Palestinian citizens of Israel face stark shelter shortages, legal group warns

Palestinian citizens of Israel face stark shelter shortages, legal group warns Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 04/02/2026 - 08:25 Adalah calls on the Israeli government to close life-threatening gaps in provision of shelters for Palestinians Residents survey the damage to a house following a projectile strike in the Palestinian-populated city of Kfar Qassem, Israel, on 26 March 2026 (Ilia Yefimovich/AFP) Off A leading legal rights organisation has warned of severe disparities in access to bomb shelters between Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel , raising concerns of discrimination as the country faces ongoing missile threats amidst its war on Iran and Lebanon . In a letter to the Israeli government, Adalah – the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – said Palestinian citizens are disproportionately exposed to danger due to a lack of basic protective infrastructure. The warning follows a government decision in March to allocate 81 million shekels (£17m) for the deployment of hundreds of mobile shelters across Israel to address what it described as “significant protection gaps”.