To that end, even when the Refugee Convention was later negotiated in 1951, Arab states persisted in their demand that Palestinians continue to be afforded the protection of a special regime. The international protection system for refugees was thus framed in such a way as to underpin the special regime for Palestinians and to only supplement it when necessary. In reality, however, this separate regime has resulted in a substantial lack of protection for displaced Palestinians. The more than 74 years of uninterrupted Israeli colonial-apartheid policies of forcible transfer are mirrored by a unique protection gap flowing from the misinterpretation and improper implementation of the system initially adopted to afford displaced Palestinians comprehensive protection. This system, rather than granting Palestinians international protection, has been utilized to exclude them from the protection regime of the Refugee Convention and the oversight of UNHCR. Moreover, protection of Palestinian IDPs throughout all of Mandatory Palestine has been undermined by Israel’s unwillingness to provide them the protection and assistance to which they are entitled. To elaborate on how displaced Palestinians have been left in a protection lacuna, the following chapter will first discuss the definition of international protection as well as the general international protection frameworks afforded to refugees. It will then discuss the content and structure of the separate regime for Palestinian refugees and the resultant protection gap. The Chapter also considers the separate regime for Palestinian IDPs. 3.1. International Protection: Triggers and Definitions Under international law, one of the primary duties of states is to ensure the protection of its citizens and persons under its sovereignty or jurisdiction. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),320 protection encompasses: “All activities, aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law (i.e., human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law)”.321 When a state is unable or unwilling to ensure such protection, individuals under its jurisdiction may be exposed to such serious violations of their basic rights that they are forced to seek protection elsewhere, abandoning their homes and properties. International law states that in this instance, the international community has the responsibility to provide comprehensive protection to those who are entitled to it, triggering international protection.322 The UNHCR states that “international protection includes a range of concrete activities that ensure that all women, men, girls, and boys of concern to UNHCR have equal access to 320 The ICRC is a humanitarian agency mandated to protect victims of international or internal armed conflicts, under the system consolidated by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols. 321 Carlo Von Flüe, Jacques de Maio, Third Workshop on Protection for Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations: Doing something about it and doing it well (ICRC 1999). 322 Global Protection Cluster Working Group, Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons (Global Protection Cluster 2010), 7 <https://www.refworld.org/docid/4790cbc02.html> accessed 3 October 2022. 70