بتاريخ 22 نيسان / أبريل 2021، أرسل ممثلون وممثلات عن 28 عائلة فلسطينية من حي الشيخ جراح في القدس ويمثلون أكثر من 5٠٠ فلسطيني وفلسطينية، إضافة إلى 191 منظمة داعمة رسالة إلى مكتب المدعية العامة للمحكمة الجنائية الدولية، يطالبون فيها بالإدراج العاجل للتهجير القسري الوشيك للفلسطينيين من حي الشيخ جراح في إطار التحقيق الجاري في الحالة في فلسطين. وعلى وجه التحديد، دعت العائلات مكتب المدعية العامة إلى تضمين جرائم الحرب والجرائم ضد الإنسانية ذات الصلة بتهجيرهم القسري كجزء من التحقيق، بما في ذلك النقل القسري، والاستيلاء على الممتلكات، والاضطهاد، والفصل العنصري، وغيرها من الأعمال اللاإنسانية التي تسبب معاناة شديدة أو أذى خطير يلحق بالجسم أو بالصحة العقلية أو البدنية.

تضمنت الرسالة إلى المدعية العامة توضيح بشأن مصير 87 فلسطيني وفلسطينية في حي الشيخ جراح في القدس، معرضون لخطر الإخلاء القسري الوشيك، بما في ذلك أربع عائلات بحلول 2 أيار/ مايو 2021 وثلاث عائلات أخرى بحلول 1 آب /أغسطس، وذلك بعد صدور قرارات قضائية من المحاكم الإسرائيلية لصالح منظمة استيطانية.

وأوضحت الرسالة أن عمليات الإخلاء القسري الحالية تعتبر ثاني أو ثالث تهجير قسري لتلك للعائلات، بعد تهجيرهم القسري من منازلهم في البلدات والمدن والقرى الفلسطينية خلال النكبة، والإنكار المستمر لحقهم غير القابل للتصرف في العودة إلى منازلهم وممتلكاتهم منذ عام 1948. كما سلطت العائلات في رسالتها الضوء على البيئة القسرية التي يتعرضون لها في القدس، والتي تهدف إلى تغيير التكوين الديموغرافي للمدينة لتأمين السيطرة الإسرائيلية اليهودية على القدس ودفع التهجير المستمر للفلسطينيين.

تواصل العائلات المقدسية صمودها في معركة طويلة ومرهقة ومكلفة منذ عام 1972 في سبيل مواجهة الدعاوى القانونية المرفوعة ضدها من قبل المنظمة الاستيطانية أمام المحاكم الإسرائيلية، التي تطبق القانون المحلي الإسرائيلي التمييزي بشكل غير قانوني على الأرض المحتلة، وتسعى العائلات اليوم إلى مساءلة الاحتلال أمام المحكمة الجنائية الدولية.

طالبت عائلات الشيخ جراح في رسالتها مكتب المدعية العامة إدانة عمليات الإخلاء القسري الوشيك للفلسطينيين والفلسطينيات في حي الشيخ جراح والتحقيق العاجل في هذه القضية ضمن الحالة في فلسطين لمنع تهجيرهم من منازلهم في القدس. وقد دعمت 191 منظمة العائلات في مطالبهم، بما في ذلك مؤسسات حقوق إنسان فلسطينية وإسرائيلية وإقليمية ودولية؛ و ائتلافات فلسطينية تمثل أكثر من 140 مؤسسة من منظمات المجتمع المدني فلسطيني؛ ومجموعات تضامن من أجل فلسطين؛ ومنظمات إيمان؛ ومنظمات شعوب أصلية؛ ومنظمات عدالة عرقية؛ ومجموعات طلابية، بما في ذلك مؤسسة الحق، ومركز الميزان لحقوق الإنسان، والمركز الفلسطيني لحقوق الإنسان، والجذور الشعبية المقدسية، وشبكة المنظمات الأهلية الفلسطينية، ومجلس منظمات حقوق الإنسان الفلسطينية، وبتسيلم | المركز الإسرائيلي لحقوق الإنسان في الأراضي المحتلة، ومركز القاهرة لدراسات حقوق الإنسان، والمنظمة العربية لحقوق الإنسان، ومركز الحقوق الدستورية (CCR)، والفدرالية الدولية لحقوق الإنسان (FIDH) ، واللجنة الإسرائيلية لمناهضة هدم المنازل ( ICAHD)، والصوت اليهودي من أجل السلام (JVP)، وجمعية المحامين المسلمين الأمريكيين (AMBA)، وباكس كريستي الدولية، ونقابة المحامين الوطنية (NLG)، والمساعدات الشعبية النرويجية (NPA) ، واللجنة الأمريكية العربية لمكافحة التمييز (ADC)، وائتلاف "ذا ريد نيشن"، والحملة الأمريكية من أجل حقوق الفلسطينيين، وجمعية "وور أون وانت".

