Palestine Monitor Factsheet: Facts @ A Glance
The full-scale Israeli occupation of Palestine began in 1967 after the Six Day War. This ongoing Israeli military occupation has severely affected every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank and Gaza, and has resulted in millions of Palestinians being forced to live as refugees throughout the Middle East, and around the rest of the world.
The Palestine Monitor offers an overview of the main issues related to the occupation of Palestine, providing brief data and up-to-date statistics. The key facts are gathered here. For more information please refer to specific factsheets.
Population
At the end of 2006 the global Palestinian population numbered over 10.1 million people. 70% of Palestinians (almost 7.5 million people) are refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Six million Palestinians have been refugees since 1948.
More than 450,000 Palestinians are currently IDPs in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
More than two thirds of Palestinian refugees live in exile.
Palestinian Deaths and Injuries
Figures up to and including 16 August 2007
Total of Palestinian conflict related deaths since September 2000: 4,502
Total of conflict related injuries: 31,531
The majority of injuries were caused by:
Live ammunition 8,329
Rubber and plastic bullets 6,937
Tear gas 6,653
Total of conflict related deaths and injuries since September 2000: 36,033
Prisoners
In April 2006 at least 9,599 Palestinian prisoners were being held in Israeli jails.
By April 2007 this figure had increased to 11,229 Palestinians, including 104 women and 375 children of both sexes - representing an increase of 1,630 prisoners.
Refugees
There are 58 official Palestinian refugee camps:
| Jordan | 10 |
| Lebanon | 12 |
| Syria | 9 |
| West Bank | 19 |
| Gaza Strip | 8 |
There are 4,375,050 Palestinian refugees in the region (less than a third of them living in camps).
| Jordan | 1,835,704 |
| Lebanon | 405,425 |
| Syria | 434,896 |
| West Bank | 705,207 |
| Gaza Strip | 993,818 |
Checkpoints
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “Movement within and in and out of the West Bank is controlled by numerous checkpoints, roadblocks, earth-mounds and gates. These manned and unmanned physical barriers...restrict the movement of around 2.4 million Palestinians.”
In 2006, there were an average of 1,108 permanent and temporary (or ‘flying’) checkpoints operational each month across the West Bank.
In June 2007, there were 1,080 permanent and temporary checkpoints across the West Bank, including 556 permanent roadblocks and checkpoints and 524 flying checkpoints.
House Demolitions
Since 1967 the Government of Israel (GOI) has pursued a policy of demolishing Palestinian homes during military operations, and for collective punishment which it calls a ‘deterrent.’
Palestinians homes are also demolished when the owners do not have official israeli-issued building permits, which are notoriously difficult for Palestinians to secure.
Since the second Intifada started in September 2000, at least 5,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished during Israeli military operations across the West Bank and Gaza. Tens of thousands of other Palestinian homes have been damaged and left totally uninhabitable.
Another 1,900 Palestinian homes have been demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration because the owner(s) did not have an official permit.
More than 628 Palestinian homes have also been demolished as collective punishment.
When a Palestinian house is demolished, an average of 12 people lose their home.
The Wall
Construction of Israel’s wall around the West Bank began on June 16th 2002.
The Wall will eventually extend for 721 km between Israel and Palestine.
80% of the Wall is being built on West Bank land illegally confiscated from Palestinians by the Israeli military.
The Wall has already severed East Jerusalem from the West Bank.
Each kilometer of the Wall costs an estimated $3.7 million.
When complete, the Wall will enclose 60,500 Palestinians whose West Bank villages lie between the route of the Wall and the 1967 Green Line. These villagers will be totally dependent on the Israeli military to allow them in and out of their own homes.
On July 9th 2004 the Wall was declared “contrary to international law” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ cited Israel’s obligation to dismantle the Wall, and to pay reparations for all damage caused by its construction. Israel has rejected the ICJ ruling and recommendations.
Settlements
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
There are currently 120 officially recognized Israeli settlements and 102 settlement “outposts” (unauthorized but state-sponsored and funded by government ministries) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These settlements are all in violation of international law and UN resolutions.
These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of some 460,000 Israeli settlers.
Approximately 200,000 of them live in settlements in and around East Jerusalem.
In 2004, a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that “Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development.”