Dr. Salah Abd Alati: The re-occupation of Gaza constitutes a criminal act of aggression, the peak of genocide and ethnic cleansing, threatens the lives of civilians, and exacerbates their catastrophic suffering
Press Release
Dr. Salah Abd Alati: The re-occupation of Gaza constitutes a criminal act of aggression, the peak of genocide and ethnic cleansing, threatens the lives of civilians, and exacerbates their catastrophic suffering
The Head of the International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR), Dr. Salah Abd Alati, strongly condemned the dangerous decisions approved by the Israeli “cabinet” to fully re-occupy the Gaza Strip and forcibly displace nearly one million Palestinians from Gaza City and the northern areas to the south of the Strip. This constitutes a fully-fledged crime that continues the policy of genocide, systematic killing, starvation, and blockade, and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, international legitimacy resolutions, and the 2024 International Court of Justice ruling, which affirmed the illegality of the occupation and the necessity of ending it.
Abd Alati warned that the implementation of Israel’s plan would lead to unprecedented mass massacres against civilians, especially in the event of escalating ground military operations. This reflects an alarming level of brutality, a total disregard for all rules of international humanitarian law, and contempt for all international condemnations and calls to stop the genocide. It also represents a continuation of the state of impunity and immunity enjoyed by Israel as a result of American support and partnership in these crimes.
Abd Alati also warned of the dangers and consequences of escalating the military attack on civilians in Gaza, given the absence of any preparations or safe corridors, and amid the catastrophic humanitarian conditions endured by the population. He stressed the disastrous implications of the forced displacement of nearly one million Palestinians living in Gaza City and the northern Strip. The re-occupation of the remaining areas in the Strip would mean the total collapse of what is left of the already crumbling humanitarian response, the entrenchment of restrictions on the work of international organizations — especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) — effectively amounting to a death sentence and mass annihilation for the population of the Strip. This represents the peak of brutality and genocide.
Abd Alati affirmed that these plans, based on mass killing, starvation, and forced displacement, will lead to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and pave the way for the implementation of schemes for displacement outside the Palestinian territories. This is in addition to the actions of the occupation forces in the West Bank, including colonial settlement expansion, land annexation, settler terrorism, attacks on Christian and Islamic holy sites, the withholding of Palestinian funds, and the undermining of prospects for establishing a Palestinian state. All of these constitute an illegal and brutal aggression against the Palestinian people, threatening regional and international peace and security.
He added that the occupation’s attempts to justify its plans under the term “control” do not change the reality that this is an illegal military occupation. It is a manipulation of terminology to evade its legal obligations as an occupying power, which include protecting civilians, ensuring humanitarian aid access, providing basic services, and enabling reconstruction. Instead, the occupation continues to evade these obligations through aggression, destruction of property, the imposition of famine, the creation of chaos, incitement of internal conflicts, and the geographic and demographic reshaping of the Strip in an attempt to create a new catastrophe even worse than the Nakba of 1948.
Abd Alati called for a unified Palestinian position based on a national struggle program, genuine national partnership, and unified leadership to confront liquidation plans and reject policies of coercion or the imposition of facts on the ground by force. He urged action at the Arab, Islamic, regional, and international levels to form a bulwark against these crimes.
He also called for referring the file of the occupation’s crimes to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, and for demanding that the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, under the “Uniting for Peace” formula, apply Chapter VII to stop the aggression, impose sanctions on the occupying state, suspend its membership in the United Nations, and form an international humanitarian coalition to protect Palestinian civilians.
Abd Alati held the United States of America, alongside the occupying power, responsible for these crimes because of its unconditional military, economic, and political support. He condemned the continued state of international paralysis — which amounts to complicity — that has allowed the occupation to commit the most heinous crimes for 23 months of ongoing genocide and aggression against the Gaza Strip.
He also urged the United Nations, its agencies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to take immediate action to allow the entry of urgent humanitarian aid and fuel without restrictions or conditions, and to ensure it reaches all members of the Palestinian people amid forced displacement and the tragic conditions faced by hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
Abd Alati reaffirmed that the only way to end this tragedy and ensure security and stability is to end the occupation, establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and implement the relevant international legitimacy resolutions related to the Palestinian cause.
