Israeli Occupation Continues the Crime of Genocide Through Mass Killings, Starvation, Systematic Destruction, Forced Displacement, the Reengineering of the Gaza Strip, and the Imposition of New Colonial Realities
Date: 22 July 2026
Press Release
Israeli Occupation Continues the Crime of Genocide Through Mass Killings, Starvation, Systematic Destruction, Forced Displacement, the Reengineering of the Gaza Strip, and the Imposition of New Colonial Realities
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the continued commission by the Israeli occupation forces of the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This is being carried out through escalating mass killings; targeting civilians, residential neighborhoods, displacement camps, shelters, civilian and medical facilities, and critical infrastructure; the systematic destruction of homes; the expansion of forced evacuation and displacement policies; the use of starvation, siege, denial of medical treatment, and restrictions on movement as weapons of war; and attacks on the healthcare system, the environment, and the agricultural sector. These actions are taking place alongside the implementation of a military and colonial plan aimed at reengineering the Gaza Strip geographically and demographically and imposing new occupation and colonial realities by force, in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, UN Security Council Resolution 2803, and the binding provisional measures and orders issued by the International Court of Justice.
ICSPR: affirms that the Israeli occupation continues to commit grave violations of the ceasefire agreement, with documented breaches exceeding 3,795, resulting in the killing of 1,180 Palestinians, the injury of 3,810 others, and the detention of hundreds more. The Palestinian Ministry of Health also announced that 12 Palestinians were killed and 12 injured in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities since 7 October 2023 to 73,305, with 173,918 injuries, while thousands of victims remain trapped beneath the rubble.
ICSPR: stresses that the occupation has intensified its attacks on civilians and assassination operations in recent days, committing a series of massacres against Palestinian families. The latest atrocity saw the Al-Masri family burned alive in its entirety in the Al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. Israeli forces have also continued targeting homes, apartments, displacement tents, funeral processions, public markets, humanitarian aid distribution sites, civilian vehicles, and the Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital. These attacks demonstrate that civilians—particularly children and women—are the direct targets of Israeli military operations, as part of a systematic policy of genocide and collective punishment.
ICSPR: notes that the occupation continues its policy of systematically destroying residential neighborhoods by issuing forced evacuation orders and subsequently demolishing entire housing blocks. This has erased vast neighborhoods and rendered them uninhabitable, as part of a policy aimed at enforcing forced displacement, demographic change, and preventing residents from returning to their homes.
ICSPR: confirms that the humanitarian catastrophe has reached unprecedented levels. Approximately 68% of Gaza’s population, around 1.45 million Palestinians, are living in displacement tents, while the remainder are sheltering in damaged or structurally unsafe buildings amid the near-total collapse of essential services, severe water shortages, prolonged electricity outages, mounting waste accumulation, and the spread of disease. The Palestinian Civil Defense has also announced that its humanitarian response capacity has fallen to only 25% due to repeated attacks on its capabilities and the continued blockade preventing the entry of fuel, equipment, and spare parts.
ICSPR: warns that the occupation continues to use starvation as a weapon of war. Around 96% of Gaza’s population is experiencing acute food insecurity, while more than half a million people face the risk of famine. Less than 35% of the humanitarian aid stipulated under the ceasefire arrangements has been allowed to enter the Strip, while food, fuel, medicines, temporary shelters, and humanitarian relief continue to be obstructed. Humanitarian workers also remain under attack, constituting a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
ICSPR: confirms that Gaza’s healthcare system is facing near-total collapse. Essential chemotherapy medicines have been completely depleted, placing the lives of more than 4,000 cancer patients at immediate risk. Patients and the wounded continue to be denied permission to travel for treatment, while severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies have forced the suspension of essential healthcare services. In addition, 4,000 miscarriages were recorded during the first half of this year as a result of the war, malnutrition, and the collapse of maternal healthcare services. Infectious diseases, malnutrition, and anemia continue to spread, threatening the lives of an entire generation of children and women.
ICSPR: further confirms that the occupation continues to destroy the means of life. Approximately 87% of agricultural land has been devastated, alongside thousands of greenhouses, wells, and irrigation networks, leading to the collapse of agricultural production. Meanwhile, residents are forced to live amid accumulating waste and untreated sewage, creating conditions that threaten widespread environmental and public health disasters and undermine any prospects for recovery and reconstruction. ICSPR also condemns the continued bulldozing of cemeteries, desecration of graves, and obstruction of the entry of burial supplies, constituting grave violations of international humanitarian law and human dignity.
ICSPR: expresses grave concern over the accelerating Israeli efforts to reengineer the Gaza Strip geographically and militarily through the expansion of the so-called “Yellow Line,” the construction of earth berms, trenches, concrete barriers, and military bases, and the extension of military control deeper into the Strip, exceeding one kilometer in some areas. These measures coincide with Israeli statements claiming control over 67–70% of Gaza’s territory and openly advocating the re-establishment of settlements there. Such actions reveal a colonial project aimed at imposing new borders, reducing the territory of the Gaza Strip, isolating its governorates, preventing the return of displaced residents, and preparing conditions for the unlawful annexation of parts of the territory.
ICSPR: emphasizes that the combination of mass killings, starvation, systematic destruction, forced displacement, denial of medical treatment, attacks on the healthcare system, the environment and agriculture, the redrawing of military boundaries, and the imposition of new colonial realities does not constitute isolated violations. Rather, it represents a comprehensive and systematic Israeli policy aimed at eliminating the foundations of Palestinian existence in the Gaza Strip and altering its legal, geographic, and demographic character. These acts amount to the crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, forced displacement, and the crimes of unlawful annexation and settlement.
ICSPR: calls upon the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, the International Criminal Court, and all states and international organizations to take urgent action to halt the ongoing genocide; compel Israel to cease its aggression; fully lift the blockade; open all border crossings without restrictions; ensure the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, fuel, medicines, and medical supplies; guarantee the safe passage of patients, the wounded, and students; halt all annexation, settlement, and Gaza reengineering projects; implement the orders of the International Court of Justice; accelerate the proceedings of the International Criminal Court to hold all Israeli officials and their accomplices accountable; impose effective international sanctions, foremost among them a comprehensive arms embargo and the suspension of military cooperation with Israel; and end the prevailing policy of impunity.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) reiterates that all measures imposed by the Israeli occupation through military force—including the redrawing of internal boundaries, the expansion of military control zones, the establishment of military bases and fortifications, and the imposition of new colonial realities—are null and void under international law and confer no legal or political legitimacy upon the occupying power. The Gaza Strip shall remain an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Ending the crime of genocide, terminating the occupation, ensuring accountability and international justice, and enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination remain the only path toward a just and lasting peace founded upon international law and justice.
International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR)
