Well-Being Under Structural Constraints of Political Instability in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank: A Cross-Sectional Study

Health Hum Rights. 2026 Jun;28(1):85-104.

ABSTRACT

The well-being of Palestinians living under prolonged Israeli occupation is deeply conditioned by the structures of deprivation and control that shape daily life. Using data from 3,000 adults residing in refugee camps and surrounding urban areas of the West Bank, this study examines how deprivation, political violence, and human rights violations relate to well-being as measured by the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73.8%) reported poor wellbeing. Material deprivation showed the strongest association with well-being: Those reporting low or moderate deprivation had 1.7- and 2.4-fold higher odds of poor well-being, respectively. Household exposure to political violence was associated with higher odds of poor well-being with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.35, while human rights violations by the Israeli military and the Palestinian Authority was associated with higher odds of poor well-being with an OR of 1.51 and 1.72, respectively. An interaction between locality and displacement revealed that stable camp residents had lower odds of poor wellbeing, while those displaced from camps had the highest risk. These findings show that in the West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, well-being reflects the social geography of inequality, where displacement, deprivation, and ongoing political violence transform daily existence into a struggle for security and dignity, rendering the right to health inseparable from the right to live freely and safely.

PMID:42416212 | PMC:PMC13338861