Humanitarian Aid for the Occupied Palestinian Territories: A Policy

The international community is well acquainted with the ongoing problems among Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As the years march onward, conditions in Palestine continue to degrade. Palestinians face many problems with respect to humanitarian and developmental aid. Conditions are harsh, both because of the extreme weather and continued conflict with the Israeli military and diplomatic policies. Lack of communication and travel abilities between Gaza and the West Bank, and even between neighboring villages in each region, continue to lead to wider disparity between the two geographic regions creating dramatically different levels of need depending upon location. The policy proposed by this project includes a scale developed to provide flexibility in assessing the needs of communities on a case by case basis. This project focuses on the current issues faced in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in regards to education, food, and water security, as well as a proposed plan of action that involves the assistance of the United Nations and partner non-governmental organizations that are already active in the region. The scale developed herein is targeted specifically at these issues in this region; however, it can easily be broadened to address needs in other categories of aid as well as in other states in need of aid as the global political and geological climate alters over time. The overarching goal of the scale is to provide a ground for assessment that can lead each region through the stages of humanitarian aid, to developmental aid, and onward to stability