From Tunis: Palestine Calls for Urgent Arab Action to End the Use of Hunger as a Weapon, Affirms Family Protection as a National Priority
Tunis – Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs, H.E. Dr. Samah Hamad, participated in the Arab Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Second World Summit for Social Development, held on 30 June 2025 in the Tunisian capital. The meeting was organized by the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs and attended by ministers and representatives from Arab countries, as well as regional and international organizations.
In her address, Dr. Hamad delivered a powerful account of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, emphasizing that thousands of Palestinian families have been left to face famine alone amid ongoing aggression, a suffocating blockade, and near-total collapse of essential services.
She stated: "What is happening in Gaza today is a deliberate use of hunger as a weapon—to break people’s will and force them into migration or surrender." She added that children are dying from hunger and cold, deprived of food, water, and medicine, while trucks full of humanitarian aid remain stalled only meters from Gaza’s borders.
Dr. Hamad presented a comprehensive overview of the Palestinian government’s efforts to confront the catastrophe despite limited resources and complex conditions. She noted that over 350,000 households were registered in the National Social Registry, and emergency cash assistance was delivered via digital wallets in Gaza throughout 2024, with efforts underway to secure funding for 2025.
She also highlighted the launch of the National Orphans Sponsorship Program, which now covers more than 46,000 children, and the resumption of the cash transfer program in the West Bank, which has shifted to monthly payments reaching over 31,000 families, including those with persons with disabilities and in extreme poverty.
The Minister elaborated on the experience of the Governmental Operations Room, established in January 2025 to manage emergency response in the southern governorates. This platform, she said, enabled high-level coordination with international institutions and civil society, helping to systematize relief within a regionally endorsed plan—before renewed Israeli bombardment destroyed infrastructure and targeted shelter centers.
Dr. Hamad emphasized that the West Bank is also facing a worsening humanitarian situation, with escalating violence, increasing displacement, and restrictions on aid entry, compounded by Israel’s ongoing withholding of clearance revenues—an intentional strategy to paralyze the Palestinian state's ability to respond to its citizens’ needs.
She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a comprehensive approach based on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (Nexus), integrating emergency relief with recovery and long-term development. This includes digitizing social services and expanding protection for vulnerable groups, such as mental health support, education, women’s empowerment, and child protection, using targeted digital tools.
In conclusion, Dr. Hamad asserted: “Palestine needs a just partnership that safeguards the right to life. Our children are not statistics—they are the future of this land. We must all act now to protect their existence and resilience.”
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MoSD Explores Ways to Strengthen the Social Protection System and Expand Its Interventions in Gaza and the West Bank
Ramallah – Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs, Dr. Samah Hamad, met with representatives of the “Sawasiya” Project to discuss ways to enhance and expand the Ministry of Social Development’s role within the social protection system, particularly in light of the escalating challenges facing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The meeting was attended by a team from the “Sawasya” project, headed by the program director, Simon Ridley. On the Ministry side, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Development, Mr. Taha Al-Irani, the State Ministry’s Advisor for Relief Affairs, Mahdi Hamdan, the Director of the Women’s Protection Department, Hiba Jibat, the Director of the Child Protection Department, Muhammad Al-Qarm, and the Acting Director of the General Administration for Legal Affairs, Ms. Aya Adawi, along with a number of specialists. During the meeting, Dr. Hamad emphasized that the Ministry’s role within the Sawasiya Programme remains limited compared to the responsibilities entrusted to it. She stressed the need to expand this role to cover various protection interventions, in line with the Ministry’s legal mandate, and to ensure complementarity of efforts with international partners and civil society organizations. The meeting also addressed the situation in the Gaza Strip, reviewing ongoing interventions in the areas of women’s and children’s protection, and the challenges related to limited direct access to services due to imposed restrictions. The discussion further highlighted the importance of re-prioritizing needs during the upcoming transitional phase, expected to span approximately 18 months, in order to strengthen humanitarian response and early recovery efforts. In this context, Dr. Hamad underscored the importance of developing a comprehensive national protection plan led by the Ministry in partnership with relevant stakeholders, to define priorities and guide resources. She also stressed the need to align interventions with evolving field developments and enhance coordination among various institutions. The meeting further discussed the reality of women’s protection in light of challenges related to case referrals and access to protection services. It was noted that only a limited percentage of violence cases reach specialized authorities, which calls for strengthening reporting mechanisms, raising community awareness, and improving a multi-sectoral response system. Regarding child protection, the Minister reviewed the Ministry’s efforts to regulate the orphan sponsorship sector through the initiative “No Orphan Will Be Left Without Sponsorship,” which aims to establish a unified national database and regulate mechanisms for providing financial and service support to ensure fairness and transparency in the distribution of assistance. Dr. Hamad also emphasized the importance of strengthening family-based care for children deprived of parental care, rather than expanding residential shelter institutions. She noted that work is currently underway to develop a comprehensive national strategy in this field in partnership with UNICEF. The meeting also addressed ongoing efforts to develop the national social registry to include updated data on affected individuals and families, supporting relief and recovery operations. Mechanisms were also discussed for following up on children who have been evacuated for medical treatment abroad, ensuring their continued protection and safeguarding their legal identity. In a related context, the Minister stressed the necessity of enhancing the protection of personal data of beneficiaries, especially women and children, and developing systems and procedures that ensure confidentiality and prevent misuse of information. Several issues related to the development of protection services were also discussed, including the establishment of safe child visitation centers, strengthening juvenile care services, supporting women within rehabilitation and correction centers, and addressing addiction as a social issue requiring integrated interventions. At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides agreed to continue joint coordination, exchange data and assessments, and work on developing clear implementation plans supported by performance indicators, contributing to enhancing the efficiency of the national response and ensuring that social protection services reach the most vulnerable groups.
MoSD Meets with Swedish and Belgian Representatives to Enhance Cooperation
Ramallah – As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen international partnerships and expand support for Palestinian citizens amid the exceptional humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs, Dr. Samah Hamad, received the Consul General of Sweden, Sophie Baker, and the Consul General of Belgium, Annick Van Calster. The meeting focused on ways to enhance cooperation and coordination, in the presence of the Minister’s Advisor, Doaa Wadi, and Advisor to the Minister of State for Relief Affairs, Mahdi Hamdan. During the meeting, Dr. Hamad reviewed the current humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, stressing the urgent need to sustain organized relief efforts and improve response tools through the development of comprehensive national databases that contribute to enhancing the efficiency of service and aid delivery and ensuring that assistance reaches those most in need. Dr. Hamad also addressed the situation in the northern governorates of the West Bank, particularly Jenin and Tulkarm, in light of repeated incursions that have resulted in displacement waves and extensive damage to the homes of a number of families. She noted that this requires urgent and sustainable interventions to provide protection and support to affected families, including efforts to identify appropriate housing solutions. In the same context, Dr. Hamad outlined the Ministry’s service system, which includes eighteen core services in addition to two new services introduced during the current year as part of efforts to develop the social protection system. These services include housing allowances for displaced families, cash assistance programs, and care and protection services for the most vulnerable groups, as well as the development of the national social registry and the implementation of field surveys required to update household data and improve targeting accuracy. She emphasized the importance of supporting these services and ensuring the continued operation of social protection centers as a fundamental pillar of the national protection system, calling for expanding areas of cooperation to contribute to improving the quality of services provided to target groups. For their part, the two consuls expressed their countries’ interest in exploring possible avenues of cooperation to support the social protection programs provided by the Ministry, including protection centers, and in coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure the continuity and development of these services in response to growing needs.
