Palestine

The geographic boundaries and political status of Palestine have changed throughout history. Since 1967, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip have been regarded by the United Nations (UN) as the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The West Bank borders Jordan, while the Gaza Strip is on the Mediterranean coast.¹

The occupation affects almost every aspect of Palestinian life. Israel has demolished thousands of Palestinian homes and built an ever-increasing number of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These settlements, which are illegal under international law, are now home to almost 730,000 Israelis who enjoy full political rights in Israel.² Since 2002, Israel has constructed a separation barrier, the route of which runs largely within the West Bank rather than along the internationally recognized Green Line, effectively dividing up land and placing many Israeli settlements on the barrier’s western side. The separation barrier has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has called for its dismantlement.³

Palestine has long sought recognition of statehood, and violent conflict with Israel has persisted since the rise of Zionism and the establishment of the Jewish state (see Israel update). The State of Palestine is recognized by 156 countries⁴ and has representation at many international institutions, including as a non-member Permanent Observer State at the UN.⁵

The population of Palestine is approximately 5.6 million people⁶ but there are around 7 million Palestinian refugees worldwide, who have been forced to leave their homes in areas that are now part of Israel.⁷ According to the latest census (2017), 99% of the population of Palestine is Muslim with the remainder identifying as Christian or other.⁸

Since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began in October 2023, conditions for Palestinians drastically deteriorated with allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide. Over 70,000 people are reported to have lost their lives in Gaza, over 100,000 have been injured, and, in August 2025, a famine was declared. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire was declared in October 2025 and preventable deaths have been exacerbated by the ongoing humanitarian crisis and Israel’s aid blockade. Under these conditions, civilians in Gaza have found it extremely difficult to exercise their rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression.⁹

Constitution and government

Palestine’s governing body is the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was established in 1994 as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Mahmoud Abbas was elected in 2005 and, although his four-year term expired in 2009, no new election has taken place and Abbas has continued to rule since then without a functioning legislature.

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was elected in 2006 but has been unable to function due to political divisions and the detention of a number of politicians by the Israeli forces. Abbas has directly appointed prime ministers and cabinets and new laws have been introduced through presidential decree.¹⁰

In 2007, the PA lost de facto control of the Gaza strip to the Islamist militant group, Hamas. Hamas rejects the existence of Israel and has promoted, and enacted, violence and terrorism in an attempt to achieve an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine.¹¹

Palestinians are subject to the laws of different authorities: pre-1967 Jordanian and British laws, Israeli military ordinances and Palestinian Authority laws. Freedom of religion or belief faces significant government restrictions in the occupied Palestinian territory.¹²

Palestinian Basic Law,¹³ which serves as an interim constitution, states that Islam is the official religion but provides for the respect of “all other divine religions”. It protects freedom of belief, worship, and the right to perform religious rites unless these violate public order or morality. The law recognizes Sharia as the main source of legislation.

Six seats on the currently dissolved Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), are legally reserved for Christian candidates. No seats are reserved for other religious groups. There is also a quota for Christian representation on municipal councils in the West Bank and a 2017 PA presidential decree requires that Christians head nine of them.¹⁴

There is no official process for religious groups to gain official recognition so each group negotiates its own agreement with the PA. The PA has also maintained agreements with a large number of churches that date back from the Ottoman period. These groups are able to establish their own religious courts to rule on personal status matters for their community, including marriage and divorce, although the PA Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs is administratively responsible. According to the law, if the disputants agree, members of one religious group are allowed to submit a personal status dispute to the court of a different religious group. Churches that are not recognized by the PA may gain one-off permissions to perform marriages if they wish them to be registered with the PA.¹⁵

The PA provides financial support to Islamic institutions and places of worship, while some financial support is given to Christian groups for cultural activities. Proselytizing is not permitted and religious affiliation has been removed from identity cards since 2014.¹⁶

In Gaza, it is reported that Hamas is generally tolerant towards the small number of Christians living there.¹⁷

Attacks and discrimination at religious sites

Across the occupied Palestinian territory, places of worship have been attacked and access to religious sites has been restricted. In Gaza, churches and mosques have been bombed, and in the West Bank, Israeli settler violence has resulted in damage to mosques.¹⁸

One religious site is of particular contention: the al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is considered the holiest of Jewish religious sites and the third holiest in the Islamic religion. According to the internationally recognized status quo agreement, only Muslims are allowed to pray at the site. However, non-Muslims are permitted to visit. Jewish law historically forbids Jews from going onto the site to avoid treading on holy ground. However, Jews pray at the Western Wall which Israel seized control of during the 1967 war.¹⁹

