The International Commission Hashd describes within the context of the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza, how the occupation is expanding the scope of extermination and forced displacement operations which threatens to lead to a third catastrophe

Press Release

The International Commission “Hashd”  Within the framework of the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, the Israeli occupation is expanding the scope of extermination and forced displacement operations, ushering in a new chapter of catastrophe. Healthcare services are at a complete standstill.

For the seventh consecutive day, the violent and deliberate Israeli shelling of residential areas and homes of civilians continues, causing destruction over the heads of its residents. Until this moment, rescue and emergency teams are unable to recover the bodies and the remains of families whose homes were targeted due to a shortage of available equipment, leaving dozens of corpses under the rubble.

Meanwhile, the international community and international organizations continue their conspiracy of silence, bias, and helplessness in the face of the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation. According to reports from the Ministry of Health, nearly 1,799 martyrs have been recorded, including 588 children and 351 women, with 7,388 wounded, including 1,901 children and 1,185 women.

The Israeli occupation forces persist in their systematic retaliatory policies against civilian populations, including collective punishment measures. These measures involve tightening border crossings, cutting off electricity, water, communication, and internet services. Furthermore, they persist in implementing the elements of genocide, intending to harm civilians and seeking revenge by refusing to open a humanitarian corridor to supply the besieged area with medical supplies, relief items, and the necessary fuel for operating power stations, hospital generators, ambulance vehicles, and rescue equipment. This has led to a complete collapse of humanitarian and healthcare services, turning hospitals into mass graves due to the unavailability of medical supplies and the necessary fuel for generators in hospitals. Civilian residents are unable to secure drinking water, resorting to inadequate alternatives.

Israeli warplanes continue to destroy entire families’ homes without prior warning, dropping them on the heads of the inhabitants. The International Body has documented 123 families that have lost at least five of their members, most of whom were women and children. The Israeli occupation forces have expanded the scope of extensive destruction of infrastructure, turning roads into dangerous zones by planting explosive belts on the Gaza borders. This has caused the forced displacement of the residents of border areas, resulting in the continued policy of destruction and widespread ruin. This has led to the destruction of more than 50,000 residential units, civil structures, schools, mosques, universities, government institutions, hospitals, clinics, commercial shops, economic facilities, cars, and thousands of kilometers of road networks, effectively transforming many residential neighborhoods into completely devastated areas.

Israel’s use of intense and indiscriminate shelling, along with the use of internationally prohibited weapons, has turned civilian areas and civil structures into military targets. This is all in line with the scorched-earth policy that has turned various neighborhoods into deliberate rubble, aiming to destroy towers, residential buildings, apartments, civil structures, agricultural lands, and infrastructure. As a result, nearly half a million civilians remain in dire humanitarian conditions due to overcrowding, lack of relief and healthcare services, and safe drinking water. The International Body emphasizes that the humanitarian catastrophe is exacerbated by the total abandonment of the international community, as they have relocated their offices to the southern Gaza Strip and ordered their employees to cease work in displacement centers. They are fully aware of the potential war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against these civilians. They have also abandoned their humanitarian responsibilities, all while the Israeli army continues to threaten to evacuate the entire population of northern Gaza, Gaza City, and its surroundings, numbering around 1.3 million, under the threat of aerial fire and continued massacres against more than 80 families, most of which have been erased from the civil registry.

The Israeli occupation has dropped approximately 6,000 tons of explosives, equivalent to more than half a nuclear bomb, and equivalent to the total dropped by U.S. aircraft in Afghanistan over the course of a year, according to a military expert. This betrayal represents the ugliest form of dehumanization, in violation of international humanitarian law. The international community’s ongoing silence has allowed the targeting of civilians and civil structures to continue, indicating a lack of will and capability to open a humanitarian corridor for evacuating the wounded and delivering medical and relief supplies, as well as fuel for power stations and generators in hospitals, ambulances, and rescue vehicles. The full scale of the humanitarian betrayal experienced by civilians and the violation of the Israeli occupation’s abandonment of all rules of war and international humanitarian law, which has turned them into military targets.

On the other hand, Israeli forces continue their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, who are protesting against the aggression on Gaza. These events have resulted in 46 martyrs and over 300 injuries, while arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of prisoners continue, with electricity being cut off from them.

Israeli officials have continued their threats and racist statements, demonizing Palestinians and their resistance, stripping them of their humanity. This is a blatant attempt to justify the ongoing genocidal crimes by the Israeli occupation, which is the primary cause of the suffering and oppression of Palestinians. The genocidal crimes committed in Gaza, as well as previous crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, are clear evidence of the racism and terrorism of the organized state against Palestinians.

The International Commission “Hashd”  reiterates that Gaza is living through a new chapter of catastrophe, with the ongoing genocidal crimes by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people. The responsibility for these international crimes, which include genocide, aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, lies with the Israeli occupation and its partners in this aggression on Gaza. The International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor and other international and regional organizations continue to be condemned for their silence and lack of action.

The International Commission “Hashd” affirms the Palestinian people’s right to resist Israeli occupation, as guaranteed by international law. It also warns of a real catastrophe as long as the Israeli aggression on Gaza continues and the suffocating siege impacts all aspects of life for Palestinian civilians. The International Body registers and demands the following: