Gaza and the West Bank under different hammer blows

Yihya Sirhan looks at the divergent realities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Although both Gaza and the West Bank are internationally recognized as parts of the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, they face structurally distinct humanitarian and administrative realities. The West Bank is fragmented internally by a multi-layered administrative network, whereas Gaza experiences an external blockade compounded by catastrophic structural destruction. These differing frameworks create entirely unique operational environments for governance, movement and resource management across the two regions.

The administrative division of the West Bank relies on the system established by the Oslo Accords, which separates the territory into Areas A, B, and C. In Area A, the Palestinian Authority maintains civil and security control, while Area B features shared control, with the Palestinian Authority managing civil affairs and Israeli authorities overseeing security. Conversely, Area C comprises over 60% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli military and civil control. This fragmented internal structure contrasts sharply with Gaza, which is defined by a rigid perimeter fence and a strict binary division separating the territory from Israel.

These structural differences dictate how freedom of movement is restricted in each territory. In Gaza, an external blockade imposed in 2007 is now entering its 19th year, functioning as a form of collective punishment that impacts every household. This closure restricts fishermen to six nautical miles, denies farmers access to arable land near the perimeter fence, bars students from West Bank universities, and regularly blocks patients from accessing vital medical care. In contrast, the closure in the West Bank is entirely internal, where cities and 465 villages are physically isolated from one another by a dense network of military checkpoints that places daily civilian transit under direct military control.

Demographic shifts and escalating security crises further define the situation in the West Bank, particularly through the rapid expansion of settlements. In July 2009, approximately 305,000 Israeli settlers resided in 121 settlements, a population that has since grown to an estimated 700,000 residents, including those in East Jerusalem. This expansion has been accompanied by a sharp rise in settler violence since October 2023. The monthly average of violent incidents has increased to 118, surpassing the previous record of 108. This systemic surge includes coordinated arson attacks on Palestinian homes by masked mobs, resulting in over 18 fatalities so far this year compared to 17 throughout the entirety of 2025.

Both territories face severe water insecurity, though driven by different mechanisms. In Gaza, the conflict following October 2023 caused an unprecedented collapse of utilities, destroying over 70% of the water supply and sanitation infrastructure. This damage leaves 63% of the population unable to access even a single litre of drinking water per day, forcing families to queue for hours by water trucks to survive. Meanwhile, water networks in the West Bank have increasingly become targets of vandalism and appropriation, with settlers smashing delivery pipes and blocking local wells, leaving Palestinian community taps entirely dry.

Compounding these resource crises is an accelerating rate of property destruction and population displacement. Between October 2023 and October 2024, authorities demolished 1,787 Palestinian facilities, including 800 inhabited homes, with the total number of demolished homes since passing 2,000. While permit-related demolitions displaced 1,152 people in 2023 alone, total displacements in the West Bank have surged past 2,155. The situation has intensified due to Operation “Iron Wall” in the northern West Bank, which stands as the longest and most destructive campaign in the area since the Second Intifada, triggering the largest displacement since 1967 by forcing approximately 40,000 people from their homes.

Yihya Sirhan is a Palestinian living in north London. The author would like to point out that the statistics quoted in the article will have changed since he conducted the research for this piece.