1_March 2019, Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), a week-long joint campaign “My Rights, Our Power” was launched today in Palestine to raise awareness on women’s fundamental human rights. The joint effort, with participation from over 30 national and international partners from civil society organizations, media outlets, and international development agencies, targets youth, women, and men in various geographic areas in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza to promote women’s human rights in Palestine.

The campaign comes at a crucial moment when the anticipated adoption of the Family Protection Bill is at a standstill, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders about the consequences of such delay on safeguarding women’s fundamental human rights in Palestine. According to the Palestine report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), nearly one in five Palestinian men (17 percent) surveyed said they had perpetrated act of physical intimate partner violence against female partners, while 21 per cent of women surveyed reported having experienced such violence.

“Family violence, usually committed by a family member who has social or economic power over others in the family, causes enormous pain and suffering to all members of the family, especially the women and children,” said a spokesperson from civil society, which has vigorously initiated the development of the Family Protection Bill (FPB), and has strongly pushed its adoption since 2004.

“The violation of women’s human rights manifests in various levels and should be also understood from economic, cultural, and social aspects,” the spokesperson added, highlighting the lack of opportunities and freedom of choice, as well as limited access to justice and services that women in Palestine still experience.

The joint campaign aims to raise awareness of the general public, especially youth, women, and men on women’s fundamental rights in line with international standards and embedded in the Family Protection Bill draft endorsed by the previous Cabinet at the end of December 2018. Five key messages, addressing women’s right to a life free of violence, right to achieve justice and seek help in case of violation of such life, as well as the right to equal opportunities and right to make one’s own choices, will be distributed through various channels such as radio, social media, helpline (121), outreach activities, and on-site events. The closing event of the joint campaign will take place on 8 March in Jerusalem and will celebrate women’s achievements using TED-style talks, followed by art performances.

“My Rights, Our Power” joint campaign is part of the global International Women’s Day 2019 campaign under the theme of “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, echoing the theme of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) taking place in New York on 11-22 March 2019.

The participating organizations of the “My Rights, Our Power” are (in alphabetical order): 17 Palestinian women’s organizations represented by Al-Muntada (coalition), British Consulate-General, Business Women Forum, CARE International, Consulate General of Sweden, Consulate General of Belgium, EUPOL COPPS, EU Representative Office, FAO, General Union of Palestinian Women, Government of Japan, CowaterSogema/GROW Project, International Labour Organization, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ma’an TV, MIFTAH, Netherlands Representative Office, Nisaa FM, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, Representative Office of Canada, Representative Office of Denmark, SAWA, Sawasya II, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sports for Life, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Representative Office of Norway, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UN Women, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Women’s Studies Center.

For more information, please contact Eunjin Jeong at UN Women via eunjin.jeong@unwomen.org or 059 2321 308, Majd Beltaji at UNESCO via m.beltaji@unesco.org or 059 4501 506.

Mr. President,

We thank France for organizing this important meeting and extend our appreciation to the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary General, the Executive Director of UN Women, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for their efforts and important briefings.

The issue before us is of relevance not only for half the planet, but to all, given the role and contribution of women in the fields of peace and security and the untapped potential that could be unleashed by mainstreaming their participation. Since the adoption by consensus of resolution 1325 by this Council, a lot has happened, and yet we are still far from the goal of full and equal participation, including in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and from ensuring the protection and empowerment of women. Gender equality and non-discrimination remain prerequisites for the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of this organization and all of our lofty, collective commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The State of Palestine welcomes the Secretary General’s report and his commitment to implementing the women and peace and security agenda, including by placing gender at the centre of his prevention platform and surge in diplomacy. We appreciate all efforts by the UN in this regard, including by UN Women, OHCHR and UNDP, notably in the field of human rights, capacity building, employment and rule of law. We urge UN bodies, notably those operating in Palestine, including the Special Representative, to intensify their engagement and collaboration with women organizations.

Mr. President,

I wish to highlight some of Palestine’s own important efforts in this regard. The Palestinian women’s movement is one of the oldest and strongest in the region and beyond, with institutional and representative structures established as early as the 19th century. Within the PLO, the General Union of Palestinian Women was among the first unions to be established. A coordination of women frameworks within PLO political parties and other organizations has also been established as the “Women’s Affairs Technical Committee” in the aftermath of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference.

