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March 2015March 2015

NORWEGIANNORWEGIANREFUGEE COUNCILREFUGEE COUNCILNORWEGIANNORWEGIANREFUGEE COUNCILREFUGEE COUNCIL

Rebuilding from the Rubble: Post-Conflict Land Tenure Challenges and Opportunities in the Gaza Strip

Key Facts About Gaza Key Facts About Gaza

•1.8 million Palestinians; more than half are children

•Israel continues to occupy the Gaza Strip after its unilateral disengagement in 2005.

•Since 2007, Israel has imposed a comprehensive blockade on Gaza.

•80 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza depend on humanitarian assistance.

Rebuilding from the Rubble: Post-Conflict Land Tenure Challenges and

Opportunities in the Gaza Strip

Rebuilding from the Rubble: Post-Conflict Land Tenure Challenges and

Opportunities in the Gaza Strip

Rebuilding?

Rebuilding?

Post-Conflict?

Post-Conflict?

Land Tenure Challenges Land Tenure Challenges

Opportunities?Opportunities?

Land Tenure Challenges Land Tenure Challenges

Practical Challenges

•Israeli Blockade and the ‘Dual Use’ List

•A Crisis Within A Crisis

•Donor Fatigue

•Palestinian Government of National Consensus

A Kaleidoscope of Inherited Legal Systems

A Kaleidoscope of Inherited Legal Systems

Legal Challenges

Development of Land Laws in Gaza over the Last Century

1.Ottoman period (1517-1917)2.British Mandate period (1917-1948) 3.Egyptian Administration (1949 – 1967)4.Israeli military occupation (1967 – today)5.Palestinian National Authority (1994 – today)

And there is more …. And there is more ….

More challenges to reconstruction in an increasingly volatile political and social environment

How to ensure security of tenure in a context in which land:

1. Registration is complex.2. The majority of land remains unregistered.

The Case of Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourhood

The Case of Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourhood

• 98 per cent of Al-Shuja’iyya’s land is privately owned and registered with the Land Authority.

• 20 per cent of this land is registered in the name of the current owner.

• 76 per cent of private land is occupied by new owners who do not possess the full chain of ownership documentation necessary to register the land in their own name.

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourho

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Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourhood: An Example for the Reconstruction

of Gaza

Al-Shuja’iyya Neighbourhood: An Example for the Reconstruction

of Gaza

• Proof of ownership documents: a pre-requisite for reconstruction grants

• Inheritance disputes

• Building permits (or lack thereof) issued by municipalities

An Opportune Time An Opportune Time

• To promote long-term security of tenure

• To facilitate the resolution of land disputes

• To promote and improve good governance

Steps ForwardSteps Forward

1. Finalise the process of surveying the approximately 30 per cent of unsurveyed land in Gaza.

2. Mainstream HLP rights and international protection standards across all decision-making in relation to transitional and longer-term shelter options.

3. Develop efficient mechanisms for resolving land disputes and identifying durable solutions for persons with irregular or insecure land tenure.

4. Utilise the existing political opportunity to unify land law in the Gaza Strip.

5. Facilitate registration of unregistered land by removing the financial obstacles to the registration of privately owned land.

NRC’s work in GazaNRC’s work in Gaza

Provision of legal assistance and dispute resolution services to IDPs facing HLP issues in the context of their displacement

1.Promotion and mainstreaming of HLP rights and international protection standards across all decision-making in relation to transitional and longer-term shelter options.2.Helping beneficiaries obtaining the necessary paperwork to access their reconstruction grants;3.Presentation before government bodies;4.Multi-party dispute resolution.

Questions?Questions?