Date: December 25, 2023
Time: 13:00 Local Time
Urgent Humanitarian Appeal
The International Commission (Hashd) urgently calls on the people of the world, organizations, and nations to take action to stop the Israeli aggression, genocide, and collective punishment against the people of Gaza.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights urges you to engage in all forms of solidarity with the Palestinians, especially those in Gaza, who have been under continuous Israeli aggression for the past 80 days. During this period, the occupying state has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against civilians without any discrimination, proportionality, or necessity.
The Israeli aggression has resulted in the martyrdom of over 20,000 citizens, including 8,500 children, 6,400 women, 1,500 elderly individuals, 310 medical personnel and paramedics, 146 UN staff members, and 101 journalists. Additionally, 35 civil defense workers lost their lives. Around 55,000 citizens, mostly children and women, suffered various injuries, with approximately 5,000 critical cases that the occupation hinders from being evacuated to hospitals outside Gaza. More than 8,000 people are missing, mostly children and women, trapped under the rubble of their homes. Dozens of bodies remain on the streets without being allowed to be evacuated or buried.
The Israeli aggression forced the involuntary displacement of nearly 2 million Palestinians, with more than half of them seeking refuge in UNRWA schools. During the ground invasion of Gaza, the occupation forces intensified their killing and destruction operations, demolishing about 75% of buildings and homes in northern Gaza and 30% in the south. Civilian infrastructure and service institutions were destroyed, turning Gaza into an uninhabitable disaster area.
The invasion also saw the occupation forces invading shelters for the displaced, especially in hospitals and UNRWA schools, later setting them on fire and turning them into military bases. More than 2,500 citizens remain in Israeli custody with no information about their whereabouts. International Red Cross and UN organizations are conspicuously absent in rescuing the wounded or monitoring the detention conditions after being forcibly evacuated from northern Gaza.
The Israeli attacks continue for the 80th day, with approximately 78,000 tons of explosives dropped, equivalent to over seven atomic bombs similar to those dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan. The use of internationally banned weapons such as white phosphorus, rockets emitting toxic chemical gases, and concussion and vacuum weapons has been documented, causing unprecedented destruction in human history.
These actions constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, the laws of war, and particularly the Geneva Conventions of The Hague, the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, and international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Refugee Convention, and the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, among others.
Therefore, The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) warns against the continued silence and impotence of the international community in stopping the genocide against the Palestinians. It condemns the ongoing support of the United States and the bias of some European governments towards the Israeli aggression. These governments bear legal and moral responsibility for the international crimes and serious violations committed in Gaza.
The Gathering expresses its concern about the continuation and escalation of the military offensive, leading to a new catastrophe for the Palestinian people and forcing them into forced migration outside the Gaza Strip. The ongoing ground invasion, calls for more forced evacuations, and the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure pose a real threat.
The Israeli policy of targeting civilians, destroying civilian structures, and the scorched-earth doctrine, which resulted in more than 1,750 massacres against families whose homes and residential areas were bombed without prior warning, further exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The destruction of civilian structures and residential buildings with explosives, flattening them to the ground to protect Israeli tanks and soldiers infiltrating some areas of the sector, disregards civilians and their lives and properties.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) urgently appeals for immediate international intervention to stop the genocide and protect the civilian population in Gaza. The world must act swiftly to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes against humanity and violations of international law.
As the Israeli aggression continues, civilians are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe due to collective sanctions and military attacks, leading to famine, thirst, and the collapse of essential humanitarian and healthcare services. The destruction of civil facilities and vital infrastructure compounds the crisis, particularly in Gaza City and northern Gaza. Citizens are completely unable to access food, water, or essential life-saving services. In southern Gaza, displaced individuals face shortages of food and water in overcrowded shelters, with limited services and insufficient aid.
Most displaced individuals have resorted to setting up makeshift nylon tents to protect themselves and their families from the cold, lacking proper shelter. The ongoing Israeli aggression has resulted in the deaths and injuries of nearly 2% of Gaza’s population. Approximately 70% of residential buildings have been displaced, leaving thousands of civilians trapped under the rubble. The lack of resources and equipment for civil defense hampers the evacuation of bodies, leaving thousands to decompose under the debris, emitting a stench of death and posing a severe health risk.
The continuation of Israeli attacks, which have already killed and injured thousands, threatens a humanitarian catastrophe. The dangers of dehydration, hunger, destruction, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement persist, claiming innocent lives daily. The survivors endure terror, siege, pain, hunger, and poverty, struggling to access the most basic necessities for life. The international community must act swiftly, individually or collectively, to halt the aggression immediately.
The International Commission (Hashd) asserts that the ongoing Israeli aggression, directed at civilians, particularly children and women, and the transformation of civilian structures into military targets, forewarns of an imminent and devastating humanitarian disaster. The threat of dehydration, starvation, annihilation, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement remains, claiming civilian lives daily. The terror, terrorism, siege, sorrow, and hunger persist as the ability to access the essentials of life diminishes.
Your immediate and collective action to stop the aggression is imperative, as its continuation means more innocent lives and their properties in Gaza will be targeted. It is crucial to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war, protecting civilians and preventing their targeting. Pressuring for the evacuation of the wounded, facilitating the influx of medical supplies, humanitarian aid, and relief, and rejecting the formula of rationing aid are essential steps.
Your fulfillment of ethical and legal responsibilities will stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza, ensuring the rule of law, humanity, justice, and international accountability for human rights violations. Act now to support Palestinian victims, strengthen their resilience, and uphold the values of truth, freedom, justice, and law. Do not accept the policies of equalizing the victim with the aggressor and the double standards. Tomorrow may be too late, giving free rein to the Israeli forces and their fascist and racist actions to perpetrate more crimes of genocide and war.
Please adopt this appeal in your personal capacity and/or on behalf of your organization.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