There have been many achievements thereafter. Among them: In 2012, Palestine inaugurated a High-Level National Committee for the implementation of resolution 1325, led by the Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with relevant Ministries and NGOs. In 2016, the State of Palestine was among the 68 countries and areas that adopted a National Action Plan on women, peace and security.

This Action Plan (2017-2019), adopted by both the Government and civil society organizations, identifies three primary objectives: 1. ensuring protection for women and girls both domestically and in the face of the Israeli occupation; 2. ensuring accountability through national and international mechanisms, with a particular focus on crimes and violations committed by the occupation; and 3. furthering women’s political participation in decision making at the national and international level. The State of Palestine also joined core IHL and human rights instruments, including CEDAW, without reservations. Women’s participation and empowerment are also important and cross-cutting objectives in the context of the National Policy Agenda (2017-2022).

We are, however, conscious that, despite all these efforts, much more work remains to be done. Only in 2009 was a women elected to the highest executive body of the PLO. Quotas are still decisive in allowing women’s election to Parliament and local councils. And while women organizations were among the strongest advocates of national reconciliation, they have been unfairly absent from reconciliation talks. The relevant legislative framework applicable in Palestine is also outdated and must be revised to ensure consistency with Palestine’s international commitments and obligations and avail women the protection and rights they are entitled to and the opportunities they deserve.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian women’s movement since its establishment over a century ago pursued the struggle on two fronts – the struggle for the independence of Palestine and the struggle for women’s rights and empowerment – a dual struggle the movement continues to pursue to this day. The Israeli occupation remains the main source of the violations of our women’s rights and their vulnerability and violence against their person. We have repeatedly called for protection of the Palestinian people, especially women and children. We have also called for accountability, a key element of resolution 1325, the first resolution to address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, as the only way to put an end to violations and crimes.

While Palestine stands ready to do its part to advance women rights and the role of women in the fields of peace and security, it is clear that the enjoyment of these rights in our country necessitates ending the Israeli occupation. We will thus continue to work for an end of the occupation and true progress on the path to independence, justice and peace, with the equal and full involvement of women, leading to an independent State of Palestine ensuring human rights for all its citizens without discrimination.

On the occasion of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to Palestine, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, which consists of twelve different Palestinian women’s organisations, is urging the Prosecutor’s Office to take concrete actions towards investigating war crimes committed against Palestinians. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom remains deeply concerned with the complete impunity of Israeli war crimes and firmly supports the Coalition’s call for a just accountability mechanism for Palestinian victims. WILPF also calls on the international community to recognise and fully support Palestinian women’s organisations substantial role in paving the paths to justice, accountability and peace. Read the statement of the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325 below.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325,welcome the visit of the delegation of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office as a step in the right direction. But we are deeply disappointed that the purpose of this visit was restricted to preliminary examination, while Palestinian victims of Israeli war crimes, including women, continue to suffer and urgently await justice and an end to Israel impunity.

We do not understand the decision to exclude the Gaza Strip from this visit, when Gaza has been the site of the most war crimes and where women have been most systematically impacted by Israeli collective punishment policies; a prolonged imposed siege and a severe humanitarian deterioration resulting from Israeli military aggressions .

We are further disappointed that women who have been systematically impacted, and their women’s organisations, have been excluded from the delegation’s agenda.

We call upon all future delegations of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to include on their agenda meetings with women’s organisations and women who have experienced direct and indirect impacts of Israeli crimes.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, have seen in UNSCR 1325, 2242, and other UN Resolutions a commitment to hold the Israeli perpetrators accountable for their war crimes.

We look to the ICC as the most important mechanism to end impunity for all war crimes committed, finally bringing justice for the Palestinian people. Yet, we are very concerned that the preliminary examinations will be an endless process.

Therefore, we urge, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the ICC, to conclude the preliminary examination and move to investigations into Israeli war crimes, bringing justice to Palestinians.

We have paid the price of non-accountability and impunity of Israeli war crimes for too long. “Delaying justice is justice denied.”

Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325: The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), MIFTAH, Filastinyat, Women Media and Development (TAM), Women Stu Dies Center, Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WACLAC), the National, YWCA of Palestine, Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting (CWLRC), the Culture and Free thought Association(CWLRC) and Women’s Affairs Center (GWAC).

Occupied Palestine

October 11, 2016

Near East Consulting (NEC) most recent survey about Al Jazeera leaks pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations shows that 99% of the Palestinians heard about the leaks that released by Al Jazeera channel. The leaks released, by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera of what it, calls “The Palestine Papers” have raised more questions about the peace process, and the possibility of future negotiations with Israel.

The survey, conducted immediately after Al-Jazeera broke the news about the positions of the Palestinian negotiators on the issues of refugees, security, and Jerusalem, was carried on a random sample of 897 Palestinians over the age of 18 from both sexes, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem. The margin of error is +/-3.4% and the confidence level is 95%.

The results show that 68% of the Palestinians do not believe these leaks (71% in the West Bank versus 64% in the Gaza Strip), and 88% think the leaks serve the Israeli interests. Only 5% said the PA is the party benefiting from publishing these leaks while 7% said that they serve no one.

The results also show that the majority of Hamas supporters believe that Al Jazeera leaks are correct whereas the majority of Fateh supporters think that they are fabricated. Still both Fateh and Hamas supporters agree that these leaks serve only the Israeli interests.

In addition, the results show that 64% of the surveyed population considered Al Jazeera as non-neutral in dealing with the leaks, compared with 36% who said that Al Jazeera was neutral.

In response to the question about where Al Jazeera’s sympathies lie, the results demonstrated that 62% of the respondents think that Al Jazeera is sympathetic with the Hamas government, 5% said it is sympathetic with Ramallah government, and 33% see that Al Jazeera as being objective.

Moreover, 59% of the Palestinians consider the leaks as merely negotiations tactics, while 19% said that the leaks showed real concessions on Jerusalem and refugees, and 22% stated other reasons.

In their attitude about whether the leaks of Al-Jazeera will lead to internal conflict, 83% agree that these leaks will lead to internal conflict, compared with 17% said it will have no impact at all.

In order to see the position of Al Jazeera with respect to the Palestinian public, NEC asked a question about the most trusted TV channel, 23% of the respondents gave their trust to Al Jazeera, compared to 45% in NEC’s October 2010 survey. The results also show that 26% trust Palestine TV, 20% trust Al-Arabiyah, 3% trust Al Aqsa TV, 2% said Al Manar TV station, 2% for BBC, 1% for CNN, and 5% trust other Arab stations, and 15% trust no station.

I. Methodology

During the period 12-15 November, 2007, and immediately after the large Fateh rally in the Gaza Strip which ended in the death of seven Palestinians, Near East Consulting (NEC) conducted a phone survey of over 1200 randomly selected Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem of which 1057 were successfully completed.

It is worth noting that the margin of error is +/- 3% with a 95% confidence level.

