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The ICRC in Israel, the Occupied Territories and the Autonomous Territories
©ICRC/T. Gassmann/il-e-00984
West Bank, Qalandya checkpoint. ICRC prison visits programme for families of Palestinian detainees in Israel.

In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the faithful application of international humanitarian law (IHL), and above all the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict and occupation.
Its delegates monitor the situation of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories who are affected by the existence of the barrier, by settlements and outposts, by economic constraints and restrictions on access to essential services. Where necessary, they take matters up confidentially with the Israeli authorities and seek improvements.

ICRC delegates visit detainees held by Israel and by Palestinian authorities; they facilitate visits by their families and the exchange of messages.

The ICRC has a range of assistance and support activities for Palestinian families affected by the violence. These range from helping families (livelihood support projects, rehabilitation of the water supply) to providing supplies for hospitals. During the fighting in Gaza in May and June, ICRC delegates worked to ensure safe passage for the wounded and distributed essential items to medical facilities.

  • Donate now to help the victims of the current crisis
  • Palestine Red Crescent Society
  • In the occupied Golan, the ICRC's activities focus mainly on re-establishing and maintaining family links between the 21,000 Golan residents and their families living on the other side of the demarcation line.


    The ICRC works in cooperation with the Israeli Magen David Adom and the Palestine Red Crescent. It strives to raise awareness generally about international humanitarian law and the obligation to respect it.
    Personnel (2008): 358 staff, including 81 expatriates

    See also:

  • International Humanitarian Law: Protection of civilians in armed conflicts
  • Occupied territory - the legal issues


  • Key document
      29-4-2008
      Gaza is running out of fuel
      The current fuel crisis is causing increasing hardship for the people of the Gaza Strip. The ICRC warns that the long-term consequences may be severe if sufficient supplies are not made available to ordinary people and for facilities like public transport, hospitals and water pumping stations.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      25-1-2008
      Gaza: humanitarian situation remains critical
      The crossing into Egypt of hundreds of thousands of Gazans desperate to stock up on basic supplies is a dramatic illustration of their deprivation over the last seven months according to the ICRC's Head of Operations for the Middle East, Béatrice Megevand-Roggo. The ICRC continues to insist that the basic needs of Gaza's population must be met in the long run to prevent more hardship.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Interview Includes Photo

      22-1-2008
      ICRC supplies cross into Gaza
      On the day Israel allowed a one-day resumption of supplies to the Gaza Strip, ICRC health coordinator Eileen Daly speaks of the threats facing the civilian population because of the ban on goods entering the territory. Some essential drugs and other items were able to cross into Gaza in the afternoon of 22 January.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Interview Includes Photo

      13-12-2007
      The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied
      Throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank, Palestinians continuously face hardship in simply going about their lives; they are prevented from doing what makes up the daily fabric of most people's existence. An ICRC report.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Report Includes PDF, Photo

      8-6-2007
      ICRC President: access to captured Israeli soldiers remains a priority
      Almost one year after their capture, the fate of three Israeli soldiers – two of them held by the Hezbollah, and one by Palestinian armed factions - still remains unknown, causing distress and anguish to their families. On this occasion, Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, talks about the challenge the ICRC is facing trying to get access to persons detained in relation to armed conflicts.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Interview Includes Photo

    Event
    Feature
      29-2-2008
      Gaza: opening the road to new possibilities
      Contacts with the outside world – and to the local school – are easier now for the people at Wadi Salqa, an agricultural community, after the ICRC helped rehabilitate a track. New jobs have also been created, to help overcome the difficult economic situation.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      29-2-2008
      Gaza: new washing machines at last for beleaguered hospital
      Following five months of intense negotiations with the Israeli Authorities, the ICRC has been allowed to bring two washing machines into the Gaza Strip from Israel, destined for the European Gaza Hospital (EGH), a 210-bed hospital in the town of Khan Younis.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      7-1-2008
      Gaza: ICRC and Qatar Red Crescent provide last minute help to Khan Yunis
      From afar it looks just like any other artificial lake. But as you get closer, the smell tells a different story. The ICRC's Andrea Koenig describes how the ICRC, the Qatar Red Crescent and local authorities teamed up to ward off disaster in Khan Yunis.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      27-8-2007
      West Bank: food parcels for Hebron families
      One woman describes how she and her family survive in the West Bank town of Hebron – just one of more than 1,700 families supported by the ICRC through the monthly distribution of food parcels.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      8-8-2007
      Gaza: thousands of trapped Palestinians finally able to return home
      Thousands of Gaza citizens were stranded for nearly two months at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which was closed following the Hamas takeover of Palestinian Authority institutions. A political solution was found at the end of July, allowing the gradual return of the Palestinians.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

