The International Commission (Hashd) Makes A briefing note to inform you on the entirety of violations left by Israel’s recent aggression on the Gaza Strip, as well as invite you to open an international investigation that leads to justice.

Date: May 17, 2023
Reference number: 2023
Native language: Arabic

Press Release

The International Commission (Hashd) Makes A briefing note to inform you on the entirety of violations left by Israel’s recent aggression on the Gaza Strip, as well as invite you to open an international investigation that leads to justice

I.C.S.P.R Sent the A humanitarian appeal to : Chairman of the international fact-finding committee and Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. 

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights, “Hashd,” extends its greetings and greatly appreciates your efforts to ensure that human beings enjoy a decent life wherever they are in the world, as a realistic and real application of human rights charters and provisions, particularly in occupied Palestine and grave violations of Palestinian people’s rules. International humanitarian law and the rest of the international covenants and provisions, where the occupation authorities do not hesitate for a clear moment without violating this international system and denying its provisions, the most recent of which was the military occupation forces launch of a new aggression on May 9, 2023, which is the sixth aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip. And this took place for five consecutive days, resulting in a catastrophic and shocking outcome in terms of civilian lives and property, in full view of the international community, which demands today more than ever before the need to activate legal protection for Palestinian civilians in light of the current racist and extremist Israeli government, several of its ministers are calling for the killing, burning, and/or displacement of Palestinians.

Allow us to provide a picture of the violations that the Gaza Strip experienced during the recent aggression  conducted by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip, which included killings, demolitions, and the use of  lethal weaponry, as follows:

First: the intentional killing.

Where the Israeli occupation forces killed about (33) Palestinian civilians, including (6) children under the age of (18) years, (4) women, and (2) elderly people, and where about (190) direct physical injuries, including (64) children and (13) elderly people, were distributed as follows: (3) from the northern Gaza Strip, (17) from Gaza City, (1) from the central region, (7) from Khan Yunis, and (5) others from the Rafah region, bringing the total number of civilian deaths in the Palestinian territories to (157) as a result of Israeli war crimes since the beginning of the current year 2023.

While 190  citizens were injured, 10% of them were serious, and, remarkably, 60% of the injured are children, women, and the elderly.

Secondly: in terms of the severe damage caused to many industries.

• At the real estate industry level: The aggression took a devastating toll on the housing sector, as the total number of damaged housing units reached (2041), with losses estimated at $9 million, as (31) houses were completely demolished, with a total of (93). (128) house units were unsafe for residence, and nearly (1820) housing units were partially damaged, and the graves of the dead were not spared from the targeted operations, as the martyrs’ cemetery in Beit Lahiya’s center was seriously destroyed, constituting a fresh and unfair violation. The holy status of those who passed away is completely humane.
• At the economic level: According to Ministry of National Economy statements, the initial losses for each day of the assault were ten million dollars. The manufacturing, export, and import sectors, as well as employees and shops, suffered losses as a result of the aggression.
• At the farm sector level: the initially reported losses amounted to about 3 million US dollars, as the occupation forces continuously launched attacks on agricultural lands, causing about (200) deep holes, which left severe damage to the components and elements of the land, and about 10 thousand meters of irrigation lines in the targeted agricultural lands, in addition to the damage of about (600) farming dunums due to the bombing operations, a total of about (600) farming dunums.

• At the level of the health sector: The occupation forces targeted and severely damaged several health facilities in the Gaza Strip, as happened with Shohada  Al-Aqsa Hospital in the center of the Gaza Strip, which was damaged as a result of the bombing in its vicinity. The Muscat Jizan Al-Najjar Health Center, as well as the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, was seriously damaged. The closing of the Strip’s border crossings, along with the aforementioned hostility, also caused damage to the health sector as a result of the power outages and the lack of fuel, medicines, and medical supplies in hospitals, in addition to depriving a large number of patients of leaving the Strip for treatment in hospitals abroad, as they are patients with cancer and other serious diseases.
• At the level of infrastructure:Infrastructure losses amounted to at least one million dollars as a result of the attack on the Strip, as around (159) transmission water lines and approximately (173) sewage pipes were destroyed, in addition to (304) damage to lines, poles, and electrical transformers.
• At the educational level: the educational process experienced disruption for all the educational levels during the sector’s hostility, and the aggressiveness caused substantial harm to the educational system, including damage to about (7) schools and (9) kindergartens.

Third: Closure of border crossings.

The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip coincided with the occupation forces’ closure of border crossings, where the (Beit Hanoun and Karm Abu Salem) crossings were closed, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially since the Karm Abu Salem crossing is the only commercial crossing, leading to a sharp decline in services, particularly in terms of electricity service, and its ramifications on all vital operations and human rights. The blockade of the Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing prevented hundreds of patients and emergency cases from reaching hospitals, particularly those with serious conditions for which care is not accessible in the Gaza Strip. In the occupied West Bank, we inform you that since the first day of the closure, (142) cancer patients were unable to travel for treatment, including (5) very serious cases, and also on the second day, (136) patients, including (3) serious cases, were unable to travel. From traveling to receive treatment, the occupation forces also prevented the entry of the body of a patient from northern Gaza from entering the Strip through the Erez crossing, after he died during his treatment journey at Al-Mutala Hospital in occupied Jerusalem.

Fourth: Using lethal weapons.

The occupation authorities employed aggressive and deadly weaponry against the Gaza Strip, as they have in previous aggression, weapons with tremendous destructive capacity that target civilian areas with a large population density. Because the occupying troops utilized MK bombs, which are categorized as free bombs, they are among the most hazardous and lethal forms of weaponry. The projections are unguided, as are the JDAM bombs, which target infrastructure and may penetrate the ground up to 4 meters. The occupation also deployed suicide assault marches and combat aircraft, particularly F16s, to strike people’s houses and field objects, in addition to firing artillery and warships. warfare from the sea, which reinforces the convictions that the occupation authorities, during their attack, violated the principles of necessity, proportionality, and discrimination, and used internationally prohibited weapons, turning the Gaza Strip into a laboratory for their weapons, which are seen as forbidden to be used according to the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions, and the principles of international humanitarian law.

Such Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians, as well as the use of lethal weapons to carry out killings against civilians, causing injuries, destroying infrastructure, and causing damage to all sectors, are blatant violations of the principles of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians. The war, which guaranteed the protection of civilian lives and property in times of war, and the crimes committed by the occupation forces in the context of retaliation and collective punishment of Palestinians violate Article Thirty-Three of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as the provisions of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court.

As an outcome, we demand your quick, immediate, and urgent action to open an investigation into the occupation’s crimes against civilians and civilian objects, as well as the use of lethal and respectful weapons by the occupation forces against civilians, which contributed to the dismemberment of the victims’ bodies into scattered pieces, as we have seen through various media and television, in accordance with relevant international conventions. The connection between providing legal protection for civilians and civilian objects and protecting civilians from the scourge of this armed conflict, on the one hand, and achieving the principles of accountability and accountability for the occupation leaders for their described crimes, away from double standards and selectivity, on the other. and in a manner that restores the confidence of the victims in the system of law and efficient international justice.

Finished.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd)