/ 21 4.5 West Bank Field Nearly 800,000 Palestine refugees are registered with UNRWA in the West Bank. These refugees are facing a protracted crisis with profound economic, social, political and humanitarian consequences. This can be contextualised as a protection crisis, resulting from ongoing confiscation and annexation of Palestinian land, increased settlement construction, home demolitions, forced evictions, revocation of residency rights and obstructed access to land, markets and essential services all of which prevent Palestinians from fulfilling their fundamental rights and freedoms.22 UNRWA has responded to the crisis with protective programming, designed to target specific protection vulnerabilities as well as the mainstreaming of protection principles throughout its service provision. West Bank field office will focus its protection within the following areas: • • Forced displacement and violence - continuing to mitigate the consequences of forced displacement and violence through the delivery of services adapted to the specific vulnerabilities of Palestine refugees, combined with advocacy activities aimed at preventing human rights abuses. Mobilization and empowerment of communities at risk of forced displacement - supporting • • • communities’ resilience and self-protection in times of armed-conflict crisis through psychosocial interventions and self-advocacy training sessions. Family and child protection – strengthening internal coordination and external referral systems to recognise and respond to violence against women and children. Engineering protection and related interventions aiming at improving UNRWA Health, Education and Administrative installations’ level of alignment with standards of dignity, safety and accessibility to services. 4.5.1. West Bank Field key protection initiatives Protection of Palestine refugees affected by forced displacement and violence The deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the West Bank may be contextualized as a protracted protection crisis, resulting from ongoing confiscation and annexation of Palestinian land, increased settlement construction, home demolitions, forced evictions, and obstructed access to land, markets and essential services, all of which prevent Palestinians from fulfilling their fundamental rights and freedoms. Further, Palestine refugees living in the West Bank are frequently exposed to physical danger. In general, the levels of violence are particularly high inside refugee camps as reflected in the number of military incursions and search operations. 22 West Bank Field Office FIP 2012-2013 p 1 © Alaa Ghosheh/ UNRWA archives