Humanitarian Response in War Zones: Lessons from the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The aim of this event is to share the Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) experience in operating hospitals, coordinating the entry of aid and medical missions, and remaining committed to the principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, despite the fact that its mission is impeded by the war and geopolitics in the area. An additional and important aim is to inform the students and faculty at Oxford of the unpredictable situation in the West Bank and how the PRCS continues to reconfigure its strategies in terms of response, operations, and contingency plans; humanitarians are compelled to clean up the mess of politicians and we want to explain how we handle this. We will be reflecting on the differences between the work of the ICRC and the PRCS as well as our cooperation on the ground to optimize humanitarian response.

We are eager to present how the erosion of compliance with IHL manifests in real time during a context of armed conflict. Urban warfare has become the expertise of the PRCS, deriving its lessons from previous wars in the Gaza Strip and the current one. The man-made extinction of the humanitarian space in the Occupied Palestinian Territory renders the enforceability of IHL nearly impossible; however, principled humanitarian action continues to be a lifeline for Palestinians which the PRCS is fighting to preserve.

Dana Abu-Koash is the Coordinator of the International Humanitarian Law Unit of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, and 2nd year IHRL MSc student.

Khaled Abughosh is the Director-General of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society

Qusai Jaber is the Deputy Director of Disaster Risk Management Department, Palestinian Red Crescent Society

Dr. Khaled Dawas is a GI surgeon and Honorary Associate Professor at UCL