Tribal arbitration for the settlement of community problems and crimes before elderly members and dignitaries has long been the norm in Palestine, both in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. But over the past decade, more Palestinians have been turning to the traditional process, which is not without its drawbacks.

On March 18, an 18-year-old man allegedly raped a 5-year-old girl in the Sabra neighborhood in central Gaza. Tribal arbitrators met with family members of the accused, and, among other conditions, the arbitrators and the parents of the victim called called for banishing the man's entire family from the neighborhood.

In another case, on Nov. 9, a 15-year-old boy from the al-Dagas family living in al-Faluja, northern Gaza Strip, accidentally killed another boy during a fight. The Dagas family has been forced out of its home in accordance with the provisions of the tribal arbitrators.

“This is a case of manslaughter. Yet the entire family, the boy’s father and uncles, were evicted from their house [for fear that] the victim’s family might act in reprisal against them,” Tariq al-Dagas, a relative of the accused boy, told Al-Monitor.