Ref: 155/2021
Date: 23 Dec 2021
Press release,
ICSPR: The escalation of extra-judicial killings of Palestinian civilians is new evidence of Israeli occupation’s disregard for the rules of international law.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) is following with great concern and condemnation the escalation of extra-judicial killings practiced by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories. Where on Wednesday evening, December 22, the Israeli military occupation forces executed the young man: Hikmat Abdel Aziz (22 years), from the village of Marka, south of Jenin, after the occupation soldiers fired at his vehicle and set it on fire near the town of Yabad, southwest of Jenin.
The Israeli occupation authorities have recently escalated the number of killings and field executions, the latest of which was the commission of the crime of executing and burning the citizen Hikmat Abdel Aziz, in a clear reflection of declared Israeli policies and methodology, the latest of which was the amendment of the rules of shooting by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian civilians; These policies reflect a clear contempt for the Palestinians’ right to life, which amounts to grave crimes under well-established principles of international law and action.
ICSPR expresses its condemnation of the escalation of the occupation’s crimes against Palestinian civilians, and reaffirms that these crimes would not have escalated against the Palestinian people if they were not for the silence of the international community, which encourages the occupation authorities to commit more crimes against safe civilians. ICSPR warns against the consequences of continuing the Israeli policy of killing and field executions against Palestinian civilians. Therefore:
- ICSPR calls on the international community and all its institutions to act urgently to secure legal protection for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, where the pace of war crimes and crimes of racial discrimination has escalated in an unprecedented and blatant manner.
- ICSPR calls on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to fulfill their obligations contained in Article 1 of the Convention, according to which they pledge to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all cases.
- ICSPR calls on the Palestinian Authority to take real action by mobilizing all available diplomatic, political and legal spaces, in order to strengthen efforts to isolate, boycott, and hold the occupation accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.
- ICSPR stresses the importance of intensifying work with and next to the International Criminal Court, the Human Rights Council, and all international actors, to urge them to take serious action to compel the occupation forces to comply with the rules of international law, including expediting the investigation steps of the International Criminal Court into Israeli crimes.
ICSPR
