Palestine/Israel

Advocacy for Palestine/Israel

What is Happening?

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been ongoing for more than seven decades. Today, there are nearly 7 million Palestinian refugees around the world. In Gaza, an endless cycle of violence and the ensuing Israeli blockade have created decades of substantial humanitarian needs. 

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, leading to the killing of more than 1,100 people and the taking of 251 hostages. The attack prompted a disproportionate and brutal Israeli military campaign on Gaza in response that has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, displaced an estimated 1.9 million people among Gaza’s population of 2.1 million multiple times over, and destroyed an estimated 80 percent of Gaza’s housing and infrastructure. Despite ceasefire agreements, the humanitarian needs are overwhelming as famine has been declared in parts of Gaza and Israel maintains arbitrary and prohibitive restrictions on aid. 

Israeli authorities have also committed repeated abuses and violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel appropriated more West Bank land in 2024 than in the previous 20 years combined, and the Knesset has voted on annexation of the West Bank. According to data from UN OCHA, in the two years following October 7th, settlers have attacked Palestinians nearly 3,000 times in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces and armed settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and injured 10,000 across the West Bank, according to UN figures.

What Must Be Done? 

In light of the U.S.-mediated 20 point peace plan agreed to in October 2025 for Gaza, Refugees International is calling on the parties to adhere to the ceasefire, protect civilians and aid workers, launch a robust famine relief plan, restore support to UNRWA and an impartial UN-led aid response, and eliminate obstructions to aid including arbitrary denials, attacks on aid workers, and inappropriate and prohibitive NGO registration regulations. In the West Bank, Refugees International calls on the United States and Israel to hold violent settlers to account and halt further attacks on Palestinians and de facto annexation of their land, which is illegal under international law.