The Protection Sector in the Network of Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Demands the Government to Assume Its Responsibilities Towards the Families of Martyrs and Wounded

SadaNews - The Protection Sector in the Network of Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations called on the government to assume its responsibilities and provide social protection for the families of martyrs and the wounded.

The sector continued in a statement, as stated:

The Social Protection Sector in the Network of Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations is following closely the issue of the wounded and the families of martyrs and their sit-in in front of the Council of Ministers since 12/5/2026 until now. This sit-in aims to pressure for a change in the procedures taken by the Palestinian government represented by transferring the authorities and files of the Martyr and Wounded Families Care Institution to the "Tamkeen" Foundation, which in turn has taken actions regarding them that the participants in the sit-in described as assaulting their human dignity. It is noteworthy that the Martyr and Wounded Families Care Institution was established in 1965, in parallel with the launch of the contemporary Palestinian revolution by a decision of the late Yasser Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

The Protection Sector in the network emphasizes that the issue of caring for the families of martyrs and prisoners and protecting their human dignity has always been and continues to be a national and social priority, based on the symbolic status of this group in the collective Palestinian consciousness. The issue of providing social protection for this segment of society, along with other categories linked to our people's struggle for liberation from occupation, as in the case of prisoners and their families, constitutes the national basis for social protection linked to the Palestinian specificity and recognized according to international legal standards for social protection.

The Protection Sector urges the government, represented by Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa, to respond immediately to the demands of the protesters and to assume its responsibilities in providing social protection for the families of martyrs and the wounded as an inherent right for them and their families, and not to allow their file to be a subject of compromise and external dictates that aim to undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian people's struggle and the legitimacy of its national institutions alongside halting the procedures taken by the Tamkeen Foundation, including the form that includes conditions and elements which the protesters described as an affront to their human dignity.

The Protection Sector called on President Abu Mazen to cancel the decree issued by him published in the official gazette on 10/2/2026, which transferred the authorities and files of the Martyr and Wounded Families Care Institution to the Tamkeen Foundation and to restore the powers back to the institution, and to work immediately on disbursing salaries for prisoners, the wounded, and the families of martyrs according to the previously adopted criteria and proportions, and to provide social services for their families, led by free health insurance.

The Protection Sector calls for the initiation of community dialogue about the importance of having a system for social protection in light of the current circumstances faced by the Palestinian people, especially after the repercussions of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip with the participation of the three social dialogue parties (the government, employer representatives, and worker representatives), in addition to civil society organizations, in order to build a national system for social protection based on the combination of national grounds and international standards for social protection, focused on providing systems for insurance, assistance, and social services that ensure the inclusion of all social categories while preserving their rights and human dignity.