According to international agreements, the site is administered by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. However, Israeli police exert responsibility for security at the site and effectively maintain control over all its entrances. Only Muslims are permitted to enter the Dome of the Rock and other buildings reserved specifically for Islamic worship.²⁰  Since 2017, the Israeli police have given more freedom for Jews to pray at the compound. However, symbolic acts by Israeli political figures and religious groups entering the al-Aqsa compound have led to explosions of protests and violence from Palestinians fearful of further losing hold over their religious heritage.²¹ In recent years, Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has further inflamed tensions after repeatedly calling for Jews to pray at the site.²²

Israeli forces have increasingly prevented Palestinians from across the occupied territories from entering the compound.²³ Additionally, Israeli forces have stormed the compound and mosque on several occasions, injuring and detaining worshippers.²⁴

Education and children’s rights

Religious education is compulsory for all students in PA-run schools. There are separate religious classes for Muslims and Christians. Private Islamic schools and private church schools also operate.²⁵ The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) runs schools throughout the occupied Palestinian territory based on the PA curriculum.²⁶ The PA school curriculum has been repeatedly criticized – predominantly by Israeli officials and pro-Israel groups – for containing anti-semitic content and glorifying violence in a range of subjects, including religious education.²⁷ Other groups dispute the scale and characterization of such criticism and an EU-funded study by the Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) has claimed to largely disprove such allegations.²⁸

In Gaza, it is reported that Hamas has interfered with teaching methodologies and the school curriculum in instances where its Islamic practices are considered to have been violated.²⁹ Hamas has also imposed gender segregation.³⁰

Child Marriage

In 2019, the PA banned child marriage in Palestine. However, it remains possible for those wishing to marry before the age of 18 to apply for a waiver from a religious court and the PA’s Sharia judge – for example in the case of pregnancy.³¹ According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the percentage of registered marriages of females under 18 years old stood at 11% across the territories (5.6% in the West Bank and 17.9% in the Gaza Strip).³²

Family, community and society

Family Law

In matters of personal status, Christians and Muslims are allowed to follow their own religious laws in separate religious courts. These courts handle legal matters of family law, which includes inheritance, divorce, child custody, and marriage.

Women’s Rights

For Muslims in the West Bank, the Jordanian Personal Status Law No. 61 of 1976³³ is used, both are based on Sharia law. Women require the consent of their male guardian to marry and then have a duty of obedience to their husband. Men can marry Christian or Jewish women, whereas women are not allowed to marry a non-Muslim man. Men are favored in child custody. Women inherit less than men, for instance a daughter inherits only half the amount that a son receives. Muslim men are allowed to repudiate their wife, however, it is difficult for women to obtain a divorce and limited to several conditions.³⁴

There is currently no law against domestic violence in Palestine, however a Family Protection from Violence Bill has been in the making for over ten years. It has stalled due to very divided opinions within Palestinian society, including those of religious leaders who consider the law out of keeping with Palestinian culture and Islamic law. The absence of the Palestinian Legislative Council has also affected the process for reviewing and adopting the legislation. As such, domestic violence continues to be considered a private matter that could bring shame on the family if reported. Marital rape is not criminalized and so-called “honor-killings” are known to occur. Abortion is criminalized and only permitted if the woman’s life is in danger.³⁵ In East Jerusalem, Palestinian women may access the procedure in Israeli hospitals under Israeli law.³⁶

Interfaith romantic relationships face considerable societal and family opposition. Families have disowned Christian and Muslim women, who marry outside their faith.³⁷ Right-wing Jewish organization, Lehava, runs a “preventing assimilation” hotline to inform on Israeli-Palestinian couples and help “save the daughters of Israel”.³⁸

LGBTI+ rights

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in the West Bank, but in Gaza it is illegal for men under the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936 and punishable by up to ten years imprisonment. However, even in the West Bank there are no significant legal protections against discrimination towards LGBTI+ people and the LGBTI+ community faces harassment and abuse – including from the PA authorities.³⁹ Violent attacks and religiously conservative attitudes have driven some LGBTI+ Palestinians to seek asylum from within Israel.⁴⁰

