Back in 2003, a few years before Hamas took over Gaza, I was briefly working with the Rand Corporation that was doing a study of visioning the future of the Palestinian State. They hired a Los Angeles architect to look at Gaza and draw up a plan for liveable urban area with parks, a beachfront, a seaport, an airport and an industrial zone. We drove around with the municipal authorities and imagined what could be done with the political will and funding. If one thinks of Gaza as a mostly urban space, one can imagine a beautiful liveable area with high-rises, parks and a beachfront on the Mediterranean Sea situated next to Egypt and Israel. Half of the population of Gaza is under the age of 18 and hoping for a better life. Although I focused in this manuscript on some of the worst aspects of Gaza with the absence of protection, the youth, for example, tend to lean towards hope and optimism towards change. Having lived in Ashkelon under rocket attacks where I had to make a 15 second decision in the middle of the night on whether or not to wake up my kids and run for shelter, this is also no way to live.

The civilian population of Palestine, whether living directly or indirectly under Israel’s military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, is one of the least protected populations in the world. Currently, there is no protection for the Palestinian population, particularly for those living under Israeli military occupation in Gaza, Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the Occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli security forces control Palestinian movement, the economy, education, health, access to housing and almost every other aspect of daily existence. Lack of protection for Palestinians is not due to unfortunate isolated incidents but rather a system of repressive rules of the military occupation intended to control, subjugate and intimidate a population into submission. Alternative laws for Jewish and Palestinian residents and systematic discrimination have resulted in a system of apartheid that is a source of common international criticism and BDS but lacks international action. The 2022 conflict of Ukraine demonstrated the blatant double standards where Russia has been subjected to hundreds of tough sanctions, whereas Israel’s atrocities and blatant disregard of international law have been largely ignored.

The current security regime under the Palestinian Authority has contradictory protection strategies, placing Palestinian civilians at risk. PA’s violent crackdown against Hamas supporters and political opposition has come at the detriment of the safety of Palestinian civilians. As was discussed in Chapter 4, youth are particularly vulnerable due to their desire for change, heightened level of awareness of atrocities through social media and increased engagement in activism and resistance. Increasing numbers of Palestinians are prepared to risk their well-being, to resist the occupation and attempt to foster change.

Policies based on the concept; ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is likely to be one of the most disastrous strategies of foreign policy. Israel’s initial support of Hamas in order to weaken the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had and will continue to have long lasting devastating consequences for Israel. Hamas governs in accordance with the Sharia-based Palestinian Basic Law, including controlling how women and girls dress, enforcing gender segregation and violent repercussions for being LGBTQ+. However, non violent resistance against Israeli occupation is also becoming popular, especially among the youth and increasingly perceived as vital and legitimate by not only the Palestinian public but also Hamas. More recent ongoing PA collaboration with Israel and the US secret service against Hamas and its supporters has further undermined PA authority and boosted the popularity of Hamas.

Today, the young Palestinian population separated by borders, walls and fences is interconnected through social media, thus an event or an incident in Jerusalem impacts on the lives of people within Israel and the West Bank and vice versa. Also, with everyone having access to a smart phone, unedited versions of events anywhere can be instantly uploaded onto social media and seen by millions, affecting hearts and minds with the potential for rapid escalations. Thus, as was seen in the latest May 2021 conflict, the displacement of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem and a crackdown on religious worshipers in the Dome of the Rock resulted in rocket attacks from Hamas in Gaza, which resulted in a bombing campaign of Gaza by Israel, which sparked widespread demonstrations by Palestinians living in Israel. The string of events boosted the popularity of Hamas, perceived as organizing an effective resistance not only from within Gaza but also inciting Palestinians living within Israel to riot and engage in violent resistance. The Israeli reprisal strategy to dissuade attacks by Hamas with the promise of IDF’s devastating capacity to strike back hard is counter productive, as any punishment in Gaza that causes death and suffering reverberates back into Israel. The 2014 bombardment of Gaza affected the young population within Israel and led to the 2015/2016 knife/children’s intifada. The current status quo is unbearable for Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation especially within Gaza, close to Jewish settlements and Area C of the West Bank. Within Israel, systemic discrimination against non-Jews has institutionalized apartheid that is also unsustainable.

