To document the ownership and occupancy rights of Palestinians in Gaza on October 6, 2024, is a minimum and necessary beginning to any just future.
Whatever the form and composition of the Palestinian state that must, necessarily, govern soon in Gaza, recognition and respect for these rights is a precondition for legitimacy.
Return and restitution are universally recognized human rights
“All refugees and displaced persons have the right to have restored to them any housing, land and/or property of which they were arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived, or to be compensated for any housing, land and/or property that is factually impossible to restore as determined by an independent, impartial tribunal.”
Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons (‘Pinheiro Principles’), endorsed by the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 11 August 2005
Technology sets the context for the assurance of those rights.
“Where there has been a general breakdown in the rule of law, or where States are unable to implement the procedures, institutions and mechanisms necessary to facilitate the housing, land and property restitution process in a just and timely manner, States should request the technical assistance and cooperation of relevant international agencies in order to establish provisional regimes for providing refugees and displaced persons with the procedures, institutions and mechanisms necessary to ensure effective restitution remedies.”
Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons (‘Pinheiro Principles’), endorsed by the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 11 August 2005
Design of the technical process to assure rights precedes peace.
Whatever the near-term political future of Gaza, the existence of an accurate and reliable registry for housing, land, and property claims is essential to a just future in Gaza.
The Gaza Housing, Land, and Property Initiative aims for the highest standards of validity, operational reliability, and transparency.
Now is the time to begin.
