Reference number: 98/2023
Date: September 6, 2023
Native language: Arabic
Press release
The International Commission (Hashd) rejects the occupation authorities’ deepening of the Gaza Strip’s illegal blockade.
The International Commission for Palestinian Rights ”Hashd” strongly condemns and deplores the recent move by Israeli military occupation authorities to tighten the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for approximately 16 years in a row, as according to available data, the occupation forces have stopped exports of all kinds from the Gaza Strip via Karam Abu Salem crossing, the only facility dedicated to transporting goods to and from the Gaza Strip, beginning Tuesday 09/05/2023, until further notice.
This prevented thousands of workers, farmers, factory and workshop owners, and merchants from exporting their goods, causing tremendous harm to the Strip’s already fragile economic structure as a result of the occupation and unlawful Israeli siege tactics. This is a further and complex breach of the standards of international humanitarian law, which require the occupying authority to provide for the necessities of the occupied population. Including the prohibition of collective punishment policies.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd) warns of the consequences and repercussions of this on the already deteriorating and awful humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territories, including the policy of the continuous Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 16 years, and also of the consequences of tightening the siege on the lives of the population.
This will make the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip more difficult and will inflict more losses on the commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors.
Thousands of its employees will also face the prospect of losing their jobs, which may be their sole means of meeting their families’ daily requirements.
Given that this decision is an extension of the collective punishment policy, deepening the crises in the Gaza Strip by restricting foreign trade, limiting productive activities, and prohibiting the entry of goods and merchandise under the guise of dual-use, it registers and demands the following:
- The International Commission (Hashd): thinks that the latest Israeli limitations on the Gaza Strip are a form of collective punishment and actions of retaliation that are criminal under international humanitarian law and The Statute of Rome.
- The International Commission (Hashd): calls on the international community to compel Israel’s military occupation authorities to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for the 16th year in a row, including the opening of the only commercial crossing to the Gaza Strip, “Karm Abu Salem,” to ensure the flow and freedom of movement, export and movement of goods, particularly since the lifting of the total blockade and the humanitarian response that follows.
- The International Commission (Hashd): The International Criminal Court calls on the International Criminal Court to launch an international and serious investigation into the crime of imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip, for violating the provisions of Articles (7) and (8) of the Charter relating to crimes against humanity and war crimes, and to move away from double standards and politicization of justice and cruelty. The court’s use of double standards when it comes to the Palestinian track.
- The International Commission (Hashd): The Palestinian National Authority emphasizes the importance of assembling all diplomatic, political, and legal tools, including internationalizing the crime of siege, moving quickly to end internal divisions based on partnership, and holding comprehensive elections in a way that rebuilds all national institutions while uniting their efforts in the face of practices, policies, and crimes of the Racist occupation.
Finished.
