ICSPR calls on the international community to intervene to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and address its repercussions

Ref: 69/2021

Date: 24 May 2021

Press release,

ICSPR calls on the international community to intervene to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and address its repercussions

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights “ICSPR” follows with strong condemnation the occupation’s insistence on continuing to tighten the closure procedures and restrict the freedom of movement of individuals and the movement of goods to and from the Gaza Strip.

It has been fourteen days since the Israeli occupation decided to permanently close crossings in the face of individuals and goods and restrict fishing areas on the coast of the Gaza Strip, coinciding with the start of the Israeli military operation, which left highly complex inhuman conditions, especially in light of the widespread destruction of facilities, headquarters and infrastructure that was the primary target of the Israeli military operation.

The Israeli measures aimed at imposing further restrictions on the freedom of movement of people and the transfer of goods to the Gaza Strip, have a severe impact on the lives of more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who already suffer an unprecedented deterioration in their economic and social conditions. These measures turn the Gaza Strip into a prison that totally lacks the minimum requirements of life.

ICSPR considers this statement as an open letter to the civilized world and the international community to warn them of the catastrophic repercussions of the continued siege, and affirms that the Israeli measures and decisions come in the context of implementing an Israeli plan aimed at slowly killing the residents of the Gaza Strip. ICSPR stresses that these decisions need to be countered, especially in light of the urgent need for the reconstruction of what was destroyed during the massive Israeli military operation that stopped 3 days ago. Therefore:

• ICSPR believes that the current Israeli measures and decisions constitute a frightening step through which the Israeli occupation forces deliberately deny the international protections granted to civilians in the occupied territories, especially those stipulated under Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which is imposed on the occupying forces an obligation to act to the maximum of its means, to provide the population with food and medical supplies, and it must take into account the needs of the civilian population.

• ICSPR considers all Israeli measures and decisions as a form of collective punishment and acts of revenge committed by the occupation forces against Palestinian civilians.

• ICSPR calls on the international community to intervene immediately in order to pressure the Israeli government to stop these measures, including opening the Kerem Shalom crossing, allow the supply of all the needs of the residents of the Strip, including basic goods and building materials, and permit the export of goods for the products of the Gaza Strip, as well as open the Beit Hanoun crossing, allow the passage of patients, their companions, and the injured for treatment outside the Gaza Strip, and allow the return of patients, their companions, and the deceased.

• ICSPR calls of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to work on proposing an international mechanism, which actions would achieve meaningful international protection for Palestinian civilians, in fulfillment of the recent resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.

• ICSPR calls for the need to adopt a reconstruction mechanism that takes into account the need to overcome the negatives of previous ones.

ICSPR