للاطلاع على الرسالة باللغة الانجليزية وقائمة المنظمات المصدقة، الرجاء الضغط هنا.

The undersigned Palestinian civil society organizations condemn the resolution passed by the Polish government and signed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stating that the highest level of the Israeli leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, can enter Poland freely. This comes despite the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu (another arrest warrant has been issued for the former Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant).

Being a signatory to the Rome Statute, the founding document of the International Criminal Court, Poland is legally obligated to respect and abide by the Court’s decisions, including to carry out the arrest warrants for Israeli officials on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The double standards with respect to the ongoing genocide in Gaza are clear as Poland recently protested Mongolia’s decision not to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Respect and ensuring respect of international law and treaties is not a matter of political will. Adherence to the Rome Statute concerns fundamental obligations that must be respected by all State parties. Choosing to politicize international courts and cherry-picking which legal obligations to follow renders international law meaningless and poses a serious threat to the international law-based order.

We call on Poland to reverse this decision to fully comply with its obligations under the Rome Statute, implement the arrest warrants issued by the ICC, and abide by the ICJ Advisory Opinion calling on all States to not recognize Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and to not render aid or assistance in maintaining Israel’s illegal occupation, as well as as well as decisions and orders by other international courts and UN resolutions. We further call on the international community as a whole to support the ICC, the ICJ, and uphold the integrity of the international legal system by abiding by their rulings.

Signatories:

• The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy - MIFTAH
• Al-Haq
• Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
• The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC)
• Defence for Children International - Palestine
• Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
• Bisan Center for Research and Development
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

This is an urgent and repeated appeal to the world to immediately intervene, in light of the recent stories of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian women by Israeli occupation forces during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Palestinian women are being displaced, tortured, killed and forcibly disappeared, while the world sits idle. Silence and inaction in the wake of these horrifying crimes amount to complicity.

Over the past few days, more horrifying testimonies and stories have emerged from Gaza of sadistic acts by Israeli soldiers, including torture, rape, and mass field executions at hospitals where civilians are seeking shelter, medical treatment and refuge.

Palestinian civil society and UN experts have sounded the alarm multiple times and reported cases of rape and sexual violence before and during this genocide. These reports continue to be deliberately and inexcusably ignored, including by prominent and otherwise vocal feminist organizations and figures.

The deafening silence of “Western” feminists and mainstream media in particular is deliberate and inexcusable, as opposed to their earlier outrage over Israeli allegations and misinformation, used to justify this genocide.

Many Palestinian women and girls who are survivors of rape and sexual violence are hesitant to come forward, due to the social stigma in a conservative society and the belief that Israel will not be held accountable for such crimes.

Israel is committing the most horrific war crimes, and weaponizing rape and sexual violence against Palestinians as part of its genocide in Gaza and assault on the Palestinian people as a whole, throughout all of Palestine. This is the result of decades of impunity, preferential treatment and lack of international accountability by the international community. Words are not enough to describe or stop this horror; action is needed.