II. Main findings

• The internal security problem is becoming the main concern of the Palestinian people, more so than the economy;
• Feeling of insecurity dropped by 10% over the past six weeks. Whereas 53% of the respondents said that t they felt insecure in Sep 2007, the feeling of insecurity reached 63% in November;
• The stabilization in the poverty figures in the oPt area consequence of the improvement of the economic conditions in the West Bank as opposed to the Gaza Strip which are probably related to the emphasis exerted by the international community to support the West Bank government as opposed to the Gaza Strip's government;
• Palestine TV is gaining more support at the expense of Al-Jazeera;
• Al-Quds newspaper is trusted slightly more than Al-Jazeera;
• 62% of the respondents now say that the legitimate government is the caretaker government as opposed to 55% six weeks ago;
• Trust in Abu-Mazen reached the highest since the election of Hamas. Whereas 22% of the respondents gave their trust to Hanieh, 78% gave their trust to Abu-Mazen;
• Although the majority of the Palestinians do not think that any leader can ever take the place of President Arafat, the most likely choice is Marwan Barghouthi closely followed by Abu Mazen;
• The vast majority of the Palestinians believe that if Arafat was alive, the problems that exist between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would not have happened. They also believe that the political situation is much more difficult than it is during the time of Arafat.
• Support for Fateh is on the rise and it reached the highest level since Hamas won the elections in January 2006;
• As noted below, the majority of the Palestinians (79%) believe that the security situation in the oPt has worsened since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. Moreover, 94% think that the economy deteriorated and 87% believe that the general situation has worsened.
• Support for the Annapolis meeting is slightly less than it was in late September 2007. Today, 71% of the Palestinians support Palestinian participation as opposed to 76% in September.
• Still, only 43% believe that it will lead to some progress in the peace process. The only optimists are the supporters of Fateh where 65% of them believe that Annapolis will lead to some progress on the peace front.
• The majority (57%) believe that the main beneficiary will be Israel. Only 22% believe that it will be the Palestinians. Even among Fateh supporters, more of them believe that Israel will be the main winner there.
• 51% of the respondents say that the issue of Jerusalem is the most important issue in any final status negotiations (51%) followed by the refugee issue (24%).
• The majority of the Palestinians support a two-state solution and the right of return of the refugees to their place of origin. As for Jerusalem, 62% of the respondents want Jerusalem to be shared or split between Palestine and Israel. Only 38% want both parts of Jerusalem as a capital for the Palestinians state only.
• 72% of the respondents support a peace agreement with Israel. Even 38% of Hamas supporters support a peace agreement with Israel. The highest support for a peace settlement with Israel is among supporters of Hamas where 87% of them favor this view.

To View the Full Result as PDF (372 KB)

Introduction

During the period 4-8 February, Near East Consulting (NEC) conducted a health survey of over 1,100 randomly selected Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; 781 of the interviews were successfully completed. The survey covered a number of issues relating to family health and well, including mental health, the prevalence of different diseases, health insurance and medical coverage, obstacles to health care service delivery, quality of health services and evaluations of healthcare professionals. Interviews were conducted by telephone. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.5%, with a 95% confidence level.

I. Summary of findings

1. Prevalence of depression; and 2. chronic illness and disability

31% of respondents, and slightly more men than women, characterized themselves as ‘very depressed.’ This figure is nearly one-third lower than that recoded during the worst month of 2006. Extreme depression was more prevalent among refugees then the remainder of the population.

47% of all Palestinian households include at least one person suffering from some type of chronic illness or disability. ‘Diabetes’ and ‘Heart Related Problems’ were cited as the most common ailments by slightly more than one quarter of all respondents, respectively.

Both the incidence of depression and illness were strongly related to poverty. One third more hardship cases than non-poor households suffered some kind of depression.

Families falling within the hardship category were more than 2.5 times as likely to suffer disability than non-poor families, and more than 1.5 times as likely to suffer chronic illness.

3. Insurance coverage and main care providers

64% of households said all their members enjoy some type of health insurance coverage. Coverage tended to be family-wide: if one member was insured, the remainder were also likely to be so; only 17% of families indicated that they had partial coverage. 20% had no coverage at all.

Though villagers were somewhat less likely than city dwellers to be insured, there were no significant differences across income groups; indeed, hardship families were least likely to be without any coverage. In addition, refugees were at least 1.3 times more likely to enjoy full coverage than the rest of the population.

The Palestinian Authority is by far the largest health insurance provider in the Occupied Territories, covering 69% of households. Between them, UNRWA1 and private insurance companies account for an additional 14%.

In the main however, the PA covers medical expenses for only 30% of families; 33% covered their own expenses. Poor households were nearly 1.5 times more likely to rely primarily on the PA than were families above the poverty line. Hardship cases relied comparatively less on the PA (24%) and more on UNRWA (16%).

The PA Ministry of Health was the main care provider for nearly half of all families; private institutions accounted for 28%, and UNRWA for 21%. Households above the poverty line were nearly twice as reliant on private care (40%) as were poor households (24%).

4. Use of health care services

Household use of different types of health services generally ranged in incidence from 40% in the case of specialized care for non-acute problems, to 13% in the case of general urgent health care service s. However, only 4% of families had received mental health care in the past year, notwithstanding high levels of depression.

Variance across sub-groups was primarily determined by poverty level. Hardship cases were up to 2 times more likely than non-poor households to have used most types of services. Both refugee camp residents and hardship cases were twice as likely to have benefited from mental health services.

Only 35% of Gaza households had received specialized cared, compared to 43% of West Bankers. One reason may be that the only Palestinian center for tertiary care– the Muqassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, is located in the West Bank.

More than half of all households indicated that care was received within two hours; 11% had sought some type of care but not received any. In addition, 15% had needed care but deferred seeking it. This figure included 19% of West Bank respondents but only 9% of Gazans, a difference is possibly attributable to internal movement restrictions prevailing in the West Bank.

Rural households and poor families - particularly hardship cases - were about 1.5 times more likely than comparable sub groups to have been denied care, or to have waited longer hours. The greater difficulties encountered by such families were also notable because they were less likely than better-off respondents to have deferred treatment.

5. Obstacles to health care delivery

The most prevalent obstacles to care delivery were financial and capacity constraints; 25% of respondents said they could not afford care, 23% that there were too many other people waiting, and 17% that there was not enough staff attending to them.

As expected, financial constraints impacted households below the poverty line much more than other categories of respondents. However, for refugees and refugee camp residents in particular, capacity constraints were a relatively bigger obstacle than cost. Rural households were over two times more likely than urban families to cite either distance or lack of transportation as a significant obstacle, and were also much more likely to be affected by checkpoints and other Israeli movement restrictions

6. Evaluation of service quality

Capacity constraints were generally felt more in terms of the time afforded patients, rather than the time spent waiting; nearly one third of families suggested that they would have liked more time with their health care professional; whereas less than one fifth were outright dissatisfied with waiting time.

Refugee camp families expressed the highest incidence of dissatisfaction with the duration of their consultation (49%), along with hardship families ( 42%), who were nearly twice as likely to have wanted more time as were non-poor households.

Though 90% of respondents were to some degree satisfied with the availability of drugs, poor households were at least twice as likely find drugs hard to come by than were nonpoor households. Gazans were also having more difficulty (14%) than West Bankers (8%), possibly owing to their greater poverty or tighter external closures.

Overall, a vast 96 % of respondents expressed some degree of satisfaction with the working hours or their PHC and its distance from their homes. Hospitals were deemed somewhat more difficult to reach, but in general, distance seems to be a problem primarily when compounded by lack of affordable transportation, and the existence of checkpoints.

92% majority households were satisfied to some degree with the attitude of the health staff who attended them, with 57% finding it friendly and supportive, and 35% cold but respectful. Responses did not vary significantly among different categories of respondents.

7. Evaluation of health professionals

For no category of health professionals evaluated for their qualifications and professionalism did more than 10% of respondents give a rating of ‘very bad’ or ‘bad.’

This, the lowest rating was given to general practitioners, who fared poorly compared to specialist doctors. In general, other health professional with which families have frequent contact, including pharmacists, nurses and para-professionals, were given high ratings.

