The International Commission “Hashd” In the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has turned the region into a disaster area where the means of life and essential services are lacking.

Number: 105/2023

Date: October 11, 2023

Press Release

The International Commission “Hashd” In the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has turned the region into a disaster area where the means of life and essential services are lacking, and the humanitarian situation is at a critical point. Children and women are facing threats to their lives, and entire families are being wiped out.

For the sixth consecutive day of the declared Israeli aggression on Gaza, daily operations of deliberate Israeli targeting and intense bombings of civilian neighborhoods and homes have continued. Until now, the rescue and emergency teams, as well as the civil defense, barely have time to finish recovering the bodies and remains of the families whose homes were targeted over their heads before they have to begin again to recover the bodies and remains of women and children from another family, amid a shortage of essential equipment for extracting the martyrs’ bodies and rescuing the survivors buried under the rubble.

Israeli policies, which are based on deliberate targeting of civilians and their homes without prior warning, have led to the erasure of nearly 45 families from the civil registry. According to the latest statistics from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli occupation’s crimes and bombings have resulted in the martyrdom of 1,354 citizens, including 317 children, 241 women, 14 medical teams and paramedics, 8 journalists, and 12 UN employees. Additionally, over 6,049 have been injured, with 60% of them being women and children.

Furthermore, the destruction of multi-story residential towers and buildings has continued, resulting in the destruction of around 13,000 residential units, in addition to hundreds of civil structures. These include government offices, mosques, schools, universities, media offices, commercial and economic facilities, and vehicles. Road networks and water and electricity lines have also been severed.

The Israeli crimes have not stopped at this point. They have intentionally targeted journalists, resulting in the martyrdom of 8 of them and the injury of 22 others, in addition to targeting media offices and cutting off communication and internet services, hindering the work of both international and local news agencies in an attempt to silence the press and obscure the facts, to cover up the genocide occurring in Gaza.

As Israeli forces continue their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, who are protesting against the aggression on Gaza, 30 martyrs and over 250 injuries have been reported. Israeli forces have also arrested Palestinian workers from Gaza who were present inside the Israeli state. After assaulting and mistreating them in a racist manner, some were arrested, while others were transferred to the West Bank.

On the other hand, Israeli officials have continued with threats and racist statements against Palestinians, attempting to dehumanize them and their resistance. This is a blatant attempt to justify the continued occupation, which is the primary cause of Palestinian suffering and oppression. The genocidal crimes committed in Gaza, and those preceding them in the occupied Palestinian territories, are a clear testament to the state’s racism and terrorism against Palestinians.

The Israeli military operation, accompanied by unprecedented collective punitive measures, has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis due to the 17-year-long siege imposed on Gaza. These measures include power and water cuts, the closure of all border crossings, making Gaza a disaster area where the majority of the population is suffering from a lack of medical supplies and fuel to run generators in hospitals. The only power plant in Gaza has stopped working due to the restriction on the entry of fuel required to operate it. Water sources have also been affected due to the lack of electricity to power water pumps, causing a severe shortage of humanitarian relief for displaced people numbering around 450,000, including approximately 270,000 who are in UNRWA shelters. The Israeli occupation and international organizations are preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to them, in addition to the financial crisis of UNRWA, which hinders its ability to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of displaced people in its schools and refugees in Gaza.

 The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) reiterates that the Israeli military doctrine has turned civilians and their property into military targets. It warns of a real humanitarian catastrophe as the Israeli aggression on Gaza continues, with most vital services for the population having been halted. In the light of the international community’s inability to open a single humanitarian corridor, and given the severe consequences of expanding military operations and the accompanying suffocating closure, affecting all aspects of life for Palestinian civilians, Gaza has been turned into a disaster zone according to all international and humanitarian standards. Therefore, Hashd registers and strongly calls for the following:

•  (Hashd): Calls on the international community, the United Nations, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to urgently intervene to halt the Israeli aggression on Gaza and prevent its expansion. Until then, there is an urgent need to escalate international pressure to compel the Israeli occupation to fully comply with the rules of international humanitarian law. It must condemn Israel’s violations of these rules and hold it accountable for not adhering to the rules and customs of war, to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure from killings, reprisals, and brutal revenge. International pressure is also needed to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of the wounded to external hospitals and to provide essential medical supplies, relief, and the necessary fuel shipments for the operation of the sole power station in Gaza. This comes after the Israeli occupation cut off electricity, internet, and water supplies and left the Gaza population hostage to the relentless aggression.

•  (Hashd): Urges the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to include the crimes committed in Gaza in the case of Israeli crimes currently under investigation. There are growing suspicions about the deliberate use of highly destructive weapons, including explosive barrels and prohibited weapons, which aim to alter the basic elements of the environment, infrastructure, and demographic landmarks in the region with the intention of destroying the Palestinian people.

•  (Hashd): Calls upon the United Nations Security Council and the High Contracting Parties to the Four Geneva Conventions to recognize the importance of international individual and collective action to prevent acts of genocide, war crimes, and massacres against Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed over their heads without prior warning. There is an urgent need to immediately impose a no-fly zone for Israeli military aircraft and prevent the supply of weapons to the Israeli occupation forces.

•  (Hashd): Renews its call for the United Nations General Assembly to convene under the formula “United for Peace” to provide international protection to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It calls for the declaration of a program to end the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and the system of apartheid, enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their rights recognized by the United Nations.

•  (Hashd): Calls on the International Human Rights Council to convene urgently to address the international crimes committed in Gaza and to take the necessary measures to stop retaliatory war crimes and genocidal acts in Gaza. It also calls for the activation of all international mechanisms for the protection of human rights.

• (Hashd): Calls on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to recognize the importance and necessity of providing care and relief services to the thousands of civilians who have sought refuge in its schools in Gaza.

• (Hashd): Calls for international diplomatic and popular action to pressure governments around the world to fulfill their moral and legal duties to stop the targeting of civilians, women, children, and journalists, as well as the targeting of civilian infrastructure. It also calls for the opening of humanitarian corridors to evacuate the wounded and the delivery of medical and relief supplies to displaced people and the life-saving equipment for the civil defense and humanitarian teams.

•  (Hashd): Urges Palestinians in all gatherings and the free people of the world, the international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people, and all Arab, regional, and international organizations to act on all humanitarian, legal, political, diplomatic, and human rights levels to ensure the halt of Israeli aggression and genocidal crimes and to provide protection to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

End

 The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)