We conclude this SOS appeal by reminding our sisters and allies around the world that our rights, our dignity, and our humanity are indivisible. Forsaking Palestinian victims now for political convenience would be an unforgivable betrayal to decades of sacrifice and feminist struggle.

We call for:

• The international community must employ all available tools of international accountability, including political and economic sanctions, to bring an immediate and lasting ceasefire and provision of unconditional humanitarian aid.

• States must immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel and honor their moral and legal obligations, including those pronounced in the Genocide Convention.

• States need to investigate and prosecute Israeli soldiers with dual citizenship implicated in these atrocities.

• The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict must honor her mandate and launch an immediate investigation into the ongoing atrocities.

• Feminists around the world must sound the alarm globally on the unspeakable human rights violations taking place in Gaza, namely the sexual abuse and rape of Palestinian women and girls.

• Journalists and media outlets must do their due diligence in reporting on these stories through fair and unbiased coverage.

Signatories:

1. American Federation of Ramallah Palestine
2. Association of women’s Action
3. AWMR Italia - Donne della Regione Mediterranea
4. Bisan Center for Research and Development
5. Community Development and Media Center
6. Cultura è libertà una campagna per la Palestina
7. Enjaz Foundation for development
8. Filastiniyat
9. Human Rights and Democracy Media Center SHAMS
10. Institute of Women's Studies
11. Not to forget women society
12. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
13. Palestinian Women's Action committee
14. Rete Femminista Marche Molto+di194
15. Rural Women Development Society
16. Sinal do Vale
17. Singola
18. Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice
19. The center for defense of liberties and civil rights “Hurryyat”
20. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy - MIFTAH
21. The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development-PWWSD
22. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
23. Union of Palestinian Women Committees
24. Wattan media network
25. Women Media and Development
26. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
27. رابطة المرأة العراقية
28. شبكة المستقبل الديمقراطية العراقية

We, at the Palestinian NGO Forum to Combat Violence against Women and all Arab women’s and rights organizations raise our voices loud and clear on the eve of March 8, to say: “Stop the onslaught and crimes against women and children in Gaza. Stop the crime of genocide, the crime of starvation and forced displacement”. So far, this aggression has resulted in the killing of 31,000 Palestinians, over 70% of whom are women and children. Two women are killed every hour , in addition to many others still under the rubble. There are women whose fate is unknown, after being taken away by occupation forces.

Who will restore normalcy for us Palestinian women after these atrocities?

We have always held activities on March 8. We had a long list of rights we demanded and others we were able to achieve. However today, as the women of Gaza are being annihilated, we stand the length and breadth of our homeland and our Arab nations, angry, in a state of revolution and in deep mourning. Our demand today is to halt the genocide in the Gaza Strip and to halt the reproductive genocide against our women. We declare this day the day of Palestinian women, as they stand hungry in long queues, waiting for insufficient aid, terrified of the skies above them, filled with missiles of death. This is for the women whose bodies are exhausted, in camps for the displaced and in shelter centers, for those raped in prison and for their naked bodies stripped at checkpoints. It is for the menstruating women who cannot find sanitary products and for those with high-risk pregnancies who are starving, displaced and bombed. It is for the women whose wombs may be removed for the simplest of medical complications and those whose privacy has been violated because of overcrowded tents and displacement. It is for the mothers who could die at any moment and for all women whose Palestinianism has crucified humanity at the altar, amid deafening Arab silence, boundless American support and the complicity of several European countries.

Nevertheless, we continue to appreciate all forms of Arab and international support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause, which shows respect for our people’s dignity. Widening this solidarity will further reaffirm the justness of our cause. Hence, we await more action and movements in solidarity of our right to demand an immediate end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem, to forge our way forward towards freedom, self-determination and the establishment of an independent and fully-sovereign Palestinian state.

Today, we Palestinian and Arab women, reaffirm the following on March 8 and every day forward:

- To put pressure on Israel to immediately halt its aggression and to hold its leaders accountable for their crimes in violation of international law, the Fourth Geneva Convention and all international laws and treaties, towards delegitimizing this occupying entity.

