The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories

The research examines Norwegian humanitarian aid in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, specifically in health and education. It finds that while NGOs implement RBA principles at a project level, the approach fails to address root causes because the primary duty-bearer, Israel, is hostile to these goals and the donor state, Norway, prioritizes foreign policy and diplomatic relations over a forceful rights-based agenda. This results in aid that provides temporary relief but may inadvertently facilitate the occupation by relieving Israel of its legal responsibilities.

• Norwegian humanitarian NGOs (NCA, NRC, and STC) integrate rights-based approach (RBA) principles into specific projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, focusing on empowerment and the identification of root causes of suffering.
• Despite project-level success, RBA fails to achieve long-term structural change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories because the main duty-bearer, Israel, is indifferent or hostile to the work, and the donor state, Norway, prioritizes its foreign policy over the rights-based agenda.
• The application of RBA in the Palestinian context creates a dilemma for NGOs who must balance their commitment to human rights advocacy with the need to maintain access to the field, often leading them to avoid public campaigns that would stigmatize the Israeli government.
• International aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories may inadvertently sustain the occupation by relieving Israel of its legal obligations under the Geneva Conventions to provide welfare, health, and education to the occupied population.
• Norway's desire to maintain its image as a 'peace superpower' and a friend to both Israel and Palestine dampens the implementation of a forceful rights-based policy.
• Political imperatives have occasionally led Norway to sacrifice the rights of beneficiaries for strategic goals, such as when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discouraged support for the public-education system in Gaza to politically undermine Hamas.

APA

Høigilt, J. (n.d.). The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2f6efcb8-9862-4f3f-9693-f8de1b67273c/The futility of rightsbased humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Høigilt, Jacob. The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2f6efcb8-9862-4f3f-9693-f8de1b67273c/The futility of rightsbased humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Høigilt |first1=Jacob |title=The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2f6efcb8-9862-4f3f-9693-f8de1b67273c/The futility of rightsbased humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{higiltndfutility, author = {Høigilt, Jacob}, title = {{The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2f6efcb8-9862-4f3f-9693-f8de1b67273c/The futility of rightsbased humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }