The shocking human cost that occupation has taken on Palestinian women is laid bare in research published today. Combining research, extensive surveys, and first-hand testimonies from over 40 Palestinian women, Palestinian Women: The Disproportionate Impact of The Israeli Occupation provides new insight into the gendered experience of occupation, looking into four issues in particular:

• women refugees
• the impact of residency revocation on Palestinian women in Jerusalem
• the experience of women prisoners
• Gazans’ access to health

Co-authored by four Palestinian NGOs – the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), and Women Media and Development (TAM), the report includes detailed findings that demonstrate how the oppression occupation has permeated women’s daily lives, and the particular impact is has had on women in Palestinian refugee camps, Palestinian women living in Jerusalem, women prisoners, and residents of Gaza who require health services.

The impact on refugee women

Researchers spoke to 500 Palestinian refugee women from 12 Palestinian camps (7 in the West Bank, 5 in Gaza). Their findings included the following:

• A third of women surveyed had been directly exposed to physical assault by Israeli Occupation Forces. 9% had been exposed to threats of being attacked by police dogs during Israeli night raids on their homes.
• Over a third (37%) of respondents had been exposed to detention or interrogation, while 38% said that they or members of their households had been exposed to verbal abuse during Israeli army raids, at checkpoints or while visiting religious places.
• Nearly a quarter (24%) were forced to live in shelters or with extended family. 22% were forced to live under unhealthy conditions. 13% stated that the female and male members of their families were separated as a result of having to live in shelters.
• More than one in five (21%) had been exposed to beatings or tear gas at Israeli checkpoints while they were pregnant. 4% reported that they aborted or gave birth at Israeli checkpoints.
• The majority (64%- 321 cases) had been unable to visit religious or recreational places because of Occupation restrictions.

Jerusalem: Residency Revocation and Family Reunification

According to official figures, 14,595 Palestinians from East Jerusalem had their residency status revoked between 1967 and the end of 2016.

Through residency revocations, Israel has separated husbands from wives, parents from children, and extended families from one another, causing traumatic complications for women attempting to remain with their families in both Jerusalem and the West Bank.

This leads to traumatic fears of separation from children for mothers and an entrenching of patriarchal practices across society. Palestinian women living in Jerusalem lose residency rights if they get divorced or their husbands remarry. Limiting their access to justice, female victims of domestic violence fear reporting abuse to authorities in case they are forcibly transferred away from their children.

Women prisoners

Since the beginning of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine in 1967, approximately 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and detained by Israeli military forces. According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs’ 2017 annual report, 1,467 children were arrested last year.

Our researchers spoke to prisoners who experienced physical and psychological torture at arrest and imprisonment, and traumatic, gendered treatment, including:

• Women denied access to menstrual products while detained
• A woman arrested while pregnant who gave birth while chained to a prison hospital bed
• Ex-prisoners who report being subjected to rape and death threats during interrogation, including a girl in of 15-years old threatened with rape
• Women who were subjected to frequent forced and violent strip searches
• A prisoner who reported toothache, only to have the wrong tooth removed

Access to Health in Gaza

Israel exercises strict control Gaza’s borders, a policy of ‘actual authority’, constituting continued occupation, despite the withdrawal of its permanent presence. This control in particular affects those who need medical treatment outside of Gaza’s struggling health system, who require permission to leave. The report shows that the rate of approval applications is falling year-by-year:

• 92.5% of applications were successful in 2012
• 88.7% in 2013
• 82.4% in 2014
• 77.5% in 2015
• 62.1% in 2016

Of the 26,282 permit applications submitted by patients aiming to exit through Erez in 2016, 8,242 (31.4%) were delayed. Many applicants received no response from border authorities, even after lawyers filed formal applications on their behalf. These delays regularly extend months and years beyond medical appointments, worsening already life-threatening diseases and in some cases resulting in death.

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Palestinian Women – The Disproportionate Impact of the Israeli Occupation

Women represent half of the Palestinian population

The qualitative base of the structure of the population in Palestine the sex ratio stood at 103.3, which means that there are 103 males for every 100 females

The percentage of female-headed households

The percentage of female-headed households in Palestine was 10.6% in 2017, 11.2% in the West Bank and 9.5% in Gaza Strip.

fifth of the persons in Palestine got married at an early age (less than 18 years) in 2016

Early marriage reached to 20.5% among females and 1.0% among males of the total married population in Palestine; the rate was 19.9% out of the total married population in West Bank and 21.6% out of the total married population in Gaza Strip end 2016.

The highest rate of female early marriage in the West Bank was in Hebron 36.8%, and the lowest was in Jericho and the Jordan Valley 1.2% out of the total number of women marriage below 18 years in the West Bank. In Gaza Strip, the highest rate of early female marriage was 42.1% in Gaza Governorate, while the lowest rate was in Dier Al-Balah 7.1% out of the total number of women marriage below 18 years in Gaza Strip.

A continued rise in literacy among women

Despite the rise in literacy rates among females over the last decade, the gap is still in favor of males by 3.0%, female literacy rates was 95.6% compared to 98.6% for male literacy in the year 2017.

Rise in enrollment rate of females in high schools compared to males

Data showed that male enrollment in high schools was 60.5%, compared to female enrollment which was 80.4% for the year 2016-2017.