- To open the Rafah Crossing and all crossings to allow aid in and the wounded out for treatment

- To dismantle the land corridor linking Israel with some Arab countries supplying it with goods

Long Live Palestinian Women, who stand steadfast and resistant in the face of the Zionist aggression We speak in the voices of Gaza’s women and say:

Halt the genocide…halt the onslaught immediately!

As a Palestinian organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq is extremely concerned about the constant escalation of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which are exacting a heavy toll on the civilian population, in particular amongst children. The Israeli air strikes conducted in the last three days against highly populated areas of the Gaza Strip have killed at least 33 people, including 14 civilians, seven of them children, and injured 86 people, including 46 children. These attacks, when coupled with recent statements by Israeli officials clearly indicate a policy of unrestrained violence towards the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. In a notable example, on 20 January, Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter stated that unlawful rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups must be “stopped completely irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians.”

The use of unrestrained force against a civilian population in response to the unlawful rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian armed groups is a blatant violation of the laws of war, enshrined in customary international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. Many of the recent Israeli attacks constitute war crimes which may amount to grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, for which individuals can be held criminally responsible. Grave breaches are the most serious infringements of the laws and customs of war and are listed in Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention as including wilful killings, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. All States have criminal jurisdiction to try those accused of grave breaches, whatever their nationality, or wherever the crimes were committed, by virtue of the principle of universal jurisdiction.

On 27 February an Israeli air strike hit a street in the vicinity of Salam mosques in Jabalia killing five civilians, amongst whom there were four children aged between 7 and 14, and injuring seven people, three of them critically. On the same day around 10:00 pm, three missiles targeted a central area of Gaza City, where the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, an UNRWA school and an 11-storey residential building are located. In the attack a five-month old child was killed, 22 apartments were rendered inhabitable and a clinic was severely damaged. On 28 February Israeli air forces attacked a main street in Jabalia killing two children, aged 12 and 13, and injuring at least another three civilians.

In order for the above killings and injuries to constitute grave breaches both a material and mental element must be satisfied. The material element of the crimes is the death and injury of civilians, who are protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the extensive damage to civilian property. The mental element of the crime, namely the intent to commit the acts leading to the material element is also present. Despite statements by Israeli political leaders and military officers claiming that potential harm to civilians is taken into account during the planning and execution of military operations, the choice of targeted areas, methods of attack and the number of civilians killed and injured, clearly indicate a reckless disregard for civilian life, synonymous with intent. The wilful disregard by those who executed and sanctioned the attacks described above, of the foreseeable impact on civilians is evident in Israeli Defence Minister Barak’s recent blanket statement: "Israel will not refrain from taking any course of action in order to bring a stop to the fire against Sderot."

While the laws of war do allow that civilian life may be lost as an incidental result of military action, this is only the case where such military action distinguishes between military and civilian targets, is proportionate and causes the least foreseeable harm. These conditions cannot be found in the cases reported above.

Those who planned, ordered and executed the attacks described above are individually criminally responsible and should be made the subject of prosecution as required under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The blanket impunity for civilian deaths that military officers and political leaders enjoy in Israel, as recently proved by the rejection of any legal action in regard to the killing of 21 civilians in Beit Hanoun in November 2006, requires that these crimes be prosecuted in other jurisdictions. Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention establishes that the High Contracting Parties have the legal obligation of searching for those who have allegedly committed grave breaches and of bringing them before their courts to face trial.

Some High Contracting Parties, in particular member States of the European Union, have enacted the necessary legislation implementing the principle of universal jurisdiction over grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. No excuse can therefore justify their inaction in view of the unlawful wilful killing of civilians in the OPT.

In light of the cost in human life that Israel’s most recent military escalation in the Gaza Strip is imposing on the civilian population, Al-Haq urges the High Contracting Parties to take immediate action and to fulfil their legal obligations under common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions and Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, in particular to adopt the necessary measures, including searching for and prosecuting those responsible for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and to ensure that Israel as the Occupying Power respects its legal obligations under international humanitarian law.

