Press Statement and National & International Call Israeli Occupation Continues Committing Crimes of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Colonial Settlements, Judaization, and Obstruction of Humanitarian Work

Date: January 4, 2025

Press Statement and National & International Call

Israeli Occupation Continues Committing Crimes of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Colonial Settlements, Judaization, and Obstruction of Humanitarian Work

The International Commission for Supporting the Rights of the Palestinian People (ICSPR) affirms that the year 2025 marked a dangerous turning point in modern Palestinian history, not only because of the unprecedented numbers of martyrs and wounded, and the extent of total destruction that hit the Gaza Strip, but also due to the systematic transition of the Israeli occupation from traditional occupation and repression policies to a fully-fledged policy of genocide in the Gaza Strip. This occurred alongside extensive aggression, creeping annexation, accelerated settlement in the West Bank, systematic Judaization of Jerusalem, and deliberate dismantling of national resilience components by targeting humans, places, institutions, narratives, and even the very existence of international legal frameworks.

ICSPR emphasizes that what has happened and is happening cannot be separated from unconditional U.S. political and military support, nor from the structural failure of the international community, its double standards, and the absence of effective accountability mechanisms, which turned international law from a protection system into suspended texts. This enabled the occupation to act with complete impunity, flagrantly disregarding international humanitarian law and UN resolutions.

First: ICSPR documents that during 2025, the occupation continued committing genocide against the residents of Gaza through the extensive use of excessive military force, systematic destruction of infrastructure, deliberate starvation, and the imposition of lethal living conditions targeting the very existence of the population.
From October 7, 2023, until the beginning of 2026, the number of martyrs reached 71,271, and the wounded totaled 171,233, mostly women and children, in addition to thousands of missing persons still trapped under rubble or in the streets, while rescue teams remain unable to reach them due to ongoing shelling and lack of resources.
ICSPR notes that more than 90% of residential infrastructure in Gaza was damaged or completely/partially destroyed, turning hundreds of thousands of housing units into uninhabitable rubble, resulting in near-complete internal displacement, one of the largest forced displacement operations of the 21st century.

Second: ICSPR confirms that what was announced as a “ceasefire” was only a fragile pause to manage the aggression, not to end it. Since the declared ceasefire (October 11), Gaza’s Ministry of Health has recorded 416 martyrs and 1,153 wounded, in addition to the recovery of 683 bodies from under the rubble.
Daily violations continue through intermittent shelling, targeting civilians, fishermen, and farmers, closing crossings, and preventing the entry of fuel and humanitarian aid in amounts sufficient to meet the sector’s needs, confirming that the occupation has not ended the genocide and aggression but reshaped it with quieter methods more lethal to daily life.

Third: ICSPR affirms that the occupation still uses starvation as a weapon of war, with more than 1.6 million Palestinians suffering from food insecurity, including hundreds of thousands who only receive one meal a day. The obstruction of agreed-upon quantities of food, medicine, and fuel has led to the deaths of children and patients, and a near-complete collapse of the healthcare system, as more than 70% of hospitals have ceased functioning, 130 medical facilities were damaged or destroyed, and over 1,200 patients died due to the prevention of medical evacuation, including 155 children.

Fourth: ICSPR holds the occupation fully responsible for the deaths of 28 civilians, including children and women, due to extreme cold, fires inside displacement tents, and collapsing buildings on those who sought shelter from rain, while preventing the entry of caravans and housing materials. The Commission also holds the occupation fully responsible for the humanitarian disaster, as more than 900,000 displaced people live in dilapidated tents lacking basic safety, sanitation, or protection from rain and wind, turning winter into an indirect tool of killing, one of the legal components of genocide.

Fifth: ICSPR states that the occupation continues deliberately obstructing humanitarian response, recovery, and reconstruction, preventing the entry of construction materials, caravans, and temporary houses, obstructing UNRWA and humanitarian institutions, and linking any reconstruction efforts to political and security conditions, in a clear attempt to turn Gaza into an uninhabitable area and push its residents toward forced displacement.

Sixth: ICSPR warns that the U.S.-Israeli talk about establishing the “Green City” in Rafah is not a humanitarian solution and constitutes a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and the reconstruction plan. It aims to impose forced demographic redistribution, transform wide areas of the Strip into closed military zones, and enforce long-term collective imprisonment on civilians. It also represents an extension of policies of genocide and annexation, amounting to a prohibited crime of forced displacement and de facto annexation under international law.

Seventh: ICSPR confirms that 2025 was the deadliest year in the West Bank in nearly two decades, with over 1,120 Palestinians killed and more than 10,000 wounded, including children and women, since October 2023 until the end of 2025. These crimes were accompanied by over 4,200 settler attacks, the confiscation of 55,000 dunams, the construction of more than 60,000 settlement units, the demolition of 3,679 Palestinian structures, and the establishment of 16 settlements and dozens of outposts as part of a creeping colonial annexation and ethnic cleansing policy.

Eighth: ICSPR notes that Jerusalem experienced an extremely dangerous escalation in 2025, with 23 Palestinians killed, 331 injured, 74,114 settlers storming Al-Aqsa Mosque, 804 arrests, and 397 demolitions and leveling operations, in the context of comprehensive Judaization targeting the city’s identity and holy sites.

Ninth: ICSPR warns of continued crimes against Palestinian prisoners, with over 10,400 imprisoned, including 3,600 administrative detainees, 78 women, and 320 children, amid escalating enforced disappearance, torture, and medical neglect, causing the deaths of 33 prisoners in 2025. The occupation continues to legalize the death penalty for prisoners and practices abuse while depriving them of all guarantees under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions.

