Date:21 May 2024
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd” Calls for Intensified Efforts, Individually or Collectively, to Stop the Israeli Genocide War Against Civilians and Their Properties in Gaza
The International Commission “Hashd” has urged for increased efforts on various levels, particularly diplomatic, legal, and judicial, to halt the genocide war and consecutive Israeli crimes against civilians and their civilian properties in the Gaza Strip. It also called for taking all necessary measures to contribute to urgent intervention to address the famine and deteriorating humanitarian situation, where residents currently endure unprecedented catastrophic conditions, affecting the lives of 2.3 million people.
This call was directed to the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Special Envoy, the President of the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and non-discrimination in this context, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Union, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the International Parliament, and the Arab Parliament.
The appeal presented a series of facts and information, highlighting that the criminal record of the Israeli military occupation forces has expanded unprecedentedly. The Israeli aggression and genocide war have been ongoing for the eighth month, with its scope widening, claiming hundreds of civilian victims daily. Since the beginning of the war, over 47,000 casualties have been documented, including 35,454 arrivals at hospitals and over 10,000 missing persons under the rubble of their homes, in the streets, or in mass graves. Among them are more than 15,000 children, 10,000 women, 496 medical personnel, and 69 civil defense personnel, with nearly 80,000 Palestinian civilians suffering various injuries. Close to 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, and over 11,000 citizens have been arrested, tortured, and detained, with approximately 6,000 remaining detainees whose whereabouts are unknown, perpetuating the crime of enforced disappearance.
Additionally, the occupation has extensively destroyed Gaza, wiping entire cities and camps off the map, leveling them to the ground without these targeted buildings and structures contributing to any military effort. Destruction includes the complete destruction of 86,000 housing units, partial destruction of 394,000 housing units, 356 schools and universities, 186 civilian government headquarters, 3 churches, 600 mosques, 32 hospitals, 206 archaeological sites, as well as water and sanitation stations, bakeries, shops, agricultural and economic facilities, resulting in extensive infrastructure damage that rendered Gaza a disaster area unfit for living, causing a catastrophic situation and an absence of health and humanitarian services due to indiscriminate and organized shelling using nearly 100,000 tons of explosives, including internationally prohibited weapons.
The International Commission “Hashd” emphasized that the Israeli occupation has committed over 4,000 massacres through deliberate shelling and direct targeting without prior warning of homes and entire city neighborhoods, resulting in the erasure of thousands of families from civil records and their extermination on a large scale. The victims are mostly children, women, and the elderly, accompanied by complete destruction of these buildings and widespread damage to neighboring homes and buildings.
Furthermore, “Hashd” pointed out that Israeli criminal policies have contributed, according to UN estimates, to the forced displacement of nearly 2 million Palestinians. They have been forced to leave their homes and flee to the south of the Strip, repeatedly displaced during the invasions of Khan Yunis and Rafah and various areas of the central governorate. Even civilians who remained in northern Gaza were forced to evacuate numerous times in inhumane conditions, continuing to endure famine, thirst, disease outbreaks, and shortages of medical supplies due to indiscriminate and systematic bombing, accompanied by the use of approximately 100,000 tons of explosives, including internationally prohibited weapons.
The International Commission “Hashd” declared its readiness to respond to any additional inquiries and provide necessary documented evidence of the Israeli occupation forces’ commission of the aforementioned crimes, calling for sufficient pressure on the Israeli occupation forces to stop the genocide and violations against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and other Palestinian territories. It highlighted the repeated failure of the UN Security Council to fulfill its duties in stopping the war, and the ongoing American politicization of international law in favor of shielding Israel and its military forces. International bodies represent the last resort for Palestinian victims and their families seeking justice, effective judicial and legal fairness, and hoping for a greater role to halt the genocide and other Israeli crimes.
The International Commission “Hashd” Commission held the Israeli occupation state, its international partners, and its military forces legally responsible for the genocide war and its crimes against Palestinian civilians and their civilian properties, seeing the deliberate killing and destruction by Israeli forces as complete genocide, as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes under the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court.
It warned against the dangerous consequences of the international community’s continued failure and silence regarding Israeli crimes against civilians and their civilian properties in Gaza, considering this silence as a green light for the continued slaughter of innocent civilians. It called on the international community (states and organizations) to exert political, diplomatic, legal, and popular pressure on governments and the Israeli occupation state to halt the genocide and aggression and ensure the return of displaced persons to their homes. The international community is urged to take all necessary measures to enforce the judgments of the International Court of Justice, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid, open all crossings, enable the work of international institutions, including UNRWA, and support the response to the demands and rights of Palestinian civilians to stop genocide and aggression and return displaced persons, and work diligently on the issue of the Israeli state and leaders’ crimes, activating boycotts and imposing sanctions to ensure the Israeli occupation state’s compliance with the rules of international humanitarian law and human rights treaties to stop the law of the jungle.
End.
