Exhumation of graves, obstruction of aid entry, abuse of detainees, and the killing of civilians strip the ceasefire of its substance and turn it into a tool for managing genocide.
Date: 26 January 2025
Press Statement
Exhumation of graves, obstruction of aid entry, abuse of detainees, and the killing of civilians strip the ceasefire of its substance and turn it into a tool for managing genocide.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) affirms that what is taking place in the Gaza Strip can no longer be described as sporadic violations of the ceasefire agreement. Rather, it has become a systematic and escalating pattern aimed at transforming the agreement into a political and legal cover for managing a slow-motion genocide—through continued killing, artillery shelling, indiscriminate gunfire, starvation, service collapse, the dismantling of the social fabric, and the imposition of new political and security realities on the ground. This constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and the binding orders of the International Court of Justice to halt acts amounting to genocide and to protect civilians.
ICSPR notes that official data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirm the killing of 486 Palestinians and the injury of 1,341 others since the announcement of the ceasefire on 11 October. The total toll of the Israeli aggression since 7 October 2023 has risen to 71,660 killed and 171,419 injured, in addition to hundreds of victims who remain under the rubble and on roads, amid the inability—and prevention—of ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them. This reflects a deliberate policy of erasing evidence and denying victims their right to rescue, treatment, and justice. ICSPR further confirms that the killing of civilians in the al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, and the injury of a child by occupation gunfire in Khan Younis in recent hours, demonstrate that the ceasefire is being used as a mechanism of population control rather than a legal commitment to protect civilians.
ICSPR condemns and denounces the crime of grave exhumation carried out by the Israeli occupation army at al-Batsh Cemetery and the surrounding al-Sanafour area east of Gaza City, where a systematic exhumation of approximately 200 bodies out of some 450 graves has taken place under the pretext of searching for the body of an Israeli captive soldier. This was accompanied by abuse of Palestinian remains, leaving them exposed in open areas and along the separation fence, followed by reburial in mass graves without respect for human dignity or religious rites. ICSPR affirms that these acts constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, and a grave violation of the sanctity of the dead under the Geneva Conventions, customary international law, and the Rome Statute. They reflect a systematic policy of dehumanizing Palestinians, in life and in death, amounting to one of the pillars of the crime of genocide.
ICSPR warns of the systematic and escalating crimes against Palestinian detainees, particularly detainees from the Gaza Strip who are subjected to enforced disappearance and detention outside the law. Hundreds are held in isolated, underground sections, including special units such as Nitsan Prison, without legal guarantees or international oversight. ICSPR also confirms that women detainees in Damon Prison face raids, repression, and collective punishment, and that detainees overall are subjected to torture, starvation, medical neglect, and denial of visits, with the spread of serious diseases such as scabies without treatment—practices that amount to torture and crimes against humanity.
ICSPR affirms that occupation policies have expanded to include the destruction of infrastructure and homes and the expansion of the so-called “yellow military line,” aimed at imposing forced displacement and reengineering the demographic composition of the Strip. At the same time, Israel supports affiliated militias with weapons and facilitates their activity in certain areas of Gaza, exacerbating civilian suffering, undermining any capacity to restore security and the rule of law, and pushing the Strip toward chaos—constituting a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
ICSPR affirms that the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, the continued closure and obstruction of the Rafah Crossing, and the prevention of the entry of humanitarian aid, fuel, and medical supplies in sufficient quantities constitute a fully-fledged crime of collective punishment. ICSPR notes that more than 90% of Gaza’s population is entirely dependent on humanitarian aid; approximately 95,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition; over 1.3 million displaced persons face a severe shelter crisis; and more than 230,000 women and girls—including about 15,000 pregnant women—are deprived of basic healthcare services amid the near-total collapse of the health system.
ICSPR warns against the use of water and electricity as weapons of war. Gaza’s residents remain without electricity, and water does not reach more than 85% of Gaza City, with only 24 operational water wells remaining. Desalination plant output has collapsed by approximately 85% due to power outages, alongside widespread sewage leakage—portending a comprehensive health and environmental catastrophe that threatens lives and compounds the effects of a silent genocide.
ICSPR warns of the systematic targeting of humanitarian action, particularly attacks on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the tightening of restrictions on humanitarian and international organizations, and the obstruction of their aid. This is part of a deliberate policy to dismantle the humanitarian and legal protection framework for the Palestinian people. ICSPR affirms that such targeting constitutes a grave violation of the occupying power’s obligations under international humanitarian law and UN resolutions. While welcoming the official Egyptian position in support of UNRWA, ICSPR calls on donor states not to succumb to Israeli political blackmail and to continue supporting the Agency as an indispensable humanitarian and legal lifeline.
ICSPR warns against Israel’s instrumentalization of the so-called “Peace Council” as a political tool to cover up occupation violations and manage the crisis rather than resolve it, imposing an alternative ceiling to international legitimacy and the right to self-determination. This turns the ceasefire from a binding legal obligation into a mechanism for perpetuating violations and genocide through quieter means, establishing a dangerous precedent that dismantles international humanitarian law, marginalizes the UN’s role, and privatizes the concept of “peace” at the expense of justice and victims’ rights.
ICSPR calls on mediators, third states, and free people worldwide to act to ensure the cessation of all Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement; to halt genocide and the targeting of civilians and civilian objects; and to secure effective intervention by mediators and the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian people and compel the occupying power to respect international humanitarian law, UN resolutions, and the orders of the International Court of Justice.
ICSPR calls for the complete lifting of the siege and the immediate, unconditional opening of all crossings—including the Rafah Crossing—to ensure the evacuation of the wounded and sick, the return of stranded persons, the flow of humanitarian aid, fuel, and medical supplies in sufficient quantities, the entry of mobile homes and caravans, the restoration of electricity, the operation of municipal and civil defense services, wells and desalination plants, and the entry of equipment necessary to save lives and restore the minimum conditions for life.
ICSPR calls on the United Nations, international organizations, and free people worldwide to support and strengthen international accountability, impose sanctions on the Israeli occupying power, prosecute those responsible for war crimes, genocide, torture against detainees, grave exhumations, and the abuse of human remains before international courts, and exert pressure to prevent the use or manipulation of the so-called “Peace Council” as a cover for managing genocide or circumventing international humanitarian law and relevant UN resolutions concerning the rights of the Palestinian people.
