The situation in Palestine provides a number of hardships for Palestinians and organizations operating in Palestine. The ongoing Israeli military occupation has led to increased poverty due to mobility restrictions and the lack of access to resources.  Conditions of civil unrest have also increased as Palestinians feel discouraged or hopeless due to the hardships they face on a daily basis.

Children are the primary target of PHF because they have lived their whole lives under the conditions of the occupation. The lives of Palestinian children are impacted negatively by the occupation in many ways. Due to mobility restrictions and checkpoints, Palestinian children are not allowed to go to the sea. These children have never known what it is like to live in a free society. It is important that children have access to creative and productive outlets, which PHF provides.

Until the second Intifada, PHF was able to generate a large portion of its operating expenses by offering paid courses in English and Hebrew. However, PHF has experienced increasingly difficult times under the Israeli military occupation. The transport of goods and services in Nablus, as well as citizen travel between the surrounding villages and the city, are greatly curtailed on an ongoing basis, resulting in economic distress that makes paying for language classes increasingly difficult.

Since the beginning of the Second Intifada, children are the sector of Palestinian society most affected by the situation. They have been impacted on psychological, social, economic and educational levels. They are under stress from continuous military incursions and curfews and many suffer from PTSD. PHF believes it must provide positive outlets for them.