The International Commission (ICSPR) Calls on the international community to stop the crimes of blockade, killing, and forced displacement of Northern Gaza residents, and to declare Gaza a famine-stricken area
Date: November 21, 2024
Press Release
The International Commission (ICSPR): Calls on the international community to stop the crimes of blockade, killing, and forced displacement of Northern Gaza residents, and to declare Gaza a famine-stricken area.
The Israeli occupation forces continue their ground invasion, strict siege, and acts of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and forced displacement against civilians in northern Gaza for the second consecutive month. This is part of a systematic plan aimed at depopulating the area, as evidenced by massacres, home demolitions, forced displacement to southern Gaza, prevention of humanitarian aid, destruction of civilian properties, targeting shelters and hospitals, and disruption of vital humanitarian services. These acts aim to enforce a long-term military strategy by turning northern Gaza into an uninhabitable military zone.
ICSPR: Before the ongoing military operation, northern Gaza was home to over 250,000 residents. Today, this number has dwindled to less than 20,000, as residents were forcibly displaced to Gaza City and southern areas under threats and violence. The occupation forces have divided Gaza into three zones—north, central, and south—and imposed a military blockade on each zone, accompanied by massacres, field executions, and obstruction of humanitarian aid. This has coincided with the expansion of buffer zones, establishment of military and settlement infrastructures, and construction of long-term installations, including on roads leading to former settlement sites, further entrenching Israeli control over Gaza.
ICSPR: The occupation forces are systematically obliterating what remains of the area’s infrastructure and homes, leaving neighborhoods in ruins. Some of the most horrific massacres have targeted entire families, such as the Madhoun, Khidr, Shakoura, Nassar, Mabhouh, Masri, Radhia, Suleiman, Ghaben, Abd Al-Atti, and Abu Wadeya families. Entire homes were destroyed without warning, killing thousands and leaving countless injured or missing. These crimes are part of a deliberate strategy to depopulate northern Gaza and render it uninhabitable.
ICSPR: Since September 25, the Israeli occupation has maintained its ban on humanitarian aid and goods entering northern Gaza. This has created a catastrophic famine, with residents enduring unprecedented suffering due to the military operation that has already killed approximately 2,500 Palestinians, injured over 6,000, and forcibly displaced tens of thousands. Civilians in homes and shelters face relentless bombings, starvation, and lack of access to water and medical care, as they are targeted by airstrikes, drones, and artillery shells. Healthcare services, especially in the north, have been paralyzed by attacks on hospitals, arrests of medical staff, and destruction of ambulances and rescue operations.
ICSPR is appalled by the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid. Over the past three months, fewer than 30 trucks of aid have been allowed into Gaza daily—representing less than 6% of basic needs—exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Bread and essential supplies are scarce, prices are soaring, and looting of aid by armed groups under Israeli protection has been reported. Experts and international organizations warn that more than half of Gaza’s population is experiencing severe hunger, with many facing acute famine conditions.
ICSPR strongly condemns the genocide, ethnic cleansing, and systematic starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. These crimes, ongoing for 14 months, are happening in full view of the international community, which has failed to act against the war crimes being perpetrated. Forced displacement and starvation constitute war crimes and genocide under international law. ICSPR welcomes the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The organization also denounces the United States’ use of its veto power to block a resolution to stop Israel’s aggression, highlighting the U.S.’s complicity in the genocide. ICSPR urges global action to hold Israeli leaders and their accomplices accountable and to impose sanctions and boycott Israel.
ICSPR emphasizes the following:
- ICSPR calls on the international community to act urgently to stop the genocide, enforce the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and prevent the depopulation of northern Gaza. Immediate intervention is needed to halt massacres and protect civilians.
- ICSPR urges the international community to declare Gaza a disaster and famine-stricken area, and to take all immediate measures to stop starvation, open humanitarian corridors, and provide urgent relief supplies, including tents and temporary shelters, especially with winter approaching.
- ICSPR calls on all nations and humanitarian organizations to work seriously toward opening safe corridors for evacuating the wounded, ensuring the entry of medical supplies, field hospitals, doctors, and civil defense equipment.
- ICSPR calls for activating all mechanisms of international protection and forming a global coalition to compel Israel to comply with international humanitarian law and ICJ measures, enforce relevant UN resolutions, and provide international protection for civilians, facilities, and especially hospitals.
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