Urgent UN Protection Force Needed to Safeguard Palestinian Lives Amidst Escalating Crisis

For decades, the international community has focused on a political settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, this approach now overlooks a more pressing concern: the severe threat to Palestinian civilian life and social structures due to ongoing colonization. In Gaza, a devastating war has resulted in over 74,000 deaths and created conditions for tens of thousands more, obliterating neighborhoods, critical infrastructure, and collapsing education and healthcare systems. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, settler and military violence, forced displacement, movement restrictions, loss of livelihoods, and fiscal pressure on Palestinian civil administration are systematically undermining the ability of Palestinian communities to exist. Consequently, an international protection force is urgently required to prevent Israeli violence and protect Palestinian schools, hospitals, access to livelihoods, and aid.

The colonization of Palestinian land, a long-standing issue, has intensified dramatically since October 2023, rendering Palestinian life untenable. Israel is not only causing casualties but actively dismantling the foundations of human life, including housing, healthcare, education, livelihoods, and security. In Gaza, the Israeli army has destroyed approximately 81 percent of structures, displacing 1.9 million people into makeshift shelters. In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, home demolitions under the guise of absent building permits have surged, leading to the forced displacement of 46 Palestinian communities between 2023 and mid-2025, with refugee camps like Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem suffering severe damage. Hebron has recently faced a siege and demolitions, displacing 5,000 people and detaining at least 120.

Healthcare and education are in a state of severe destruction. In Gaza, only 19 out of 36 hospitals and 73 out of 158 primary health centers are partially functional. UNICEF reports that 98 percent of Gaza's schools have been destroyed or damaged. In the West Bank, hospitals are critically underfunded due to Israel withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority (PA), operating at reduced capacity and facing challenges in providing emergency care due to Israeli checkpoints. At least 84 schools in the West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem, are under demolition or stop-work orders, while hundreds of thousands of children face movement restrictions that prevent school attendance.

Palestinian livelihoods have been devastated. Gaza's economy, already crippled by the Israeli siege, has been further decimated by the bombing campaign. In the West Bank, settler violence, land confiscation, and Israeli army designations of 'security zones' have cut off farmers from their land, preventing harvests for three consecutive years and eliminating their primary income. The World Food Programme has announced cuts to food rations for hundreds of thousands in Gaza and the West Bank. Employment opportunities have also shrunk significantly, with Israeli authorities withdrawing work and travel permits. Unemployment in Gaza exceeds 90 percent, and in the West Bank, it has doubled since 2023 to 29.5 percent, a figure likely understated.

The PA, intended to govern Palestinian life, now functions as Israel's security subcontractor, with Israel withholding billions in tax revenues while ensuring the PA's security apparatus continues to operate and repress its own people. This situation unfolds against a backdrop of relentless colonial violence, with daily bombings in Gaza and attacks, killings, and pillaging by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank. The inability of the Palestinian population to access housing, food, healthcare, education, and security makes survival impossible.

There is a clear legal basis for deploying a protection force, as Israel is violating international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled Israel's occupation illegal and mandated aid access to Gaza, which Israel has hindered. While ICJ advisory opinions are not binding, they establish Israel's responsibility as the occupying power. Israel's actions to dismantle Palestinian civil life and nationhood further justify intervention. Although the UN Security Council is empowered to approve peace missions, a US veto makes this route unlikely. However, the 1950 'Uniting for Peace' precedent allows the General Assembly (UNGA) to recommend collective measures, including force, when the Council is paralyzed, as seen with Ukraine in 2022. Such a UNGA recommendation, while not binding, could legitimize a coalition of states, potentially including South Africa, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to deploy and fund a protective force.

This approach can be pursued alongside efforts to pressure Washington to remove US obstruction. The deployed force must have a clear mandate to protect Palestinian lives, establish a physical buffer between communities and settlers, and be authorized to prevent attacks, not merely document them. Unlike the limited Temporary International Presence in Hebron, this force needs intervention authority. The deployment of such an international protection force must be prioritized, treating the protection of Palestinian society as an independent issue. Preserving the social, economic, and cultural foundations of Palestinian civilian life cannot be postponed until a political settlement is reached.