For decades, the international response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has centred on the search for a political settlement.
asserted
response → centre → settlement
Today, this strategy increasingly misses the more urgent issue: Palestinian civilian life and social structures are in grave danger because of the continuing colonisation of Palestine.
asserted
life → miss → Palestine
In Gaza, a genocidal war has killed more than 74,000 people and created the conditions for excess deaths of tens of thousands more.
asserted
war → kill → thousands
It has wiped out whole neighbourhoods, critical infrastructure and forced the education and healthcare systems into collapse.
asserted
It → wipe → collapse
In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, different mechanisms of destruction operate: Settler and military violence, forced displacement, restrictions on movement, loss of access to agricultural land and livelihoods, fiscal pressure on Palestinian civil administration, etc.
asserted
mechanisms → operate → administration
Taken together, these policies affect the ability of Palestinian communities to continue to exist.
asserted
policies → take → communities
For that reason, an international protection force is urgently needed not only to prevent Israeli violence, but to protect Palestinian schools, hospitals, access to livelihoods and access to aid.
asserted
force → need → aid
Palestinian existence threatened
asserted
existence → threaten → ?
The colonisation of Palestinian land has been going on for decades.
asserted
colonisation → go → decades
Yet, since October 2023, it has accelerated to the point where Palestinian life in Palestine is made impossible.
asserted
life → accelerate → Palestine
Israel is not just killing Palestinians; it is actively destroying every pillar that supports human life: Housing, healthcare, education, livelihood, and security.
asserted
that → kill → life
The Israeli army has destroyed roughly 81 percent of structures in Gaza, and left 1.9 million people displaced, without homes.
asserted
army → destroy → homes
The vast majority of the Strip’s residents live in tents or makeshift shelters that are unfit for long-term human habitation.
asserted
that → live → habitation
In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, demolitions of homes, conducted under the pretext of absent building permits, have escalated.
asserted
demolitions → conduct → permits
According to Al-Haq, 46 Palestinian communities were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces and settlers between 2023 and mid-2025.
uncertain
communities → accord → 2023
Other communities, including some in the heart of the West Bank, have been severely damaged, including the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem.
asserted
communities → include → Jenin
Most recently, Hebron has been besieged and homes there demolished; some 5,000 people have been displaced an at least 120 detained.
asserted
120 → besiege → ?
Heathcare and education are witnessing huge destruction.
asserted
Heathcare → witness → destruction
In Gaza, only 19 of 36 hospitals and only 73 of 158 primary health centres remain partially functional.
asserted
hospitals → remain → Gaza
According to UNICEF, 98 percent of Gaza’s schools were destroyed or damaged during the war.
uncertain
percent → accord → war
In the occupied West Bank, hospitals are severely underfunded due to Israel withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
asserted
Israel → withhold → Authority
As a result, they operate at reduced capacity, with a growing number of services becoming unavailable, while the hundreds of Israeli checkpoints prevent emergency care from functioning properly.
asserted
hundreds → operate → care
At least 84 schools, including in occupied East Jerusalem, remained under pending demolition or stop-work orders.
asserted
schools → include → orders
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of children struggle with Israeli movement restrictions, which often render them unable to reach school.
asserted
them → struggle → school
Palestinian livelihoods have also been devastated.
asserted
livelihoods → devastate → ?
In Gaza, the carpet-bombing campaign has all but destroyed the economy, which was already crippled by the Israeli siege.
asserted
which → destroy → siege
In the occupied West Bank, growing settler pogroms, land theft and designations of areas as “security zones” by the Israeli army have cut off Palestinian farmers from their land.
asserted
pogroms → occupy → land
Many have been unable to grow crops or harvest for three consecutive years, eliminating their primary income source.
asserted
Many → grow → source
While Palestinian agriculture is collapsing, the World Food Programme has announced it is cutting monthly food rations for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
asserted
it → collapse → Gaza
Employment opportunities have significantly shrunk.
asserted
opportunities → shrink → ?
The Israeli authorities have withdrawn the work and travel permits that allowed Palestinians to work in Israeli enterprises.
asserted
Palestinians → withdraw → enterprises
While more than 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are without work, unemployment in the West Bank has doubled since 2023 by official counts, reaching 29.5 percent in 2026.
asserted
unemployment → double → 2026
This figure is likely an undercount, since workers unemployed for more than a year drop out of labour-force statistics.
asserted
workers → drop → statistics
Meanwhile, the PA, which is supposed to govern Palestinian life, has been transformed into Israel’s security subcontractor.
asserted
which → suppose → subcontractor
As of 2026, Israel is withholding an estimated $4.8-5bn in tax and customs revenue collected on the PA’s behalf.
asserted
Israel → withhold → behalf
It has, however, transferred enough money to ensure the PA’s security apparatus continues to function and actively engage in repression of the Palestinian people on its behalf.
asserted
apparatus → transfer → behalf
All of this is happening against a backdrop of continuing colonial violence.
asserted
All → happen → violence
In Gaza, the Israeli army bombs, shells and shoots at Palestinians daily.
asserted
army → bomb → Palestinians
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers and soldiers kill, attack, burn and pillage.
asserted
settlers → kill → Bank
If a population loses access to housing, cannot put food on the table, cannot receive healthcare or provide children with education, and faces constant violence, how can it survive?
asserted
it → lose → violence
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