Without a peace process, conflict suppression strategies to avoid escalations, attempts to silence dissent and violently suppress Palestinian resistance only adds fuel to the fire. Violent security strategies used by Israeli authorities have made little effort to distinguish between Palestinian civilians and combatants. Similar security tools used against violent and non-violent resistance have burred the lines between the consequences of violent versus non-violent action. Israel’s targeted and violent repression of BDS supporters and NGO human rights activists has attacked and weakened those who support non-violent resistance. When non-violent resistance is not possible or not perceived at all effective there are few options left except to live with the status quo, which for most Palestinians does not include the basic human needs including freedom and well-being or turn to violence. The lack of improvement or any peace process has made hope a rare commodity. The effectiveness of any tool is linked to a consensus among interveners. The veto rights of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, China, Russia, France and UK) have obstructed any solution in Israel/Palestine. Sixty-three states as well as the EU have called for reform of the Security Council outlining restraint on the use of veto in mass atrocity situations. France proposed that the Security Council develop a conduct where the permanent members agree to refrain from using a veto with respect to mass atrocities. This, however, is far from the current reality.

Divisions between the main interveners—the US, UN, Russia, Middle Eastern states and the EU—have paralyzed the international intervention process in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The US role as the key mediator has been closely tied to its role as the main arms supplier and protector of Israel, shielding the Israeli government from sharp tools and international condemnation. The UN Security Council has been deadlocked and attempts to reach a consensus on accountability and sharp protection tools have been met by vetoes from Washington. US mediation in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been directed towards steering it in a direction favourable to Israel and denying the leading role to other powers including to other states, the United Nations or the European Union.

Despite the suffering on the ground, particularly for the population under the occupation, there has been little urgency to mediate an end to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Israel and Hamas leadership can be described as living under a S5 reality (a soft, stable, self-serving stalemate). Israeli leadership finds the current conflict tolerable and preferable to the unknown consequences of a potential peace agreement. While the Palestinian civilian population living under the occupation suffers under strict security measures, and in the case of Gaza, harsh economic sanctions, due to much corruption hard line politicians benefit from the stalemate. Ongoing war atrocities, including those related to the Gaza war of 2014, could be used to operationalize the R2P norm towards high-power mediation process. However, once again the largest challenge lies in the external divisions and the lack of united vision and strategy in resolving the conflict.

National and international protection strategies have brought meagre protection to the civilians in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Although Hamas and Israel prioritize security, measures are aimed at destruction of the other and not on providing human protection. Despite or due to Israel’s main focus of its efforts on providing security at the expense of the other, the Jewish population has also become increasingly insecure. Militarization of Israeli society has in particular increased the vulnerabilities of the youth, women and visible minorities. It is apparent that for much of the population, in particular the Palestinian population living in East Jerusalem, Area C of West Bank and Gaza, no state or entity is providing protection. Severe security measures are conducted by Israel with no accountability, full impunity and little internal or external pressure for change. While the international community spends much time and effort in providing humanitarian assistance and monitoring abuses by Israel, Palestinian Authority and Hamas, it has done little to reach a working consensus and contribute to the establishment of human protection for all civilians. Despite international responsibility under the R2P norm to take timely and decisive collective action when a state is ‘manifestly’ failing in providing protection, civilians remain completely unprotected. Huge efforts in humanitarian aid and billions of dollars ostensibly spent on security and protection by national and international authorities have done little more than create a myth of protection.

Solutions to the conflict are neither impossible nor complicated. A revival of a peace process ending Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian Territories and international recognition of the Palestinian state, needs to be the first priority. The ongoing disregard for international law, human rights violations, illegal Jewish settlements, institutional apartheid and ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank are all fuelling the conflict. Whether it’s a one, two or a three-state solution is less important than human security, democracy, legality and accountability for human rights abuses. Global Responsibility to Protect an unprotected population has to take precedent over any geopolitical schemes that have ignored apartheid and ongoing atrocities. It is in everyone’s interest to support non violent resistance including BDS as when the roads to non violence are closed and people lack basic human needs, it is not surprising that some turn to violence. The international community, namely the US, EU, and the UN, needs to formulate a peace plan and an inclusive road map that ends the Israeli occupation and prioritizes human security and protection of all of the civilian population living in Israel/Palestine. Strong pressure needs to be brought against Israel to turn to peace for security and large long-term investment in infrastructure and policing is required in the Occupied Territories, most significantly in Gaza towards political transformation, making it liveable for all its inhabitants. Human security is a fundamental right for every person and when no state or entity is providing for the protection of a civilian population, it is the international community’s obligation to take all measures necessary to provide protection for the population.