ICSPR Condemns the Targeting and Killing of Lawyer and Human Rights Defender Mutasim Fares and Calls for an Urgent International Investigation

Date: 12 March 2025

Press Release

ICSPR Condemns the Targeting and Killing of Lawyer and Human Rights Defender Mutasim Fares and Calls for an Urgent International Investigation

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) mourns with deep sorrow and grief the colleague, lawyer, and human rights defender Mutasim Maher Khamis Fares, a researcher and volunteer with the Commission, who was killed on the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March 2026, after succumbing to severe injuries. He was wounded as a result of a heinous crime committed by Israeli occupation forces, who opened fire on the civilian vehicle he was traveling in while passing along Salah al-Din Street near Deir al-Balah, as he was returning from his work in Khan Younis to his home in Gaza City.

The Commission affirms that this crime constitutes a flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and falls within the context of a systematic policy targeting Palestinian civilians and human rights defenders in the Gaza Strip.

This heinous crime reflects the continuation of the aggression, grave violations, the breach of the ceasefire agreement, and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe faced by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

The Commission also notes that the martyr Mutasim Fares had previously sustained moderate injuries in November 2023 as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a civilian gathering near his home in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, in one of the attacks that targeted civilians during the ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

According to the preliminary information and investigations available to the Commission, Israeli occupation forces directly opened fire on a civilian vehicle carrying lawyer Mutasim Fares while he was returning home, causing severe injuries that later led to his death, in yet another crime added to the extensive record of crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

While the International Commission (ICSPR) expresses its deep sorrow over the loss of one of its members and a distinguished researcher in Palestinian human rights work, it stresses that targeting human rights defenders constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights standards, and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It also represents a recurring crime aimed at silencing human rights voices working to document violations and expose crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

The International Commission (ICSPR) holds the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for this crime and calls on the international community, the United Nations, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, and international commissions of inquiry to clearly condemn this crime and to work toward opening a serious international investigation into it and into all other crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces during the genocidal war and the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, which have widely targeted civilians and their property.

ICSPR also calls on the International Criminal Court to take urgent action to accelerate investigations into crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including deliberate killings and the targeting of civilians and human rights defenders, and to work to bring those responsible to international justice.

The International Commission (ICSPR) further affirms that the continued silence and failure of the international community to protect civilians and to hold the occupying power accountable for crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity encourages it to continue committing further violations against the Palestinian people.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to the family of the martyr Mutasim Fares, his friends, colleagues, and all who knew him, and affirms that the blood of human rights defenders will remain a witness to the scale of crimes committed against the Palestinian people and to the necessity of achieving justice and redress for the victims.

Mercy for the martyr Mutasim Fares, and justice for the victims.