      16-3-2007
      Occupied Golan: wedding day joy clouded by sadness
      Weddings are always emotional events – but especially when the bride has no idea when she will see her family again. In the occupied Golan, the ICRC – as a neutral intermediary – has been helping couples to marry across the front lines for two decades.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Feature Includes Photo

      14-2-2007
      East Jerusalem: life without permit
      The last time Samah returned to her home from school was on 22 January 2007. The next day, the 14-year-old left her house in Jabal Al Mokaber, a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, and went to school with her three sisters. When the girls returned in the afternoon, their home was gone and in its place was just a heap of debris.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Feature Includes Photo

    Field newsletter
      31-5-2007
      Protecting the medical mission
      Israel, Occupied Territories and Autonomous Territories: ICRC delegation newsletter - May 2007
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Field newsletter Includes Photo, PDF

    ICRC film
      27-4-2007
      West Bank: behind the barrier
      Since construction started on the West Bank Barrier, what has been the impact of the Israeli occupation on the lives of ordinary Palestinians? Families from Salfit and Hebron talk about the trauma of living with military operations, being denied access to their land and facing constant restrictions on every aspect of life.
      (Info resources\ICRC publications and films\Films\From the field)
      ICRC film Includes Video

    Interview
    Official Statement
    Operational update
      6-5-2008
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: March 2008
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians during armed conflict and occupation.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update

      24-4-2008
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: February 2008
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the faithful application of international humanitarian law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians during armed conflict and occupation – also available in Hebrew.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update Includes PDF

      24-4-2008
      ICRC activities in the occupied Golan during 2007
      The ICRC has been working in the occupied Golan since 1967 and has maintained a full-time presence there since 1988, when it opened its office in Majd El Shams. Activities focus on re-establishing and maintaining contact between the 21,000 people living in the Golan and their families on the other side of the demarcation line.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update

      3-4-2008
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: December 2007
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the faithful application of international humanitarian law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians during armed conflict and occupation - also available in Hebrew.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update

      10-1-2008
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: November 2007
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works towards ensuring the faithful application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict and occupation - also available in Hebrew.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update Includes PDF

      19-11-2007
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: October 2007
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the faithful application of international humanitarian law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict and occupation – also available in Hebrew.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update Includes PDF

      24-10-2007
      ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: September 2007
      In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the faithful application of international humanitarian law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians during armed conflict and occupation - Also available in Hebrew.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Operational update Includes PDF

    Photo Collection
      26-6-2007
      Gaza: ICRC staff facilitate the transfer of the sick and injured
      Erez checkpoint, June 2007. An ICRC team, including a specialist in emergency medical services, transfers sick and wounded Palestinians to Israel where they will receive sophisticated treatment not available in Gaza. The ICRC carries out this work as an intermediary between the authorities in Gaza and Israel and counts on the support of ambulance services, including those of the Ministry of Health and the PRCS in Gaza, and Magen David Adom in Israel.
      (Info resources\Photos\Middle East and North Africa)
      Photo Collection Includes Photo

      24-1-2006
      ICRC activities in the Gaza Strip
      The ICRC has been permanently present in Israel, the Occupied and Autonomous Territories since 1967. Its aim is to ensure the application of International Humanitarian Law as well as to carry out a wide range of humanitarian activities.
      (Info resources\Photos\Middle East and North Africa)
      Photo Collection Includes Photo

