Date: 8-1-2024
Time: 13:00 Local Time
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd” Israeli Occupation Forces Deliberately Conceal Evidence of the Ongoing Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza for the 94th Consecutive Day
The International Commission “Hashd”: ” condemns the intentional concealment of the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces for the 94th consecutive day. The occupying forces are silencing voices, preventing media coverage, and targeting journalists through killings, attacks, and arrests. With the recent deaths of journalists Hamza Aldahdouh and Mustafa Thraya, the number of journalist martyrs has risen to 109, including 20 female journalists. Additionally, approximately 274 journalists have been injured, and 10 journalists are currently detained under unknown circumstances and locations. The Israeli authorities continue to block foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip, violating international humanitarian law that provides special protection for journalists, considering targeting them a war crime. Furthermore, these actions violate human rights standards that guarantee freedom of opinion, expression, and media freedoms.
The International Commission “Hashd”: warns of the risks posed by the international community’s failure to protect hospitals and medical staff, given the repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip. Recent attacks on Nasser Hospital and the shelling of Hope Hospital in Khan Yunis are examples of such violations. The vicinity of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah continues to be shelled, endangering the lives of patients and medical staff. This jeopardizes healthcare services in Khan Yunis and the central governorate, especially with hospitals overcrowded with patients, wounded, and displaced individuals. The Israeli occupation’s crimes have forced 30 hospitals out of service, leading to the deaths of 326 medical staff and paramedics. Urgent intervention from the international community, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the Red Cross is required to halt the crimes against hospitals and medical staff, ensuring the delivery of medical supplies and the deployment of field hospitals and medical teams. This is critical amid escalating Israeli crimes, a shortage of doctors, and the exhaustion of medical personnel.
The International Commission “Hashd”: warns of the ongoing failure of the international community to stop the genocide and aggression on Gaza, signaling a potential escalation of genocide against civilians and civilian property. The current aggression has resulted in the destruction and annihilation of 5% of the population, with 70% of the victims being children and women. Furthermore, 80% of buildings, residential units, and civil structures have been destroyed or damaged, turning Gaza into an uninhabitable disaster zone. Two million citizens have been forcibly displaced, experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe under a suffocating siege and collective punishment, lacking electricity, food, medicine, fuel, communication, and facing water scarcity. The spread of diseases and epidemics is exacerbated by limited aid and the suspension of most health and humanitarian services.
The International Commission “Hashd”: calls on the United Nations, High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, international and regional organizations, and free nations worldwide to continue their efforts to stop Israeli aggression on Gaza and the system of racist colonization. It urges the provision of international protection for civilians, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and relief to save the people of Gaza from hunger, cold, diseases, and epidemics. Necessary measures must be taken to prevent a new catastrophe, hold Israel accountable for its crimes, and support the Palestinian people’s struggle to end the occupation and exercise their right to self-determination.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
