Situation Overview
1. Palestinian Refugee Caseload:
There are at least 1,059 Palestinian refugee families whose houses have suffered major damage or were totally destroyed since 2001. 781 of these cases resulted from the 2008-2009 Israeli operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza, while 120 cases were already registered prior to Cast Lead. Another 158 houses for refugee families were totally destroyed as a result of the November 2012 escalation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza. Out of the 10,000 minorly damaged houses resulting from the escalation, 7,400 houses were those of refugee families, 5,600 of which have been repaired (75%), and about 1,800 houses still needing repair. UNRWA has recently received funding for completing the entire refugee caseload of needed repairs (pre-Cast Lead, Cast Lead and November 2012) from the Saudi Fund for Development through the Islamic Development Bank. The fund will cover all the categories of destruction, including the 1,059 cases of total and major destruction and the remaining 1,800 minor repair cases.