Date:15 May 2024
Press Release
76 Years Since the Nakba of the Palestinian People
Israeli Military Occupation Continues to Deny Palestinian Rights and International Law Principles Amidst a Troubling International Silence
Today, Wednesday, May 15th, 2024, marks the 76th anniversary of the Nakba of the Palestinian people, symbolized by the forced displacement suffered by the Palestinian people in 1948 at the hands of Israeli gangs. This occasion coincides with the ongoing refusal of the Israeli occupation state to adhere to international legal and ethical policies and United Nations resolutions related to the Palestinian issue, behaving as if it is above international law.
This year’s commemoration of the Nakba comes amidst the continued Israeli genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, entering its eighth month. This aggression has resulted in the martyrdom of over 35,000 individuals, nearly 10,000 missing persons, the forced displacement of 2 million citizens in Gaza, the destruction of 80% of the sector’s infrastructure, rendering it uninhabitable. This is accompanied by an Israeli scheme aimed at starving and forcibly displacing the population once again, reminiscent of the scenes of the Nakba within Gaza, all under the glaring failure of the international community to stop the greatest modern genocide.
The anniversary of the Nakba coincides with escalating settlement and displacement schemes executed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, within the framework of imposing new facts on the ground, altering the geographical and demographic landmarks of the occupied Palestinian territories, in violation of international legitimacy, particularly UN Security Council Resolution (2334/2016), which affirmed the illegality of settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
The denial by the Israeli military occupation of all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, especially the right of return of Palestinian refugees, as stipulated in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, and its denial of the right of the Palestinian people to determine their political and economic destiny, would not have been possible without the continued conspiracy of the international community and its various organizations in maintaining silence towards the rights of the Palestinian people.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd) reiterates its reminder to the international community of the tragedy and suffering experienced by the Palestinian people since 1948, where they continue to live in a state of refuge, dispersion, and constant human rights violations. It sees that the occupation is working to reproduce scenes of forced displacement, genocide, and killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip. It emphasizes the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation in order to regain their right to self-determination, return to their homes, and reclaim their original properties as a sacred historical right based on the principles of absolute justice and right before it is based on the principles of international law. Therefore, it records and demands the following:
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Considers the right of return and the right to compensation as non-negotiable and non-compromisable rights, conflicting fundamentally with all suspicious calls for resettlement, displacement, integration, assimilation, or compensation as alternatives to the right of return.
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Calls on the international community for urgent and immediate intervention to compel the Israeli occupation to cease Israeli aggression, war crimes, and genocide committed against Palestinian civilians and their properties in the Gaza Strip and the rest of Palestinian territories, and to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for the war crimes it commits before the international community and its organizations.
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Urges the international community not to sacrifice the principles of international law by dealing with the Palestinian issue as a matter of rights with legitimate international status. Therefore, it is imperative for the international community to cease the conspiracy of silence and incapacity by ensuring respect for the rules of international humanitarian law and relevant United Nations resolutions on the Palestinian issue and implementing measures of the International Court of Justice.
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Emphasizes the importance of providing international protection for Palestinians, especially refugees, by working to issue a UN resolution granting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the authority to protect refugees in addition to its traditional duties; and to counter attempts to liquidate UNRWA and provide it with an independent budget; alongside benefiting Palestinian refugees wherever they are from the international protection provided by the International Convention on the Protection of Refugees.
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Urges the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give special importance to activating the role of Palestinian embassies around the world, enhancing their diplomatic movements to champion the rights of the Palestinian people, within a clear national strategy, not just seasonally or politically.
- The International Commission“Hashd”: Calls on the free people of the world, governments, peoples, human rights organizations, and unions to escalate international pressure to stop the ongoing genocide war and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and enhance the protection of Palestinians and support their just struggle to end the Israeli occupation, establish an independent Palestinian state with its capital Jerusalem, and ensure the return of refugees according to Resolution 194.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
