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.

MIFTAH recently held its conference entitled: “Participation and Complementarity as a Strategy of Governance amid crises”, attended by a wide spectrum of government representatives, local councils, civil society institutions, popular committees, researchers and academics, in addition to representatives from international institutions.

The conference addressed how the Palestinian people’s existence is being targeted along with their ability to survive and remain steadfast amid the genocide in the Gaza Strip, escalating settlement policies and forced displacement from the West Bank, including Jerusalem. It showed how these complex crises exposed the diminishing effectiveness of the Palestinian institutional structure, the limitations of a centralized model of governance and its inability to singularly respond to the needs of society and protect the social fabric.

The participants reiterated that participation and complementarity between the government, civil society, local councils and popular committees is no longer an administrative option or a procedural improvement, but a national and structural necessity to ensure steadfastness and the ability to manage crises, and preserve social unity and Palestinian geographic integrity in the face of the escalating colonialist onslaught.

They indicated that the absence of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) prompted CSO’s to reconsider public policies and contribute to the development of perspectives on governance, provide practical alternatives that promote national unity and reorganize the relationship between the state and society on the basis of participation and complementarity.

The participants reiterated that experience in the field in the West Bank and Gaza Strip proved that local councils, popular committees and grassroots organizations, played a pivotal role in protecting citizens and providing basic services during times of government capacity collapse. They stressed that ignoring these roles or administratively confining them exacerbated fragility rather than hinder it.

The conference concluded with general agreements over the following points:

One: Adopting participation and complementarity as a National Government Policy

1. Adopting the principle of “complementary participatory governance” as a public policy for this stage: a unifying national framework, not a closed executive plan.
2. Reaffirming the institutional and legislative structural unity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a fundamental and legal reference, and the rejection of any permanent formula of fragmentation.
3. Complementarity calls for the adoption of official- civil partnership in planning emergency priorities and ensuring services and societal oversight, while respecting roles and not replacing them.
4. Considering social protection and preventing expulsion as a central government function, managed at the official/civil level and according to a clear rights-based logic.
5. Establishing permanent national red lines, the right to self-determination and statehood, the right to protection of society, refusal to depoliticize the cause and rejection of any arrangements that cancel out or fragment national representation, while strengthening international solidarity on this basis.

Two: Accountability and societal trust

1. Promoting the mechanisms of societal accountability as a complementary element of participation, ensures justice in the distribution of resources, protects civil action from politicization and polarization and contributes to rebuilding trust between society and institutions of governance.
2. Adopting a declared and binding policy that determines the framework and shape of partnership between CSOs and public institutions, reaffirming the role of civil society in contributing to the formulation of public policies and decisions pertaining to public affairs.
3. Empowering and building the capacities of CSOs in public policies and rules of good governance, and promoting and developing tools for societal accountability.

Three: Promoting the role of local players in crisis management

1. Recognizing the pivotal role of local councils and popular committees in refugee camps, especially in emergency contexts, and developing the experiences of the Gaza Municipality and popular committees in the Jenin camp as two national models that can be evaluated, developed and circulated.
2. Moving from impromptu responses to sustainable and participatory crisis management, based on planning, resource integration and linking social interventions with fair and transparent spending plans.

Four: From the concept of governor to the strategy of governorate

1. Calling to redefine the role of governor and move from a model of “governor” as an individual central authority to a modal of ‘governorate” as an institutional, participatory and complementary body that constitutes a platform for coordination between government and community.
2. Adopting the model of governorate councils as a unifying institutional framework that includes elected representatives of local councils, CSOs, popular committees and the private sector, to promote popular participation and protect Palestinian geographic unity from fragmentation.
3. Organizing the relationship between central and local levels on the basis of functional complementarity and the distribution of authorities, to prevent placing the burdens of the state on society. At the same time, this prevents decentralization to be used as an instrument of fragmentation, in the service of the colonialist project.

The conference closed by emphasizing that confronting the escalating colonialist onslaught cannot be achieved through closed, centralized instruments or top-down approaches. Instead, it requires a model of national governance grounded in participation and complementarity. This model should be based on mutual recognition of roles and the revival of social structures. It must operate within a unifying national framework that protects the unity of society and geography and promotes Palestinian steadfastness.

MIFTAH reiterated its commitment to continuing this discussion, based on its interest in contributing to the promotion of national dialogue. In this regard, MIFTAH does not position itself as an alternative to any legislative or executive body, nor does it seek to replace the role of any political player. Nonetheless, given the significance of the current context and dangers facing our causes, MIFTAH is keen on its commitment to a unifying national approach that promotes dialogue between Palestinians.

MIFTAH looks forward to building on the outcomes of this conference and turning them into sustainable policy and dialogue pathways. The ultimate goal is for the Palestinian government to adopt a policy of participatory and complementary governance. This would lay the groundwork for a model of local governance that reflects the will of society and protects its unity, at one of the most dangerous and complex stages in contemporary Palestinian history.

To view the Full Statement as PDF

MIFTAH welcomes the historic resolution adopted on July 30th by the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the situation of Palestinian women under occupation. We extend our deep gratitude to all member states that have voted in favor of this unprecedented and urgently needed resolution.

For years, MIFTAH has consistently advocated for the rights of Palestinian women through a decolonial and rights-based lens, urging the international community to do the same.

While we continue to address the internal challenges Palestinian women face, through close partnership with civil society organizations and government stakeholders, it remains clear that the single greatest threat to their freedom, safety, and survival is Israel’s ongoing military occupation.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Gaza, where Palestinian women are enduring Israel’s relentless genocidal campaign.

This resolution arrives at a critical moment, as the world begins to engage more seriously with the Palestinian issue, and as the UN concludes its high level international conference on a peaceful and just settlement, including the implementation of the two state solution.

In this context, we must be unequivocal about what justice and peace demand:

• An end to the genocide in Gaza;
• The unconditional and immediate entry of humanitarian aid and supplies into the Gaza Strip;
• The right of return for all Palestinian refugees displaced by Israel;
• A complete end to Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, which continues to expand across the occupied West Bank; the evacuation of all settlers from occupied Palestinian land; and full accountability for settler terror, including prosecution of those responsible for killings and acts of terror against Palestinians;
• The full withdrawal of Israeli military forces and governing authorities from the occupied West Bank. This includes the dismantling of all infrastructure that upholds the occupation: checkpoints, the apartheid wall, military bases, interrogation and detention centers, police stations, and prisons, in full compliance with the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 ruling.
• An immediate end to all forms of economic, military, and political support that sustain Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime, including the suspension of cooperation agreements and the termination of free trade deals.

While these conditions affect all Palestinians, Palestinian women face distinct and gender-specific harms under Israel’s occupation, realities that MIFTAH has documented extensively. From movement restrictions and political repression, to economic marginalization and targeted violence, the occupation entrenches systemic and multi-layered harm against Palestinian women.

We believe that only once these conditions are addressed, can a viable and dignified future begin to emerge for Palestinian women and their communities, after over 77 years of occupation, violations, and aggression.

As we celebrate this important step by the United Nations, we echo the call made by the Minister of Women's Affairs: words must now be translated into concrete action. We urge member states and UN bodies to implement the provisions of this resolution and to pursue sustained efforts toward ending the occupation, securing accountability, and upholding the full rights of Palestinian women, including their right to live free from violence, discrimination, and oppression.

To view the Statement as PDF

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

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