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

Palestinians face restrictions on their freedom of expression from both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities. Online activity is monitored for incitement to violence or criticism of the PA. It is reported that the PA have arrested and questioned individuals for their comments on social media posts deemed critical of the authorities. As part of the mass arrests of Palestinians by the Israeli forces following the 7 October attacks, Palestinians’ phones were searched for consumption of content suggestive of opposition to the military offensive in Gaza.⁴¹

Media Freedoms

In the West Bank, journalists have been targeted by both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities. Under a 1995 PA Publications and Publishing Law,⁴² journalists may be fined and jailed, and newspapers closed, for publishing “secret information” on PA security forces or news that might harm national unity or incite violence. The PA’s 2017 Electronic Crimes Law (ECL)⁴³ criminalizes vaguely defined offenses including publishing content that is critical of the state, disturbing public order or national unity, or harming religious or family values. Punishments include lengthy prison sentences and substantial fines.⁴⁴

Following the 7 October attacks on Israel, Israeli authorities arrested at least 140 journalists in the West Bank and closed down 12 printing presses and 15 media outlets. In Gaza, UN experts reported that at least 248 journalists have been killed as of September 2025.⁴⁵ According to Reporters Without Borders,

“The Gaza Strip has always been a particularly dangerous territory for press freedom. Journalists suspected of collaborating with Israel are hampered in their work by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, while also enduring the violence of the Israeli blockade on the territory. Since 7 October 2023, the blockade has intensified, as has the violence, and the journalists who had resisted pressure from Hamas in Gaza were then confronted with Israeli propaganda accusing them of working for Hamas.”⁴⁶

Freedom of Assembly

There is very limited freedom of assembly in the West Bank. The PA requires permits for demonstrations, and those against PA policies are usually denied a permit and forcibly dispersed if they still take place. The Israeli Defense Force also routinely breaks up demonstrations in the West Bank, often with force, periodically with deadly force. Freedom of assembly is severely restricted in Gaza, with the authorities frequently using force to disperse peaceful demonstrations.⁴⁷

Freedom of Association

A variety of civil society organizations are present in the West Bank, but their activities are greatly restricted by Israeli imposed limits on freedom of movement. Groups that criticize the PA have been subjected to harassment and abuse by the authorities. In 2021, without providing public evidence, Israel designated six Palestinian human rights groups “terrorist organizations” leading to a freeze on their international funds.⁴⁸ In 2022, without prior consultation, the PA introduced a new Bylaw on Nonprofit Companies.⁴⁹

“Blasphemy”

The PA Basic Law declares Islam to be the official religion of Palestine. The law contains language from the pre-1967 criminal code in effect under Jordanian rule which makes “defaming religion” a criminal offense. The law provides a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.⁵⁰

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33. Jordanian Personal Status Law No. 61 of 1976, https://mowa.pna.ps/uploads/1762959708230536374.pdf [Arabic] is applied and in Gaza the Egyptian Law of Family Rights of 1954[ref]قانون حقوق العائلة الصادر بالأمر رقم (303) لسنة 1954م المعمول به في المحافظات الجنوبية (The Family Rights Law issued by Order No. (303) of 1954 AD, in force in the southern governorates) https://sjd.ps/home/Legislation%20and%20laws/14282?c=ar-SA [Arabic] [↩]
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    Rami Almeghari, “EU resumes funding for six Palestinian NGOs branded as terrorists by Israel”, RFI, 7 August 2022 https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20220807-eu-resumes-funding-for-six-palestinian-ngos-branded-as-terrorists-by-israel [↩]
49. ظام الشركات غير الربحية رقم (20) لسنة 2022م (The Bylaw on Non-profit Companies No. (20) of 2022) https://maqam.najah.edu/media/uploads/2022/09/legislations/%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85__%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%B1%D9%82%D9%8520_%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_2022.pdf The law has been severely criticized by Palestinian organizations which they say, “restricts their working space, violates the provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law and the Law on Charitable Associations, and deviates from the international conventions to which the State of Palestine is a party.”[ref]“Palestinian civil society groups reiterate rejection of the application of the 2022 Bylaw on Non-Profit Companies and call for compliance with the Basic Law”, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, 22 June 2023 https://mezan.org/en/post/46153/Palestinian-civil-society-groups-reiterate-rejection-of-the-application-of-the-2022-Bylaw-on-Non-Profit-Companies-and-call-for-compliance-with-the-Basic-Law%C2%A0 [↩]
50. “Israel, West Bank and Gaza” chapter in 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom (U.S. State Department, 2023) https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/ [↩]