Losing ground: Protection and livelihoods in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The occupation of Palestine and the conflict and violence that have attended it has had devastating implications for protection and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza. A series of measures have combined to create ‘a crisis of human dignity where the entire population is denied basic rights’ (CAP, 2009). This Working Paper analyses the relationship between protection and livelihoods in the oPt. It explores how threats to people’s protection are linked to their livelihoods, the impact of these threats on particular groups in the West Bank and Gaza and the strategies they employ in response. The study analyses the efforts of humanitarian organisations to link protection and livelihoods in their work, with recommendations on how this work could be expanded in the oPt and elsewhere.