Date: October 24, 2023
Time: 13:00 Local Time
Original Language: Arabic
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd” reports that every day in Gaza, 120 children and 80 women are killed, and the Israeli occupation continues to annihilate the population of the Gaza Strip through killing, destruction, displacement, starvation, and thirst.
Israeli occupation forces have been conducting their military attacks on Gaza for the 18th consecutive day, using intense and destructive firepower, committing massacres against Palestinian families by demolishing entire residential homes with their occupants. The relentless aerial, ground, and naval bombardments have resulted in the deaths of over 5791 people, including 2360 children and 1292 women. More than 17,000 citizens have been injured, with 75% of them being children and women. Approximately 1,600 bodies remain trapped under the rubble, including 830 children, unable to be retrieved by rescue teams.
The Israeli airstrikes have led to the destruction of half of residential units, private and public properties, civilian infrastructure, streets, and vital structures. Nearly 1.5 million citizens have been displaced from their homes, particularly in the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip.
As the military attacks escalate, forced displacement of the population continues, with overcrowded centers for refugees. Approximately 700,000 citizens have sought shelter in 222 schools, most of which are run by the UN Relief and Works Agency, while the rest live with relatives and friends in overcrowded conditions. These civilians are suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe, marked by severe shortages of water, food, and electricity. Hospitals, bakeries, and water wells are threatened with closure due to targeting and fuel shortages for their generators. Hospitals are experiencing shortages of medical supplies and overcrowding with wounded patients, while Israeli forces threaten to evacuate and target the areas around them.
On the 18th day of the Israeli aggression that began on October 7, 2023, Israel has intentionally targeted children, women, civilians, and civilian structures through indiscriminate aerial shelling of citizens’ homes without prior warning. These actions have led to civilian casualties, instilled fear and panic among the innocent population, all while the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen due to the ongoing Israeli blockade that affects all aspects of life for the citizens. The limited humanitarian aid entering Gaza, approximately 17 trucks per day, accounts for less than 1% of the humanitarian needs in the region. This situation threatens the lives of the people and warns of a complete halt to all humanitarian services due to the ban on fuel imports.
The International Commission “Hashd” condemns the continued Israeli aggression targeting civilians, especially children and women. It denounces the international community’s failure to stop Israel’s crimes of war and genocide against Palestinian civilians, particularly children and women. It emphasizes that Israel’s actions are in clear violation of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 regarding the protection of civilian persons in time of war. These conventions safeguard the lives of children, women, and civilians during times of war, prohibiting retaliatory acts and collective punishment. It also affirms that the protection of civilians requires compliance with the principles of international law regulating the use of force and self-defense, and it is unacceptable for Israel, an occupying power since 1967, to claim self-defense while engaging in collective retribution, denying rights, and subjugating the people of Gaza through killings.
The International Commission “Hashd” warns against the escalation of the aggression in Gaza, Israeli crimes, and settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories, leading to the killing of 96 martyrs and the injury of 1,500 others. More than 3,000 civilians have been arbitrarily arrested, violating the rights of detainees. The body condemns and strongly objects to the racist Israeli statements targeting Palestinians, especially children and women, as these statements justify further war crimes against civilians, women, and children. It asserts that all forms of physical violation by the occupation are forbidden and inhumane, as per the Rome Statute founding the International Criminal Court, the rules of international humanitarian law, and the Convention on Racial Discrimination, as well as all human rights standards. Consequently, The International Commission “Hashd” records and demands:
- An urgent and immediate intervention by international institutions, particularly UN institutions, calling on the UN Security Council and UN institutions to enforce Israel’s compliance with the rules of international humanitarian law, end its retaliatory attacks against civilians, especially children and women.
- The necessity of ending double standards in dealing with the rights of the Palestinian people and other peoples worldwide and the immediate cessation of arms sales to Israel, as these actions threaten peace in the region and the world as a whole.
- The immediate intervention of all international organizations and institutions concerned with human rights and peoples’ rights to pressure the Israeli government to prevent war crimes and crimes against humanity against women, children, and civilians in general in Gaza, and to press Israel to immediately lift the blockade on Gaza and supply all its humanitarian needs.
- All international institutions concerned with the rights of children and women to intensify their efforts to provide security and protection for Palestinian children and women, and to press world governments and the United Nations to provide international protection for them.
- The Palestinian Authority to refer Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court and prepare the Palestinian judiciary to hold Israel accountable for its crimes.
- The activation of all international justice mechanisms based on the principle of holding the occupation accountable and the principle of no impunity.
- All Arab peoples, freedom fighters worldwide, human rights and civil organizations, political parties, youth and student movements to pressure their governments to fulfill their moral and legal duties to provide international protection for Palestinian civilians, especially children and women, and to stop the aggression on Gaza, supporting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
End.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
