. In another case affecting a community in Rafah, families were evicted without warning to make way for expansion works to the Rafah crossing. Families were not provided with sufficient warning and opportunity to object or seek recourse and immediately following an eviction, alternative livable shelter arrangements comparable or superior to the original housing. The incident raises serious concerns about the right to housing and protection from forced displacement regardless of ownership status and without discrimination. 49 It also raises concern about the use force. 43 MSNA 2021 44 OCHA Situation Report #9, Response to the escalation in the opt, August 2021. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/responseescalation- opt-situation-report-no-9-august-2021 45 https://sheltercluster.org/palestine/documents/one-year-after-conflict- may2021-shelter-cluster-dashboard 46 Save the Children and War Child Holland Gaza Needs Assessment March 2022 47 UN Women, Multi-sectoral Needs Assessment in Gaza, 2022 48 UN Women, Multi-sectoral Needs Assessment in Gaza, 2022 49 UDHR 25, ICESC 11. UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comment no7 notes that "justifiable and permissible evection are evictions that do not result in homelessness or 12

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