      23-6-2003
      Israelis and Palestinians: "Side by Side or Face to Face"
      50 years of photography by Jean Mohr.
      An exhibition produced by the ICRC and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum (MICR).
      (Info resources\Photos\Middle East and North Africa)
      Photo Collection Includes Photo

    Press article
      24-9-2007
      Israel-Palestine A tragedy without end?
      The years go by, and the situation in the Autonomous and Occupied Palestinian Territories keeps getting worse. Since the Six-Day War in June 1967, open warfare has alternated with periods of calm, but without so much as a glimmer of peace on the horizon. What have been the main humanitarian consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? And how has the Movement been responding? Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 2, 2007
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa)
      Press articleJean-François Berger

      15-4-2007
      The ICRC in the Palestinian territories: double role, single aim
      Article by Marcin Monko, ICRC delegate in Jerusalem from November 2006 until February 2007. Published on Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN) website
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Press articleMarcin Monko, ICRC Jerusalem

      29-4-2006
      "The Palestinians’ hardship is increasing"
      Aid organizations can step up their assistance for the Palestinian people, but they cannot take the place of the authorities, warns the ICRC director of operations. Pierre Krähenbühl was interviewed by Marlène Schnieper.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Press article

    Report
      21-11-2006
      West Bank and Gaza: ICRC household economy assessment
      The purpose of this assessment is twofold. The first objective is to get a sense of the impact on household economic security of the financial restrictions imposed on the Palestinian Authority after the election of the Hamas government. The second is to identify the indigent sections of the population, and to classify them by current income, expenditure patterns and coping mechanisms.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Report Includes PDF

      15-11-2006
      Declining health services in the Palestinian territories: an ICRC report
      Since the beginning of 2006, the ICRC has repeatedly warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. An ICRC report issued today documents the tragic consequences that the interruption of essential health services has had on the Palestinian population. A key finding is that it is the poor, whose numbers are increasing because of the overall economic decline, who are predominantly affected by the current interruption of health services.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Report Includes PDF, Photo

    Stories from the field
      19-11-2007
      Gaza: date palms and olive trees on levelled land
      Over the past two decades, farmers of the community of El Qarara in the Gaza Strip have seen their land levelled and some of it taken over completely as security zones were expanded. The ICRC is helping the farmers rehabilitate their land, livelihoods – and community spirit.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Stories from the field Includes Photo

      29-6-2007
      West Bank: food processing workshops in Tulkarem
      A new scheme to teach methods of preserving locally grown produce is creating an income for women in Tulkarem as well as creating valuable opportunities for them to make new friends and feel less isolated. Bernard Barrett reports.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Stories from the field

      13-6-2007
      Supplying water to the West Bank
      The ICRC is working hard with local people in the West Bank to ensure an uninterrupted supply of clean water to villages. Bernard Barrett reports on two recently completed projects.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Stories from the field Includes Photo

      5-6-2007
      Occupied Golan: stories of separation
      Israel's occupation of the Golan severely restricts the ability of its Arab residents to go about their daily lives. In addition, many have relatives across the demarcation line in Syria that they have not seen for years.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Israel)
      Stories from the field Includes Photo

      20-4-2007
      West Bank: giving entrepreneurs a boost in the shadow of the barrier
      Most people in the village of Beit Sira no longer have access to jobs in Israel and Jerusalem and restriction on movement make working in Ramallah nearly impossible. The ICRC is helping 26 local businesses in the village under its Livelihood Support Programme.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Stories from the field Includes Photo

      19-4-2007
      West Bank: new school to bring relief to overcrowded classrooms
      The municipality of Beituniya had started the construction of a new school, but work stopped in 2005 because of lack of funds. The ICRC has stepped in to finance the completion of the new building, which is planned for September 2007 in time for the new school year.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Middle East and North Africa\Palestine)
      Stories from the field Includes Photo

    Video Collection
      18-10-2007
      West Bank: the effects of the Barrier on Palestinian farmers
      This CNN/TVRL report for CNN World Report demonstrates the effects of the West Bank Barrier on Palestinian farmers and shows how the ICRC is trying to facilitate access to their land.
      (Info resources\Video)
      Video Collection Includes Video

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    12-05-2008