The West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights were occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Following the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, civil responsibility was transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

A period of stability ended with the Intifada that began in 2000. Israeli forces resumed control over a number of areas citing the Palestinian Authority's failure to implement its security responsibilities. In 2005 the Israeli Prime Minister and the elected PA President agreed to a cessation of violence. The Israeli government forcibly evacuated Jewish settlers from all 21 settlements in Gaza and from 4 settlements in the West Bank. PA security forces were responsible for security in Gaza.

Israeli construction of a security barrier led Palestinians to challenge the routing of the barrier file in the Israeli Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled the barrier permissible under both international law and Israeli law but questioned whether the least intrusive route was being used. The International Court of Justice declared the barrier to be contrary to international law. The barrier divides some 49,400 Palestinians from the rest of the West Bank; it impedes harvesting crops and grazing animals. It also impedes Palestinian access to schools and other services.

Palestinians living between the barrier and the Green Line require annual residency permits. Entrance and exit are allowed through a single gate. Curfews confine Palestinians to their homes in areas where the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) conducts military operations. Border closures have increased unemployment and poverty. Some 25% of the Palestinian work force depends on day jobs in Israel and Jerusalem. The unemployment rate is now estimated at 28%.

Suicide bombers and rockets from Gaza continue to be used against Israelis. Following the capture of Israeli soldiers, the IDF re-entered Gaza destroying buildings. Arrests of Palestinians followed, including members of the Hamas government.

The Palestinian Territories held Presidential elections in 2005, and the PLO Chairman was elected President with 62% of the popular vote. The elections were deemed to be free and fair. The first election to the Palestinian Legislative Council since 1996 took place in 2006. Palestinian voters chose Hamas with 74 seats, while the incumbent Fatah won 45.

The PA lacks effective control over its security forces, and reports of torture are widespread. Israeli security forces are also accused of excessive force, torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees. No formal guidelines for the legal conduct of interrogations have been established by the PA, and convictions are largely the result of coerced confessions.

Legally, all Palestinians are equal without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, colour, religion, political views or disability. But discrimination is common in some of these areas.

The PA took steps to prevent terrorist attacks and banned the display of weapons in public, but armed members of various groups ignored the directives. Israeli security forces demolished and sealed the homes of Palestinians suspected of terrorism without judicial review.

Human Rights Watch charges that a climate of impunity has been fostered within the IDF. In 2005 IDF gunfire killed a Palestinian girl aged 10 and injured a second inside a school in Rafah run by UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Palestinians are accused of using homes and public buildings to launch attacks on Israelis. UNRWA staff in the West Bank and Gaza have been harassed and members kidnapped by Palestinians.

The public perception of the PA has been is one of corruption, particularly among security forces. A new attorney-general was appointed to deal with corruption, and investigations were announced, but with the recent change of government it is unclear if this will proceed.

Legislation does not guarantee freedom the press, and a 1995 decree includes injunctions against publishing anything critical of the PA or the President. Officially the PA does not restrict freedom of speech or of the press, but members of Fatah do. Journalists report increased freedom under the current President, but self-censorship is still practised out of fear of retaliation by armed activists. Reporters and photographers were instructed not to cover clashes between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip following the elections. Access to the Internet is available. Curfews limit the ability of Palestinian journalists to do their jobs. Foreign media have accused the IDF of firing at them.

Islam is the official religion, and it is recorded on identification papers; personal legal matters are handled in religious courts, both Muslim and Christian. The PA pays the salaries of imams. Tradition and religion reject homosexuality, and security officers are said to harass and abuse homosexuals.

The PA has authority over all levels of education. Ongoing violence and restriction of movement adversely affect schools, while access is further impaired by closures, curfews and the separation barrier. Schools have been damaged and school children killed. The education ministry estimates the damage to schools and universities at more than US$10 million (46 million NIS).

Thousands of Palestinian schoolchildren around Jerusalem have to pass through checkpoints to attend school in East Jerusalem. West Bank teachers working in East Jerusalem schools require permits that are difficult to get. A delay in granting permits has meant that those with permits were working double shifts, assisted by temporary aides, to keep schools open. 76% of UNRWA's schools operate double-shifts, with an average class size of 40 students. East Jerusalem schools are reported to be underfunded and overcrowded. New students find it difficult to enrol because of a lack of classroom space.

The Israeli high court ordered 245 new classrooms to be built, and the municipality budgeted for 47 classrooms over 4 years, but none were completed. 10,000 East Jerusalem students stayed home during a strike called by parents to protest lack of classrooms and intolerable conditions.

The violence that surrounds children is reported to cause lack of focus, nightmares and behavioural problems. 42% of students in Gaza have recorded lower school achievement since 2000. Palestinian schools and universities suffered major damage to infrastructure during the Intifada. 4% of Palestinians pursue higher education at 11 universities, 5 university colleges and 25 society colleges in the West Bank and Gaza.