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• The percentage of Palestinians who said that since the January PLC elections they feel the same in terms of security that had been steadily increasing in the first two months after the elections, has plunged in the past two months from 57% in March to 42% in April to 37% now. Meanwhile, the percentage of Palestinians feeling less secure since the PLC elections reached a four-month high and stands at 34%. Whereas 64% of Fateh supporters and 33% of those who do not trust any political faction feel less secure since the PLC elections, this is the case for 15% of Hamas supporters. Also, a higher percentage of Gazans (41%) than Westbankers (31%) feel less secure since the January PLC elections.
• 43% consider the "chaos in internal security" to be the main reason behind their feeling of insecurity, 39% blame the "deterioration in the economic conditions of their household" for feeling insecure, while respectively 7% blame either the "Israeli occupation" (7%) or "lawlessness" for their feeling of insecurity.
• Excluding the factor of Israeli occupation, 34% of Palestinians believe that "keeping weapons only with the security forces" would improve their feeling of security, while 33% believe that "an improvement of the role and empowerment of the security forces" would have that effect. Furthermore, 20% say that "dismantling the factional military wings" would improve their feeling of security, and 20% said that "an improvement in the economic situation" would do that.
• A majority of 62% of Palestinians said that they or their families or their property is threatened. This feeling is more pronounced among Fateh supporters (69%) and those who do not trust any faction (74%) than among Hamas supporters (48%).
• A small majority of 53% of Palestinians believe that the PA cabinet should control the Palestinian security forces, while 47% believe that the President should control these forces. While 81% of Fateh supporters said that the President should control the Palestinian security forces, 50% of those who do not trust any faction and 18% of Hamas supporters said so.
• A large majority of 81% of the Palestinian public supports the integration of all factional military wings in the security forces. While the support for such integration is stronger among Hamas supporters (82%) and those who do not trust any faction (87%), it is also strong among Fateh supporters (74%). Also, the support for the integration of all factional military wings into the security forces is stronger in the West Bank (83%) than in the Gaza Strip (77%).
• 62% believe that the establishment of the new security back-up force will improve the security situation, while 38% believe that it will worsen the security situation. The belief that the establishment of the new security force will improve the security situation is more widely shared among Hamas supporters (82%) and those who do not trust any faction (50%) than among Fateh supporters (41%).
• 63% of the Palestinian public is of the opinion that the Ministry of Interior decided to establish a new security force to help in security, while 37% think this Ministry established the new security force to compete with the existing security forces. While 84% of Hamas supporters believe that the Ministry of Interior established the new security force to help in security, 61% of Fateh supporters believe that this Ministry established this new security force to compete with the already existing security forces.
• After explaining to the interviewees that President Abu Mazen decreed that no additional security force should be established, but that Prime Minister Ismael Hanieh said that the new back-up force should stay, 54% believe that Abu Mazen should back down, while 46% believe that Ismael Hanieh should back down. 20% of Fateh supporters believe that Abu Mazen should back down compared to 81% of Hamas supporters and 53% of those who do not trust any faction who share this belief.
• In general, 23% of the Palestinian public blames Hamas for the current security crisis in the Gaza Strip, while 30% blame Fateh, and 47% blame both factions equally. According to factional trust 56% of Fateh supporters blame Hamas for the security crisis in the Gaza Strip, while equally 56% of Hamas supporters blame Fateh for this crisis.
• 44% of Palestinians believe that the security crisis in the Gaza Strip will spread to the West Bank. This belief is more widely held among Fateh supporters (53%) and those who do not trust any faction (43%) than among Hamas supporters (37%). Also, this belief lives stronger in the West Bank (48%) than in the Gaza Strip (37%).
• The view that a civil war is likely to break out is held by 45% of the Palestinian public. Fateh supporters (62%) much more than Hamas supporters (34%) and those who do not trust any faction (45) believe in the likelihood of a civil war. Also, again, a higher percentage of Palestinians in the West Bank (48%) than in the Gaza Strip (43%) believes that a civil war is likely.
• In general, 80% support the Prisoner agreement. Support for this agreement is higher among Fateh supporters (87%) and those who do not trust any faction (86%) than among Hamas supporters (68%), and also higher in the West Bank (85%) than in the Gaza Strip (72%).
• 63% of Palestinians believe that it is more important to seize weapons to improve internal security than to keep weapons to resist Israel. This view is more widely held among Fateh supporters (68%) and those who do not trust any faction (70%) than among Hamas supporters (56%). In addition, a higher percentage of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (70%) than in the West Bank (59%) find it more important to seize weapons to improve internal security than to keep them to resist Israel.
• In general, 41% of Palestinians say that Hamas should maintain its position on the elimination of Israel. A higher percentage of Hamas supporters (62%) than Fateh supporters (23%) and those who do not trust any faction (33%) feel that Hamas should maintain it position on the elimination of Israel. This is also the case for a higher percentage of Westbankers (44%) than Gazans (35%). In comparison with NEC's April survey results on this issue, support for Hamas maintaining its position towards Israel has increased by 6%.
• 22% of the Palestinian public believes that Palestinians have a partner for peace in Israel. Only last month, a mere 13% were of that opinion. The highest percentage of Palestinians believing that there is a peace partner in Israel can be found among Fateh supporters (29%).
• 62% believe that there is a Palestinian partner for peace, while the remaining 38% believe that this is not the case.

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