As a Palestinian NGO committed to the protection and promotion of human rights and international humanitarian law, Al-Haq is deeply concerned by the recent military attacks carried out by the Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza Strip. These attacks, including ground incursions and air strikes, have displayed an excessive and often indiscriminate use of force in crowded residential areas, putting civilians at severe risk of harm and in violation of fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Between 15 and 18 January 2008, at least 39 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, including three children and three women, and at least another 127 have been wounded. Since the beginning of 2008, Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip have caused the death of at least 72 people, including six children and eight women, and have injured at least another 208, amongst those were 34 children and 13 women. During the same period, the Israeli authorities estimate that some 130 home-made rockets were fired towards Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Recent statements by Israeli officials clearly indicate that further escalation of the raids to the Gaza Strip is planned. Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter recently declared “[t]hese [rocket] attacks need not be minimised or managed, but stopped completely irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians” [emphasis added]. Statements such as this, when coupled with the brief overview of the Israeli occupying forces recent attacks in the Gaza Strip provided below, which have resulted in numerous civilians being killed and wounded, demonstrate a marked disregard by the Israeli authorities for the lives of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

15 – 18 January 2008: Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip

On Tuesday, 15 January 2008, Israeli occupying forces, including 13 tanks, two bulldozers and several aircraft, carried out an incursion in the Zaitoun area to the east of Gaza City. The incursion resulted in the death of 17 Palestinians, of whom at least five were civilians, and the injury of at least another 30, five of whom were critically wounded. The attack, which started at 8:15 and ended at approximately 13:00, also affected the area adjacent to the “Tunis” high school where a student was killed and several people were injured. Disturbingly, the area near the school was shelled by tanks a second time after a crowd had gathered to provide assistance to the victims of the initial attack.

On Wednesday, 16 January 2008, Israeli aircraft carried out numerous attacks in the Gaza Strip, targeting cars carrying alleged members of Palestinian armed groups. One of these operations killed three civilians, including a 5-year-old child, when their car, travelling in the Al-Daraj area in the east of Gaza City, was hit by a missile. According to official statements issued by the Israeli military authority the car was hit by mistake. On the same day two alleged members of Palestinian armed groups were killed in a similar strike.

On Thursday, 17 January 2008, at approximately 13:45, an Israeli missile hit a car being driven by an alleged member of an armed group, who was killed along with a 34-year-old woman. Three bystanders were severely wounded. Later that afternoon, another car containing three alleged members of armed groups was hit by a missile, causing the death of all passengers. The same day, at 19:40 in Beit Lahia, a donkey-drawn cart was hit by an Israeli air strike. In the incident, three civilians, namely a woman and two children, were killed, while two more children were wounded.

On Friday, 18 January 2008 at approximately 15:40, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet launched an attack against a building which formerly hosted the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior, located in the south-east of Gaza City. As a result of the attack, the building was completely destroyed. Three civilians, namely a woman and two young men, were killed, and at least 45 others were severely wounded, as at the time of the attack a wedding party was taking place nearby.

All of the above attacks have the distressing common denominator of having been carried out in densely populated urban areas, in apparent disregard for the increased risk of harming civilians.

Distinction and Proportionality

In carrying out the operations described above, the Israeli occupying forces clearly failed, once again, to respect the basic principles of distinction and proportionality enshrined in international humanitarian law.

Under conventional and customary international humanitarian law, civilians are persons who are not members of the armed forces and as such they are protected against attack, unless and during such time as they take direct part in hostilities. Similarly, Parties to a conflict “shall at all times distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives.” Indiscriminate attacks, including bombardment by any method which treats as a single military objective a number of separate military objectives located in an urban area containing a similar concentration of civilians and civilian objects, are strictly prohibited. Additionally, the Parties to a conflict must take all feasible precautions in their choice of means and methods of warfare in order to avoid and minimise incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.

