Num:64/2021
Date: 16 May 2021
Press Release
An urgent appeal to urge you to act individually or jointly to stop the Israeli crimes against civilians and their properties in the Gaza Strip.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights “ICSPR” highly appreciates your constant desire to intervene for the sake of humanity.
We are addressing you today to call for more efforts, especially your good endeavors towards stopping the successive Israeli crimes against civilians and their civilian properties in the Gaza Strip, and to make efforts in a way that contributes to urgent intervention to address the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which is currently living in catastrophic conditions, therefore, allow us to brief you of facts and information, which we think is very useful to clarify the truth and expose the falsehood of Israeli allegations, in a way that serves justice and protects human rights, and ensures the implementation of international law.
the International Commission for Supporting Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) sent all the institutions of the international community Among them: Secretary-General of the United Nations ,United Nations Special Envoy to the Middleeast , President of the Human Rights Council , UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory , UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living , International Federation of Journalists , European Union , League of Arab States , Organization of Islamic Cooperation , International Parliament and Arab Parliament.
The criminal record of the Israeli military occupation forces is expanding, as the Israeli crimes for the sixth day are accelerating. From the beginning of the massive Israeli warfare until 22:00 on Saturday, (May 15), the following crimes have been documented:
- The Israeli occupation forces killed 145 civilians, including 41 children, 23 women, and injured 1100, including 313 children and 206 women, 38 of the injured civilians are in critical conditions.
- The Israeli occupation forces carried out more than 1050 airstrikes and artillery bombardment, 90% of which were on civilians or civilian and vital facilities.
- The Israeli occupation forces bombed and destroyed 719 housing units, and damaged 4,217 others, in addition to the deliberate targeting of residential towers, including the Al-Galaa Tower, which includes International and local press institutions, in an Israeli attempt to silence the press.
- The Israeli occupation forces bombed dozens of civilian homes directly and without prior notice, which resulted in wiping 12 entire families from the civil registry, knowing that the victims are mostly children, women and the elderly, in addition to the total destruction of these buildings and extensive damage of homes and adjacent buildings.
- The Israeli occupation forces bombed 63 governmental institutions and headquarters belonging to the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and the Civil Police.
- The Israeli occupation forces completely destroyed two mosques in the northern Gaza Strip governorate, and 16 others were damaged as follows: 8 mosques in the north (Al-Hidaya, Al-Siddiq, Sheikh Zayed, Al-Sahaba, Obai Bin Kaab, Al-Sadiq Al-Amin, Al-Baraka, Shohada Al-Salateen), 4 mosques in the Gaza Governorate (Hamza Bin Abdul-Muttalib, Al-Furqan, Al-Maghazi, Al-Shuhada-Al-Saraya), 2 mosques in Khan Yunis (Al-Saqa, Aisha), and 2 mosques in Rafah governorate (Tariq Abu Al-Hussain, Thu Al-Nourain). In addition to the closure of approximately 42 mosques due to their proximity to places that are directly targeted. Also a number of churches in the Gaza Strip were damaged.
- The Israeli war operations damaged 34 schools, more than one hospital, 23 headquarters for media and charitable societies, and dozens of economic and commercial institutions, and deliberately bombed the infrastructure, especially streets, sewage networks, water wells, as well as electricity, communications and the Internet networks.
- According to United Nations estimates, the Israeli criminal policies have contributed to the forced displacement of nearly 10 thousand civilians who fear for themselves the danger of death due to the repeated Israeli targeting of residential areas, and the deliberate bombing of civilian facilities and homes over the heads of their inhabitants, which led to the extermination of entire families.
- The Israeli crimes came amid the continued closure of all border crossings, which exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially since the announcement of the Electricity Generating Company that the fuel stock in the only power station in the Gaza Strip is about to run out at the end of this week, and thus the power station will completely stop in case that the Kerem Shalom crossing continues to be closed and fuel shipments are prevented from entering the station.
- The occupation forces, over the past few days, escalated their actions against the demonstrators in the West Bank, which resulted in the killing of 10 demonstrators, who went out to express their solidarity with civilians in the Gaza Strip on Friday, May 14, and this coincided with the continuing raids to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the forced displacement of residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the Holy City.
The Israeli military occupation forces tried to provide unrealistic justifications to justify their belligerent behavior towards civilians and their properties, as once it accuses the Palestinian resistance of using densely populated areas in its war operations, and this is unreal, dishonest, and inconsistent with reality, in addition to being a clear violation of the international legal rule that orders to abstain if you have doubts, which govern the rules of armed engagement. Another excuse is saying that it killed 120 Palestinian fighters, and this is refuted and denied by field facts, as nearly 51% of the martyrs of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip are children and women, and 50% of the injured as well are children and women. Moreover, total massacres were committed against 12 families whose members were completely killed, and even the fighters, who are no more than 10% of the martyrs, were targeted in their homes with their families, not in battlefields, therefore, in this case, they enjoy the civil status protected by International law.
The killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military forces comes in the context of a clear disregard for the human rights system and international humanitarian law, yet it continues to try to justify these actions, despite that the fact confirms that the Israeli occupation forces committed crimes on a large scale, that are described as grave crimes.
ICSPR is honored to put this information in your hands, and announces its readiness to respond to additional inquiries that you have, and to provide the documented material evidence you need on the commission of the above-mentioned crimes. In this regard the ICSPR invites you, in its name and on behalf of the victims and their families, to consider the above information, and to work to pressure the Israeli occupation forces to stop their violations and actions against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially in light of the failure of the Security Council to hold an open meeting to discuss the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the continued US politicization of international law in favor of fortifying Israel and its warfare forces. You are the last resort for Palestinian victims and their families who wish to obtain their right to effective judicial and legal justice, and who wish and aspire for a greater role of you that contributes to stopping these Israeli crimes.
ICSPR warns of the escalation of the Israeli military attacks, especially in light of the continuing threats of expanding the war operation to include the ground attack. ICSPR holds the Israeli occupation and its war forces accountable for their actions committed against civilians and their properties, and considers that the intention of the Israeli occupation forces to kill civilians constitutes a war crime in accordance with the Rome Statute of the Permanent International Criminal Court, therefore:
- ICSPR warns of the consequences of continuing your silence and the silence of the states regarding the Israeli crimes committed against civilians and their civilian properties in the Gaza Strip, and peaceful demonstrators in the cities and villages of the West Bank, and civilians living in the city of Jerusalem, and considers this silence as a green light for the occupation forces to continue to shed the blood of defenseless civilians.
- ICSPR calls on the international community (states – organizations) to exert adequate political and diplomatic pressure on the Israeli occupation state in order to stop committing any international crime or violation against Palestinian civilians and their civilian properties.
Based on the foregoing, we hope that you will act now, in order to guarantee the Palestinian human right to life and physical integrity, and the right to self-determination, by adopting this appeal in your capacity and/or on behalf of your organization, and to take all measures to ensure that the demands and rights of Palestinian civilians are met.
