Human rights are universal. They protect both Israelis and Palestinians, people we agree with and people we do not, in times of peace and in times of war. 

Today, some of the most urgent human rights work we support is taking place in the West Bank, where Palestinian communities face growing settler violence, displacement, restrictions on movement and threats to their homes and livelihoods. 

NIF backs the Israelis and Palestinians organisations, leaders and activists who refuse to look away. 

Human rights in numbers 

• NIF mobilised hundreds of activists to provide a protective presence in the West Bank.  

• NIF partners delivered 44,000 litres of water to Palestinian communities.  

• NIF partners restored Red Cross visits for 9,000+ Palestinian prisoners. 

• 54 Members of the European Parliament were engaged by NIF human rights advocates in May 2026. 

Protecting people where the danger is greatest 

Across the West Bank, hundreds of Israeli activists are helping Palestinian communities stay safely on their land. 

Known as protective presence, this work can mean accompanying Palestinian shepherds and farmers, standing alongside families threatened by violence, documenting attacks, providing emergency supplies, or simply being present when that presence can help prevent harm. 

See for yourself here and here.

NIF does not just fund this work. Our Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Activists Support Programme helps independent activists with coordination, travel costs, training, security equipment, mental health support, and the practical resources they need to keep going. NIF has also brought together organisations and activists who are protecting human rights in the West Bank through its new Headquarters for Combating Annexation and Settler Violence, in the arenas of legal and media work. 

44,000 litres of water were delivered by protective-presence activists to Palestinian communities. 

“Without these brave people, we would have been gone a long time ago.” 

Naef Ja’alin, Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja 

From the field to the courtroom 

Being present is only one part of the work. NIF connects direct support for Palestinian communities with legal action, documentation, and efforts to influence policy and public debate. 

Partners, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Human Rights Defenders Fund, Haqel, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Yesh Din, Rabbis for Human Rights, and others, challenge abuses in court, document what is happening, assist people whose rights have been violated, and press decision-makers to act. 

This combination produces concrete change. In early 2026, Human Rights Defenders Fund won an important Supreme Court case challenging the excessive use of “closed military zone” orders that prevented Palestinians (and the human rights activists accompanying them) from reaching Palestinian land. The Court requested that the military provide evidence of an immediate security threat before issuing such orders and awarded compensation to Palestinian petitioners. 

In another recent case, sustained legal action by ACRI, Gisha, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel led the Supreme Court to end the nearly three-year ban on Red Cross visits to Palestinian security prisoners. More than 9,000 prisoners have been affected by this ruling. 

An action by ACRI and HaMoked secured expedited access through checkpoints to Palestinians from Kufr Aqab travelling for medical treatment in Jerusalem, turning a legal case brought for seven patients into a change benefiting other residents needing medical care. 

Making violence harder to ignore 

Human rights abuses flourish when nobody is watching. That is why documenting what happens and bringing it into Israeli public debate is fundamental to our work. NIF partners collect testimony, publish research, take journalists and diplomats into affected communities, and ensure that Palestinians and the Israelis standing alongside them are heard. 

In June, we hosted groups in the West Bank to meet displaced Palestinian communities and protective-presence activists. The purpose was not simply to explain the situation from afar, but to enable people to see what is happening and meet those responding to it. 

See for yourself here and here.

Why NIF? 

A legal victory alone cannot keep a community safe. A volunteer standing in a field cannot change government policy alone. A report cannot protect someone who has just been attacked. NIF brings these pieces together. 

We fund organisations for the long term. We support people responding in real time. We connect activists with lawyers and researchers, link documentation with public campaigns, and bring evidence from the field to journalists, policymakers, diplomats and the courts. It means a Palestinian family facing violence is not left alone, and Israelis who refuse to accept injustice have the support to remain beside them. 

“We believe things can get better, but we know we must fight to make this happen.” 

Michael Sfard, human rights lawyer and Civil Society Protection Hub Legal Adviser 

There is no democracy without human rights.
And there is no democracy without you.