For decades, the international response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has centred on the search for a political settlement. Today, this strategy increasingly misses the more urgent issue: Palestinian civilian life and social structures are in grave danger because of the continuing colonisation of Palestine. In Gaza, a genocidal war has killed more than 74,000 people and created the conditions for excess deaths of tens of thousands more.
It has wiped out whole neighbourhoods, critical infrastructure and forced the education and healthcare systems into collapse. In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, different mechanisms of destruction operate: Settler and military violence, forced displacement, restrictions on movement, loss of access to agricultural land and livelihoods, fiscal pressure on Palestinian civil administration, etc. Taken together, these policies affect the ability of Palestinian communities to continue to exist.
For that reason, an international protection force is urgently needed not only to prevent Israeli violence, but to protect Palestinian schools, hospitals, access to livelihoods and access to aid. The colonisation of Palestinian land has been going on for decades. Yet, since October 2023, it has accelerated to the point where Palestinian life in Palestine is made impossible.
Israel is not just killing Palestinians; it is actively destroying every pillar that supports human life: Housing, healthcare, education, livelihood, and security. The Israeli army has destroyed roughly 81 percent of structures in Gaza, and left 1.9 million people displaced, without homes. The vast majority of the Strip’s residents live in tents or makeshift shelters that are unfit for long-term human habitation.
In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, demolitions of homes, conducted under the pretext of absent building permits, have escalated. According to Al-Haq, 46 Palestinian communities were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces and settlers between 2023 and mid-2025. Other communities, including some in the heart of the West Bank, have been severely damaged, including the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem.
Most recently, Hebron has been besieged and homes there demolished; some 5,000 people have been displaced an at least 120 detained. Heathcare and education are witnessing huge destruction. In Gaza, only 19 of 36 hospitals and only 73 of 158 primary health centres remain partially functional.
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