Number: 105/2023
Date: October 9, 2023
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd “The United State Government is an Accomplice to Israeli Occupation’s Crimes
For the third consecutive day, Israeli military attacks continue in the Gaza Strip, with a significant escalation in Israeli military operations that have taken on a retaliatory character. These operations deliberately commit mass atrocities against civilians by targeting and destroying homes without prior warning, targeting multi-story residential buildings and towers, mosques, government offices, and institutions alike, as well as widespread destruction of roads and infrastructure. This has resulted, according to the latest statistics from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in the death of 493 civilians, including at least 91 children and 61 women, and 2,271 injuries with varying degrees, including 244 children and 151 women. It has also led to partial and complete destruction of hundreds of homes and civilian facilities.
The Israeli military attacks on Gaza have coincided with the ongoing commission of crimes by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories. This has led to the killing of 14 civilians in the West Bank and Jerusalem in the past hours.
The Israeli military attacks on Gaza are intensifying amid growing suspicions of Israel’s use of internationally prohibited weapons. There is also an unprecedented intensity in the deliberate military targeting with missiles, aiming to displace Palestinians from eastern areas and intentionally destroy infrastructure, main roads, health facilities, and ambulances. This comes at a time when there is a severe shortage of medical supplies in the Palestinian health sector.
The escalating military attacks in Gaza are happening while border crossings remain closed, which will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, especially with the worsening electricity and water crises. Israeli authorities have decided to permanently cut off the supply of electricity and water to civilians in Gaza.
The International Body for the Support of the Rights of the Palestinian People (Hashd) reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupier by all available means, as recognized in international law. It condemns the Israeli military’s doctrine that has turned civilians and their property into military targets, deliberately and randomly targeting them. Hashd holds the Israeli occupation forces and the U.S. government fully responsible for the lives of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories. It condemns the American bias and military, financial, and political support for the occupying state in bypassing international law, which gives Israel a dangerous green light to shed Palestinian blood. Hashd warns of the widening retaliatory attacks and Israeli aggression on Gaza in light of racist statements and serious threats by Israeli political and military leaders towards Gaza. It also warns against the excessive and indiscriminate use of deadly force against civilians and civilian facilities, which shows Israel’s disregard for its obligations under the rules and provisions of international humanitarian law, particularly the Hague and Geneva Conventions Hashd calls for:
- The International Commission “Hashd “Condemning the policy of double standards and the ongoing conspiracy of international and regional silence regarding the heinous crimes committed by the Israeli military authorities.
- The International Commission “Hashd “Urging the contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to make a clear and unequivocal statement about Israel’s refusal to comply with the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories and calling for urgent intervention to stop Israeli crimes.
- The International Commission “Hashd “Urging the United Nations General Assembly to convene under the “United for Peace” formula to provide international protection for Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, and to announce a program to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the system of racial discrimination.
- The International Commission “Hashd“ Calling on the United Nations and world governments to provide sufficient financial support to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) can provide adequate care for over 70,000 displaced Palestinians who have sought refuge in its schools in Gaza.
- The International Commission “Hashd“ Urging the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to include the crimes committed in Gaza in the file of Israeli crimes under investigation, including accelerating the initiation of preliminary investigations and stopping the selective law enforcement policy and delays in completing the investigations.
- The International Commission “Hashd” Calling on international organizations to work diligently to support the Palestinian health sector in Gaza with the necessary medical supplies, especially given the weakened capabilities of the Palestinian health sector due to the Israeli blockade and repeated aggression.
- The International Commission “Hashd“ Urging the Palestinian leadership to break the silence and stand alongside its people by internationalizing the conflict, cutting ties with the occupier, withdrawing recognition, declaring statehood, and forming a unified national leadership to confront challenges and enhance the resilience of Palestinians until comprehensive elections are held and the Palestinian Liberation Organization is rebuilt on democratic foundations.
- The International Commission “Hashd“ Calling for diplomatic and popular efforts to pressure governments worldwide to fulfil their ethical and legal duties to stop the targeting of civilians, especially women, children, journalists, and medical teams, as well as the targeting of homes and civilian facilities.
- The International Commission “Hashd“ Urging freedom-loving people around the world and the international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people, as well as all Arab, regional, and international organizations, to take action on all legal, political, diplomatic, human rights, and popular fronts to prevent the supply of weapons to Israel, impose sanctions on it, and urge world governments to intervene to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza and prevent the expansion of Israeli aggression.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd)