This prohibition on attacking civilians and civilian objects, known as the principle of distinction, should be read in conjunction with the principle of proportionality. The International Committee of the Red Cross, in its authoritative study on customary international humanitarian law, has held this principle to dictate that launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury of civilians and damage of civilian objects, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited. When conducting hostilities in an urban area, the combating parties hold an increased duty of diligence in order to ensure the application of the rules of international humanitarian law, and in particular to spare civilians from the effects of the hostilities.

Israel’s widespread use of heavy artillery, tanks and F-16 fighter jets against civilian populated centres in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas on earth, results in flagrant breaches of the principles of distinction and proportionality, and is therefore unlawful under international humanitarian law. The cost of the Israeli occupying forces’ disregard for these principles is being paid by the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. These civilians, who are entitled to the protection provided under international humanitarian law as a population under belligerent occupation, are instead being subjected to unrelenting attack.

Regrettably, these recent attacks are not an isolated example of the occupying forces’ practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Military raids in urban areas, resulting in similar injury and killing of civilians, have been a sadly recurrent feature of the Israel’s 40-year long occupation of the OPT. Israel’s persistence in launching attacks in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip is evidence of Israel’s complete disregard for the protection of the civilian population and the rules of international humanitarian law.

In disregarding the principles of distinction and proportionality, the Israeli occupying forces carrying out and the political leaders sanctioning attacks such as those described above, have committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which constitute war crimes entailing individual criminal responsibility for the perpetrators. The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions hold the responsibility to bring before their courts those responsible for such breaches, as established under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Further, during his recent meeting with the Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, asserted that the relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip serve, in part, the purpose of “signalling to the population in Gaza that it cannot be free from responsibility to the situation.” This contrasts starkly with Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits collective punishment and further holds that “[…] all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.” The continuous military operations against the densely populated Gaza Strip have sown a state of terror amongst the civilian population, who are already suffering the dire humanitarian consequences of Israel’s ongoing blockade and economic sanctions.

In light of Israel’s consistent failure to adhere to international humanitarian law as described above, Al-Haq is extremely disturbed by the escalation of the attacks on the Gaza Strip. Statements given by Israeli officials in this regard, such as Minister of Defence Ehud Barak, who explained that “[w]e increased, and will increase, the pressure,” clearly indicate that the recent increase in attacks will escalate further.

In light of the above, Al-Haq urges:

Israel to immediately cease indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, consistent with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfil their obligation under common Article 1 to ensure respect for the provisions of the Conventions, taking appropriate measures to compel Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular placing pivotal importance on the respect and protection of civilians from the effects of the hostilities.

The High Contracting Parties to fulfil their legal obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to prosecute those responsible for grave breaches of the Convention.

EU institutions and member states to make effective use of the European Union Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (2005/C 327/04) to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law under paragraph 16 (b), (c) and (d) of these guidelines, including the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions.

The UN Human Rights Council, at its Sixth Special Session currently being held in Geneva, to recommend that the General Assembly invoke GA Resolution 377, Uniting For Peace, to reconvene the 10th Emergency Special Session under agenda item five (Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory).

The UN Security Council to end its inaction by adopting concrete measures, including the imposition of sanctions, in order to ensure Israel’s fulfilment of its obligations under international humanitarian law.

- Ends -

On Sunday 20 January 2008, Israel’s ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip, including the blocking of fuel supplies, forced Gaza’s only power plant to shut down, plunging over 800,000 Palestinians into darkness. According to the General-Director of the plant, the shortage of electricity caused by the lack of fuel will affect the provision of medical care and water and sanitation services. On Sunday morning, the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, which normally operates 130 wells as well as sewage treatment plants, stated that if the fuel supply is not restored by Tuesday, these services will cease to function throughout the Gaza Strip. Since Friday 18 January, Israel has also closed all Gaza’s border crossings and blocked all humanitarian aid, except in exceptional circumstances. With some 80 percent of Gaza’s population requiring food aid, the impact of these measures will be catastrophic. This escalation has also been accompanied by an intensifying of Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip in the first 19 days of 2008, costing the lives of 69 Palestinians, including four children and eight women, and the injury of over 190.