Tenth: ICSPR condemns attacks on humanitarian work, civil society, and media, especially Israeli restrictions aiming to close international humanitarian organizations, criminalize relief work, continue targeting UNRWA, arrest 42 journalists in 2025, block Palestinian content, and prevent media coverage, in an attempt to silence witnesses and erase crimes.

Eleventh: ICSPR emphasizes that as 2026 begins, Palestine stands atop a powder keg: Gaza lives under a ceasefire without protection, the West Bank slowly explodes, and Jerusalem is on the brink of open confrontation. Israel uses this time to impose irreversible realities with direct U.S. support and blatant disregard for Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 2803. ICSPR considers this not a temporary crisis but a project of gradual liquidation of the Palestinian cause, coupled with recognition of Eritrea by Israel as a warning for possible large-scale displacement of Palestinians, potentially triggering a regional explosion.

Twelfth: ICSPR strongly condemns the racist and dangerous statements by extremist Israeli Minister Smotrich about “extending Israeli sovereignty” over the West Bank, and by Benjamin Netanyahu regarding “Greater Israel,” as a clear declaration of intent for annexation, settlement colonization, and liquidation of the Palestinian cause. These statements, alongside U.S. remarks in the Trump-Netanyahu meeting, support Israeli crimes, undermine Resolution 2803, and represent documented political recognition of an expansive replacement project, constituting crimes of aggression, colonial settlement, and apartheid, jeopardizing any political process to end the occupation and rebuild Gaza.

ICSPR affirms that the scale and severity of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, amounting to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, require moving from verbal condemnation to clear and specific obligations at Palestinian, Arab, and international levels, as continuing the current situation is no longer merely a moral failure but a flagrant violation of international law and a direct threat to regional and international peace and security.

First: Palestinian Requirements – Restoring National Action to Confront the Genocide and Annexation Project

ICSPR believes that confronting genocide, forced displacement, colonial annexation, and liquidation plans cannot occur amid political and institutional division. Therefore, the primary Palestinian obligations are:

1. End the division immediately and restore comprehensive national unity by rebuilding the Palestinian political system on democratic and representative foundations, activating the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate and unified representative of Palestinians in the homeland and diaspora, and drafting a unified national program based on international law and the right to self-determination, placing confrontation of genocide, annexation, and settlements as top priorities.

2. Build a comprehensive national strategy for international accountability, including unifying legal efforts, supporting cases submitted to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, providing political, institutional, and full financial backing to prosecute occupation leaders, and resisting any political pressure to derail justice.

3. Strengthen Palestinian societal resilience and protect the home front through emergency economic and social policies that protect the most affected groups, support displaced persons, prevent social collapse, and thwart the occupation’s aim to dismantle society from within and push it toward despair or forced migration.

4. Protect the Palestinian narrative and confront the information war by systematically investing in media, documentation, digital platforms, and fortifying society against attempts to misrepresent or criminalize the Palestinian struggle, linking the Palestinian discourse to legal international frameworks rather than emotional or immediate reactions.

Second: Arab Requirements – What is Happening in Palestine Is a Direct Threat to Arab National Security

ICSPR emphasizes that the situation, particularly in Gaza, is no longer an internal Palestinian matter but a direct threat to Arab national security and the standing of the Arab system itself. Urgent Arab obligations include:

1. Forming an Arab and regional alliance to counter the occupation’s plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause and threaten Arab national and regional security.

2. Using collective Arab political and economic tools, including diplomatic pressure, freezing agreements, activating economic boycott measures, avoiding symbolic statements only, and linking any future relations with the occupation to its commitment to cease aggression and end occupation.

3. Providing a sustainable financial and humanitarian safety net for Palestinians that goes beyond emergency relief to early recovery and reconstruction, supporting resilience, UNRWA, and protecting Palestinian refugees as a political and legal obligation, not a humanitarian favor.

4. Fortifying the Arab position in international forums through a unified stance, clear positions within the UN and its institutions, and pressuring to prevent politicization or obstruction of international justice regarding Israeli crimes.

Third: International Requirements – Restoring Credibility of the International System and Ensuring Justice

ICSPR stresses that the international community faces a historic test: either it restores the credibility of international law or entrenches the logic of force and might. Therefore, international obligations include:

1. Ensuring an immediate and permanent ceasefire and halting Israeli aggression to protect civilians, putting an end to genocide, and preventing the use of “truce” as a cover for ongoing aggression by other means.

2. Lifting the blockade of Gaza and fully opening crossings to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid, fuel, medicine, shelter, caravans, and reconstruction materials without political or security restrictions.

3. Ensuring the evacuation and treatment of the wounded and sick as a legal obligation under Geneva Conventions, not a discretionary humanitarian act.

4. Protecting humanitarian organizations and UNRWA, stopping Israeli measures criminalizing humanitarian work, and ensuring a safe and independent environment for these institutions.

5. Imposing comprehensive international sanctions on the occupation, including arms embargo, halting military and security cooperation, activating boycott and isolation mechanisms, as applied in other conflict situations, without double standards.

6. Prosecuting occupation leaders before international courts, enforcing ICC arrest warrants, and denying political or geographical immunity for war crime perpetrators, as international justice is indivisible.

7. Ensuring freedom of expression and global solidarity with Palestine, halting the persecution of solidarity activists in Europe and the U.S., respecting peaceful protests, and holding digital companies accountable for censorship or bias in blocking Palestinian content.

In Conclusion: ICSPR affirms that responding to these demands is no longer a matter of political choice but a legal, humanitarian, and ethical obligation. Continuing to ignore them will deepen the consequences of occupation crimes, expand instability, threaten international peace and security, and undermine the remaining international justice system.