Press Release and Human Rights Appeal The International Commission “Hashd” calls for the formation of an international humanitarian alliance to implement the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution

 Date: October 29, 2023

Time: 13:00 local time

Original Language: Arabic

Press Release and Human Rights Appeal

The International Commission “Hashd” calls for the formation of an international humanitarian alliance to implement the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution, which calls for an end to aggression, the protection of civilians, and the assurance of meeting the humanitarian needs of the people in the Gaza Strip.

On the twenty-third day of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, more of the humanitarian tragedy that the remaining population in the Gaza Strip is enduring is being revealed. After partial restoration of communication and the internet, the civil defense announced the discovery of dismembered bodies of citizens on the streets. The Israeli occupation forces exploited the disruption of communications to intensify the fires and devastating incendiary devices in various areas of the Gaza Strip that have been heavily targeted by aerial, naval, and ground shelling.

Israeli occupation forces have committed dozens of massacres against families and caused extensive destruction in areas and neighborhoods targeted by the attacks, using various types of weapons.

The number of victims of the aggression has risen to 1.5% of the population of the Gaza Strip, including killed, wounded, and missing individuals. So far, 8005 citizens have been martyred, including 3,342 children and 2,062 women. 460 of those killed were children, and 30% of them were women. In addition, 116 paramedics and medical personnel, as well as 34 journalists, have been killed. Over 2,000 people are still missing, half of whom are children, due to the widespread war crimes and brutal attacks by land, sea, and air, and the use of deadly force without regard for the principles of distinction, military necessity, and humanity. The most serious violation is the targeting of families and the demolition of their homes over their heads without prior warning as a recurring pattern in the ongoing genocide, resulting in massacres against 881 families, with 20% of them erased from the civil registry.

Since the start of the aggression, a level of firepower not used since the 1973 war has been deployed, according to the Israeli army’s admission. Thousands of tons of explosives have been dropped, equivalent to detonating a nuclear bomb over a 360 square kilometer area. Various types of weapons, including heavy concussion bombs emitting toxic chemical gases and white phosphorus, have been and continue to be used to destroy homes, residential areas, civilian infrastructure, and economic facilities. More than half of the homes and buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged, leading to a daily increase in the forced displacement of Palestinians, numbering about 1.6 million people, half of whom are children. They are living in conditions of oppression, fear, and the absence of minimal conditions for human life in shelters or in the homes of relatives and friends who have taken them in.

The continued suffocating blockade, collective punishment, the closure of crossings, and the interruption of electricity, water, telecommunications, and partial or total internet services, as well as the prevention and hindrance of access to humanitarian aid, medical supplies, relief materials, and necessary fuel for the operation of the power station to ensure the availability of drinking water, hospital generators, ambulances, and civil defense vehicles, has caused most of them to cease operation. Most vital medical devices have stopped working, endangering the lives of patients and the injured. In addition to the threat to hospitals, the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, Al-Quds Hospital, and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City are under threat of forced evacuation through shelling, amid false Israeli accusations against these hospitals to justify their targeting, destruction, and the completion of the evacuation of Gaza and northern governorates forcibly.

On the twenty-third day, most water wells, bakeries, water treatment plants, and waste disposal services have partially or completely stopped due to direct targeting and the lack of energy or fuel, making it impossible to retrieve hundreds of bodies from under the rubble. This has led to the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics, especially among the Gaza Strip’s population in shelter centres, particularly among children who have not had access to a single bath since the start of the aggression. In addition to the shortage of healthcare, clean water, sanitation in shelter centres, and a lack of food and health supplies.

According to the monitoring by The International Commission “Hashd” the humanitarian crisis is increasing day by day due to the scarcity of water, food, and aid, and the long queues for hours in front of bakeries and water stations, which continue to operate to a limited extent in the Gaza Strip, indicating the catastrophic and tragic humanitarian situation experienced by the people of the Gaza Strip.

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) affirms, based on its monitoring and all previous evidence and indicators and hearing from survivors, that the Israeli occupation continues to deliberately target civilians, especially children and women, and to destroy the homes of citizens, as well as civilian and service facilities, infrastructure, commercial stores, food stores, agricultural lands, and economic facilities, as part of a systematic campaign of destruction and genocide, revealing an Israeli policy aimed at turning the Gaza Strip into an uninhabitable area. This is reinforced by the false racist statements of Israeli officials that justify the heinous crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, which themselves confirm the deliberate commission of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) welcomes the decision of the United Nations General Assembly under the slogan “United for Peace,” which calls for an end to the aggression, the protection of civilians and civilian property, and ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and relief to the people of the Gaza Strip. It also welcomes all international positions rejecting aggression and condemning the crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, as well as the serious violations by the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, Jerusalem, with the toll reaching 116 martyrs and 1,560 arbitrary detainees since the start of the aggression, in addition to the attacks by settlers and incursions into holy sites.

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) calls for the necessity of translating international and Arab condemnations and appeals, especially those from the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, UNICEF, and other international and Arab organizations, into practical measures to stop the aggression, protect civilians, especially children and women, and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip to prevent the exacerbation of the humanitarian catastrophe.

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)demands the activation of all accountability mechanisms for the leaders and the Israeli occupation through national courts, the International Criminal Court, and the International Court of Justice.

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) calls on the free people of the world to intensify and continue international, regional, and Arab popular efforts to pressure third parties that are signatories to the Geneva Conventions and the countries of the world to fulfil their ethical and legal duties to protect civilians, apply the rules of international humanitarian law, and end the Israeli aggression and ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

End

The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)