Israel’s obligations vis-à-vis forcibly displaced Palestinians 1. Obligation to protect from arbitrary or forcible displacement Individual states have the primary responsibility of safeguarding the rights of their citizens and those subject to their authority and jurisdiction.13 Israel is bound by this general obligation of protection14 in the entire territory over which it exercises its jurisdiction, comprising Israel itself and the oPt.15 Nevertheless, a preliminary distinction is necessary in order to fully understand the range and the sources of its duties. 13 UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, A/RES/3/217 A, 10 December 1948 available at: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ [accessed 27 Jul 2018] [hereinafter UDHR]; UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Annex, A/RES/21/2200, 16 December 1966, art. 2, available at: http://www.un-documents.net/iccpr. htm [accessed 27 Jul 2018][hereinafter ICCPR]; UNHCR Executive Committee, General Conclusion on International Protection n. 81, (XLVIII), 17 October 1997 para. (d), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/ excom/exconc/3ae68c690/general-conclusion-international-protection.html; UN General Assembly, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, A/RES/61/137, 19 December 2006, para. (6), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/45fa902d2.html [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 14 According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), protection encompasses “all activities aimed at ensuring 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.” See ICRC, Professional Standards for Protection Work, February 2013, p. 12, available at: https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc-002-0999.pdf 15 As an occupying power, Israel exercises effective control over both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In this sense, see the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where the Court recognizes the applicability in the oPt of human rights instruments such the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Legal Consequences of the Construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 2004 ICJ 136, 9 July 2004, available at: http://www. icj-cij.org/files/case-related/131/131-20040709-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf, para. 102-113 [hereinafter ICJ, Advisory Opinion on the Wall]. Even though the Palestinian Authority has protection responsibilities towards the Palestinian population, its ability to protect is restrained by the effective control exercised by Israel, which therefore continues to be responsible for the protection of Palestinians. Regarding the Gaza Strip, despite Israel having formally withdrawn its military troops in 2005, it continues to exercise such an effective control within the meaning of Article 42 of The Hague Regulations, and Article 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. 15