Israel’s current policy in relation to the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million inhabitants constitutes an unmitigated violation of international humanitarian law including, but not limited to, Israel’s obligation as an Occupying Power to, at a minimum, ensure the basic needs of the population under its effective control, and the prohibitions on collective punishment, coercion and unlawful reprisals.

Israel’s current policy and recent actions have shown a casual disregard for the lives and dignity of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, treating their suffering and the violation of their fundamental rights as little more than an inconvenience that will earn gentle reprimand from the international community and Palestinian National Authority, but will otherwise be irrelevant. With the intolerable conditions and constant state of fear that the Gazan population is now forced to live under, it is time for this position to change. Israel must not be allowed to shield itself from the implementation of its international legal obligations, nor should the international community shy away from enforcing such implementation. Inarticulate fears of disrupting a “peace process” that exists only in vague declarations and diplomatic handshakes, that treats the Gaza Strip as separate from the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Palestinians as a divided people, cannot be an excuse for allowing the continued siege of the Gaza Strip. In fact, if any “peace process” is to succeed, the conclusion reached must embody a sense of justice. This requires, as an unavoidable starting point, that the fundamental rights of all parties be recognised and protected.

Al-Haq therefore calls upon,

• Israel to immediately cease all military operations in the Gaza Strip and to end its policy of collective punishment, including the opening of border crossings to allow the movement of goods and people, and restoring the supply of fuel and humanitarian aid.

• the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to establish Israel’s obligations under international law in respect of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, including ending the collective punishment and ensuring access to essential medical services, food and water and sanitation, as an integral part of any negotiations.

• regional organisations and individual states to take concrete measures, including economic and diplomatic sanctions, to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law.

• all international agencies, including the UN, present in the OPT to actively draw the attention of international decision makers to the impact of Israeli policies on the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

• the UN Secretary-General immediately bring the situation in the Gaza Strip to the attention of the Security Council.

• concerned individuals and civil society groups to raise Israel’s violations of international law with elected officials in their home counties.

• Palestinian armed groups to immediately cease the launching of rockets targeting civilian population centres in Israel.

- Ends –

United Nations Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Mr. Martin Scheinin, will present his mission report following his July 2007 visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, 12 December 2007.

In the report, the Special Rapporteur finds serious incompatibilities between Israel’s counter-terrorism laws and practices and Israel’s international human rights obligations. Among his conclusions and recommendations are the following:

• “…not all acts of violence committed against an occupying power, particularly when violence is targeted at military forces of an occupying power, amount to acts of terrorism.” [para. 3]
• “All legislation, regulations and military orders must comply with the requirements of the principle of legality…Having achieved those requirements, the enactment by the Knesset of this new [counter-terrorism] legislation should be accompanied by a repeal or revocation of all current counter-terrorism legislation, regulations and military orders.” [para. 55]
• “[The incompatibilities of Israeli law and practice include those related to] the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; the right to life and humanitarian law principles concerning legitimate targeting; the right to liberty and fair trial; and the severe impact of the construction of the barrier in the West Bank and associated measures on the enjoyment of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights and freedoms in the OPT.” [para.54]
• “Given the illegality under international law of the existence and continued development of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Special Rapporteur recommends that a decision be made immediately to withdraw all such settlements…” [para. 59]
• “To replace the still unfinished barrier, extending deep into Palestinian territory, with a security infrastructure that…respects the Green Line or is otherwise accepted by the Palestinians.” [para. 59]

The Special Rapporteur’s oral presentation related to his Israel/OPT mission report will be broadcast live via the Human Rights Council’s webcast between 9:00 -10:00 am (GMT +1) on 12 December
(http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/index.asp).

The Special Rapporteur’s full report is available in the following formats:
English only - http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/3354845.html
English with Arabic Executive Summary - http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/7750390.html