A gap in the participation rate and average daily wages between men and women

The female participation rate in the labor force was 19.0% of the total female population at work age in 2017, compared to 10.3% in 2001, while the male participation rate was 71.2% in 2017. There was also a pay gap in the average daily wages between males and females; the average daily wage for females was NIS 84.6 compared to NIS 119.6 for males.

Around half of the women are unemployed

The unemployment rate among women participated in the labor force was 47.4% compared to 22.3% for participated males. 65.8% of youth females aged of (15-29 years) were unemployed. While the unemployment rate among women with 13 school years and above represents 53.8% of women in this group.

Palestinian Women in Public Life

In 2017; 21.2% of the members of the local councils are females in the West Bank while 78.8% were males.

In 2016, 82.7% of judges were male, compared to 17.3% female, while 66.6% of registered lawyers were male, compared to 33.4% female and 82.0% of members of the public prosecution staff were male, compared to 18.0% female. Furthermore, Palestinian female ambassadors represented 5.8% compared to 94.2% male. Females represented 32.3% of registered engineers with the Union of Engineers while male represented 67.7%. On the other hand, in 2016, 12.4% of members of student councils in West Bank universities were females, compared to 87.6% males.

In the public sector, females represented 42.7% of civil servants, compared to 57.3% male civil servant. In the public civil sector, female Director Generals represented 11.3% of the total director generals, compared to 88.7% males in the same post.

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INSIDE:

Casualties ▪ Incidents involving ambulances ▪ Curfew ▪ House demolition/Demolition orders\People displaced ▪ Land levelling\Requisitions ▪ Closure\Restrictions on movement ▪ Access to schools ▪ Olive harvest incidents ▪ Labour movement to Israel ▪ Other ▪ Appendix

1. Casualties

Palestinians: Deaths: 12 Injured: 35 (approximate)

Israelis: Deaths: Injured: 5 (approximate)

Sources: OCHA FCU, PRCS, UNRWA, IDF website, Israeli MoFA.

2. Incidents involving ambulances and medical teams

West Bank: Denial of access: 0 Delay (30 minutes): 0 Shooting/Damage to Ambulance: 0

Gaza: Denial of access: 0 Delay (30 minutes): 2 Shooting/Damage to Ambulance: 0

Sources: OCHA FCU, PRCS, Palestinian MoH

To View the Full Report (324 KB)

INSIDE:

• Casualties
• Incidents involving ambulances 
• Curfew
• House demolition/Demolition orders\People displaced 
• Land levelling\Requisitions 
• Closure\Restrictions on movement
• Access to schools
• Labour movement to Israel 
• Other 
• Appendix

1. Casualties

• Palestinians: Deaths: 25 Injured: 82 (approximate)
• Israelis: Deaths: 1 Injured: 3

Sources: OCHA FCU, PRCS, UNRWA, IDF website, Israeli MoFA.

2. Incidents involving ambulances and medical teams

West Bank:

• Denial of access: 1
• Delay (30 minutes): 0
• Shooting/Damage to Ambulance: 0

Gaza:

• Denial of access: 0
• Delay (30 minutes): 0
• Shooting/Damage to Ambulance: 0

Sources: OCHA FCU, PRCS, Palestinian MoH

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Since the beginning of 2004, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip has sharply deteriorated. Intensified movement restrictions on the Palestinian civilian population and the escalation in the conflict are the primary cause. Economic options for Palestinians are disappearing and coping mechanisms for the community are nearly exhausted. Israel has been facing serious security concerns particularly from militant attacks and Qassam rockets. Yet Israel also has obligations to ensure the humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians are met.

All movement through Gaza’s borders is controlled. An Israeli security fence surrounded all of Gaza and sea access to the west is prohibited. Palestinian movement in and out if Gaza is limited to tow crossing points controlled by the Israeli security forces: Eretz Terminal, for laborers with permits to work in Israel, and Rafah terminal in the south into Egypt. Commercial goods enter and exit mainly through the Karni Terminal but new security measures have restricted access.

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Twelve United Nations organizations working in Gaza today stated that the ongoing violence on top of the sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation this year is pushing the Palestinian population into a deep crisis.

They voiced their serious concern about the ability of the population to cope. Since 28 September 2004, 82 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza including 24 children; 5 Israelis have been killed including 2 children.

During 2004, approximately 45 Palestinians have been killed each month in Gaza and poverty rates are predicted to rise to 72%. The attached ‘fact sheet’ highlights the dimensions of the developing crisis.

At the same time, IDF movement restrictions have prevented effective delivery of humanitarian aid. UNRWA has not been able to deliver emergency food aid to the north of Gaza. The IDF has also denied UN personnel secure access into Gaza for the last 14 days – making a total of 65 days so far this year that the UN has not been able to enter. The UN organizations recognize Israel’s legitimate security concerns, particularly the need to stop Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks into civilian areas, however, its actions should be in conformity with international humanitarian law and it should not use disproportionate force.

The UN agencies call on Israel to:

• Guarantee humanitarian agencies unrestricted and secure access into Gaza for both personnel and relief supplies;
• Ensure the free movement of humanitarian goods and personnel within the Gaza Strip;
• Respect its obligations under international humanitarian law by ensuring the safety of the Palestinian civilian population.

For further information: David Shearer - UN OCHA +972-(0) 545-627-841 Paul McCann - UNRWA +972-(0) 57-721-4431, +972-(0)59-428-008

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Office of the United Nations Special Co-ordinator (UNSCO), World Food Program (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), International Labour Organization (ILO)