Date: 20 Mar 2024
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd” Condemns Israeli Occupation Forces’ Targeting of Aid Security Committees as War Crimes and Despicable Insistence on Using Starvation as a Weapon against Palestinians.
The International Commission to Support the Rights of the Palestinian People “Hashd” strongly condemns the escalation of deliberate attacks by Israeli occupation forces against civilians and aid recipients in distribution areas and their security committees. It highlights the disgraceful insistence on using starvation as a weapon of war amidst a complete absence of international accountability for such ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people for 165 consecutive days. According to available information, on the evening of Tuesday, March 19, Israeli occupation forces fired upon dozens of aid security committees who had gathered in the Kuwait Roundabout area in Gaza to secure aid distribution. Israeli forces deliberately targeted them directly, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 30 individuals and injuring several others. It is noteworthy that the committees were awaiting in an area affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which the occupation categorizes as safe zones.
It’s worth mentioning that Israeli forces previously targeted civilian police forces responsible for securing humanitarian aid, where they deliberately bombed the car of Colonel Mahmoud Al-Bayoumi Abu Al-Nour, director of the Nasirat Police, resulting in his martyrdom and that of his deputy Anas Shukr, at the “Tamween” gate in Nasirat. Earlier, Colonel Raed Al-Banna, director of the North Gaza Investigations Department and responsible for securing the entry of aid convoys into the Jabalia area and its camp, was martyred along with his wife and children after the occupation bombed their house. This came a day after the assassination by Israeli forces of Major Faiq Al-Mabhouh, who supervised coordination with tribes and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the safe entry and securing of humanitarian aid into the north of the sector.
Since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces have targeted police headquarters, public prosecutors, courts, and facilities accompanying aid convoys to spread chaos and security instability and impede the entry of humanitarian aid, aiming to force residents into forced displacement, especially in northern areas made uninhabitable.
Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted aid recipients in the past few days on Salah al-Din Road and Rashid Street south of Gaza City, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of civilians and dozens of humanitarian aid providers. This comes despite widespread international condemnation of the mass killing perpetrated by Israeli forces against aid recipients on Rashid Street on February 29, which resulted in the martyrdom of 118 civilians and the injury of 760 others. This was preceded by five massacres against civilians gathered to wait for aid on Rashid Street, demonstrating Israel’s determination to hinder and prevent the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of northern Gaza.
Thus, Israeli forces continue to target civilians while they search for food to feed their families, and they target humanitarian aid workers to spread chaos and insecurity, deepening the famine resulting from Israeli restrictions and crimes, which have led to the deaths of dozens of children, patients, elderly, and women due to malnutrition and drought. Their deaths were announced at Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which have been invaded and besieged by Israeli forces for two days, resulting in the execution of nearly 100 civilians and the arrest of 300 others, following torture and demanding that displaced persons and residents of surrounding areas be forcibly displaced to the south of the sector. This confirms that Israeli occupation crimes aim to empty Gaza City and northern Gaza of its population.
Therefore, The International Commission “Hashd” emphasizes and demands the following:
- The International Commission “Hashd”: calls on the international community not to suffice with issuing statements and condemning the killing and starving of civilians but to take immediate steps to compel Israel, the occupying power, to comply with the rules of international humanitarian law, cease its aggression, ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.
- The International Commission “Hashd”: calls on the international community to take serious and immediate action to compel the state of Israel to enforce the binding decisions of the International Court of Justice to prevent genocide and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and push it to take practical measures to safeguard the lives of civilians in Gaza, refrain from using policies of killing, forced displacement, arbitrary arrests, starvation, and collective punishment prohibited by all international laws and humanitarian norms.
- The International Commission “Hashd”: calls on the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, to cease genocide, famine, and protect Palestinians, open additional humanitarian corridors to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and its delivery to civilians while preserving their dignity, facilitating the work of international humanitarian institutions, protecting service providers and humanitarian aid workers to ensure their role in delivering food and medicine to the residents of the sector, especially those in the northern Gaza Strip.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