Religion has to be taught in PA schools, though separate instruction for Muslims and Christians is provided. In 2007, the PA took control of a university away from Hamas and reported finding a large cache of weapons stored in the building. The PA Ministry of Education and Higher Education has revised primary and secondary school textbooks. International academics conclude that Palestinian textbooks do not incite violence; however, the new textbooks do not recognise Israel on maps and ignore historical Jewish connections to Israel and Jerusalem.

A 2-year programme begins at age 4. All ECE education is private. The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) is 19%. All 2,606 ECE teachers are women. The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 27 : 1.

Education is compulsory for ages 6 to 15. Primary school begins at age 6 and lasts 4 years. At this level 8% of education is private. The NER is 86% (49% female). Of students who enrol in Grade 1, 98% reach the last grade of primary school. There are 14,449 primary teachers (61% female). The PTR is 27 : 1.

Secondary education begins at age 10 and lasts 8 years. At this level 4% of education is private. 5% of students in upper secondary education study in technical vocational programmes. The NER is 89%. 2% of students repeat grades. There are 23,079 secondary teachers, 18,716 (50% female) in lower secondary and 4,363 (47% female) in upper secondary schools. The PTR is 28 : 1 in lower secondary and 23 : 1 in upper secondary education.

121,928 students (49% female) study in tertiary institutions, for a Gross Enrolment Rate of 38%. Palestinian students are studying overseas abroad, in Jordan (4,845), Saudi Arabia (552), Qatar (321), Turkey (277) and the USA (247).

Discrimination occurs against persons with disabilities, including in education. International and domestic NGOs provide educational and other services for disabled children. Institutions that care for persons with disabilities are underfunded. In February 2004 the health ministry, with input from the World Health Organisation, released a strategy for mental health services calling for increased care for mental health patients and their reintegration into the community.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, UNWRA was established to carry out programmes for Palestinian refugees. Since Palestinian refugees still exist, the UN General Assembly continues to renew UNRWA's mandate, most recently until 2008. UNRWA has provided services, including education, to 4 generations of refugees and is the main provider of education, health, relief and social services to over 4.3 million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.

The only reports on minority groups provide information on the small religious minority group that is mainly Christian. Religious minorities have the right to receive religious education according to their faith in schools.

Since the PA took control of the universities in the Autonomous Territories, issues concerning restriction of academic freedom have centred around the control exerted by the Authority on university policies. The Palestinian Human Rights Monitor reports that West Bank institutions are freer than those in Gaza, where academic freedom is reported to be quantitatively and qualitatively worse. The universities in Gaza are reported to have many people with direct connections to the PA. Those who work for the PA are said to receive benefits and protection, while those with no ties suffer for speaking out.

Undercover agents are said to be present on campuses in both the West Bank and Gaza. Students are reported to be recruited as security agents, raising concerns of infringement of the rights of academics and students to freely express opinions in class or in written materials.

No special laws protect women's rights in the workplace. Increasingly women work outside the home and face discrimination and sexual harassment. They are under-represented in professional life, though a small group is prominent in politics, medicine, law and teaching. Marriage limits education, often preventing women from completing mandatory schooling or attending college. Muslim and Christian women who marry outside their faith are often disowned and leave their communities to prevent harassment.

Under Shari'a law, which governs inheritance, marriage and divorce among Muslims, women do not inherit equally with men. Women can have conditions in marriage contracts to protect their interests in divorce and child custody, but very few do.

PA law does not prohibit domestic violence as such, but assault and battery are grounds for criminal charges. Reports indicate domestic violence has increased since 2000. Honour killings are also reported.

The minimum age for employment is 15, and youth 15 to 18 cannot work at night, perform hard labour or travel. However, the law is not enforced, and many underage children work. Palestinian child workers are reported to illegally enter Israel, where they are sometimes exploited. The high upper secondary school dropout rate implies a significant level of child labour. Only 10 child labour inspectors exist for the West Bank and Gaza. The ILO and UNICEF work to protect children's rights. UNICEF promotes education projects, and the PA has an agreement to allow ILO activities on the elimination of child labour in West Bank and Gaza.

Workers have the right to form and join trade unions. 2 active unions are registered: the General Union for Palestinian Workers and the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), the latter being a member of the International Trade Union Confederation. Workers with Jerusalem identity cards may belong simultaneously to West Bank unions and to the Israeli Federation, Histadrut. 1% of their wages is withheld, and they receive limited benefits. Histadrut and West Bank union officials negotiated an agreement to transfer half of the fee to the PGFTU.

The right to strike is guaranteed. Strikers have little protection from retribution. Just days into the start of the new school term, most schools in Gaza closed as the result of a strike by teachers who had not been paid for 6 months. The strike is open-ended, and at the time of writing most of the 1,726 public schools in the Palestinian territory are either partly or completely closed.

Most workers in the occupied territories are self employed. The paid work force is said to be only 35% of the eligible population. UNRWA and the PA employ most workers. There is no minimum wage. The standard of living has dropped significantly over the past 5 years. The normal work week is 45 to 48 hours.