War in Palestine: restrictions in the Horyzon projects

The conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to have severe consequences for the lives of countless individuals.Although many people have suffered under this conflict for decades, the situation has worsened dramatically since early October 2023. Road and area closures severely restrict Palestinians' freedom of movement and often lead to arbitrary arrests. Every day, people are injured or even killed, families are torn apart and houses are destroyed. Shortly before Christmas, the YMCA Gaza building, with which Horyzon had been working for around eleven years, was also completely destroyed. At the time, several families had sought shelter there. At least eight people were killed and dozens injured in the attack. This attack is just one of many tragic events that have taken place in recent months. Not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, where reports of families being displaced from their villages have increased massively. Horyzon is deeply shocked and suffers with current and former employees as well as their families and friends.

The situation in Palestine is also reflected in Horyzon’s project activities. In particular, activities within the "Joint Advocacy Initiative," such as exchanges between European and Palestinian youth, are currently conducted only in a limited capacity and online. The project also supports the Olive Tree Campaign by coordinating logistics and organizing volunteers to assist farming families in planting trees and later harvesting olives. Due to the war in Gaza and the escalation of violence in the West Bank, the harvest could not take place at the beginning of October. However, there are plans to plant around 50,000 olive saplings in the coming weeks on fields belonging to farming families, wherever the security situation permits.

Some activities within Horyzon’s reintegration program, which provides support to youth with disabilities, are also continuing with certain limitations. One of the program’s key components is the psychosocial counseling offered to the youth and their families. These individual and group sessions are currently conducted mainly by phone, rather than in person, due to the tense security situation and limited freedom of movement. This ensures that support for youth with disabilities remains available, which is especially important under the current circumstances. The situation is also highly challenging for the staff of Horyzon’s local partner organization, YMCA East Jerusalem, both personally and professionally. Nevertheless, the teams continue to work and adapt to the rapidly changing conditions. Most staff members are still working from home, with a few in the office. While remote work is functioning well, the intense psychological strain on staff makes it far from ideal.

Horyzon stands by the local staff, striving to provide support wherever possible—particularly in adapting program activities flexibly under these circumstances. Close and regular contact is maintained between Horyzon and the project leaders on the ground. In Switzerland, Horyzon is also active in the "Forum for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine," working to inform the Swiss public and policymakers about events and developments through a human rights and international law lens.