International Protection Force Urgently Needed Across Palestine

Decades of international diplomacy centered on negotiating a political settlement have failed to address the ongoing destruction of Palestinian civilian life under occupation. As conditions deteriorate rapidly following October 2023, human rights advocates and legal precedents indicate that an international protection force is urgently needed across Palestine to shield civilian communities, preserve public infrastructure, and guarantee access to essential humanitarian relief.

An international protection force is urgently required to prevent the total dismantling of Palestinian civilian life.

In the Gaza Strip, ongoing military operations have killed more than 74,000 people and fostered conditions causing excess deaths among tens of thousands more. The Israeli military has destroyed roughly 81 percent of all physical structures, leaving 1.9 million individuals displaced into makeshift shelters and tents that are unfit for human habitation. The region's public systems have collapsed: UNICEF reports that 98 percent of schools are ruined or damaged, while only 19 of 36 hospitals and 73 of 158 primary health facilities remain even partially functional.

Destructive measures have also intensified throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem through property demolitions, movement restrictions, and settler aggression. According to the human rights organisation Al-Haq, 46 Palestinian communities were forcibly displaced between 2023 and mid-2025. Military raids have extensively damaged refugee camps in Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem. A recent siege in Hebron displaced approximately 5,000 residents, saw multiple homes demolished, and resulted in at least 120 detentions. Educational access remains heavily restricted, with 84 schools facing pending demolition or stop-work orders.

Economic foundations have suffered parallel devastation. With employment and travel permits revoked by Israeli authorities, unemployment in Gaza stands above 90 percent, while West Bank unemployment doubled from 2023 levels to reach 29.5 percent in 2026. Military closures and settler incursions have cut off farmers from their lands for three consecutive years, eliminating primary revenues just as the World Food Programme announced cuts to monthly food rations for hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, Israel is withholding between $4.8 billion and $5 billion in Palestinian Authority tax revenues, transferring only enough capital to maintain security forces that repress the civilian population.

The legal case for a protection force The demand for external intervention is rooted in major rulings under international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice determined that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and must be brought to an end. In a separate finding, the court ruled that Israel is legally obligated to facilitate aid access into Gaza, an obligation it has actively obstructed. While advisory findings are non-binding, they establish clear responsibility on the occupying power and provide a legal justification for an international force to intervene.

Why it matters The systematic destruction of housing, health facilities, schools, and agricultural livelihoods threatens the foundational elements required for Palestinian society to survive. Without an independent protection force to secure civilian safety and basic human infrastructure, the ongoing displacement and institutional collapse will render Palestinian existence impossible.