Urgent Humanitarian Crisis

Our first stop was the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to understand the scale of the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians. Seventy percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza are now living in acute poverty. Half the population is estimated to be food insecure. The UN made clear that the occupation and the actions of the occupier were the main causes of poverty.

A boy plays with a kite in East Jerusalem

The UN warned us that the situation had deteriorated in the past year. The Israeli decision to withhold Palestinian customs revenues and the boycott of the Palestinian Authority by the EU and US suspending direct assistance have seriously compounded the crisis of occupation.

The boycott means that the municipal government in Bethlehem is unable to pay its employees. We met with the Mayor of Bethlehem Dr Victor Batarseh, who told us:

"The boycott of the government has caused more and more poverty. For the past year we have had to borrow money from the bank to pay employees. Four months ago the bank stopped the loans. We aren't able to pay anyone. In a couple of weeks we will have to close off the municipality."