Broken Homes: Addressing the Impact of House Demolitions on Palestinian Children & Families

This report seeks to address the impact of house demolitions on Palestinian children and families. The report is unique in that it not only looks at the impact of house demolitions on both children and their parents, but also describes the cumulative impact on the family unit (in terms of its mental, physical and economic health and access to familial and wider social support) and the responsibilities of duty- bearers to protect and assist. Based on its findings, the study recommends that all stakeholders—Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the international community and donor governments—act immediately to respond to house demolitions within the OPT. Stakeholders would achieve this by fulfilling their obligations to protect children and their families according to international humanitarian and international human rights law, in particular the Convention of the Rights of the Child and the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.