Human Rights and Freedom for All People— A Call not to Isms but to Conscience

    This long-lasting humanitarian scandal …challenging the conscience of all of humanity … involves the entire Palestinian population of Gaza— Richard Falk, Board Chairman of Euro-Med Monitor

Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar; an author (whose books include books include A Study of Future Worlds, Public Intellectual: The Life of a Citizen Pilgrim, and Protecting Human Rights in Occupied Gaza (co-editor); an academic (Princeton University, University of California), board chair of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Professor Falk; and a former United Nations Special Rapporteur
https://richardfalk.org/category/global-justice/
https://www.claritypress.com/book-author/richard-falk/
https://euromedmonitor.org/en/gaza

Euro-Med Monitor

Reporting from the Ground, with Essential Context

In a thirteen-year period (2008-2021), Israeli forces launched four unprovoked attacks (in addition to sporadic air and ground attacks) on the Gaza Strip:

• Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009): three weeks of Israeli forces’ dropping “around 1 million kilograms of explosives on the strip,” destroying “nearly 4,100 houses and damaging 17,500 others”; and leaving “nearly 1,500 (1,436)” Palestinians dead and “about 5,400 others” wounded (including many children and women).

• Operation Pillar of Defense (2012): eight days of Israeli warplanes’ killing “162 Palestinians” and wounding “nearly 1,300” others; destroying “200 houses,” and damaging “another 1,500 homes.”

• Operation Protective Edge (2014): fifty-one days 60,664 Israeli land, sea and air raids’ killing “2,147 Palestinians (in many cases, involving one family) and wounding 10,870 others;” hitting “17,123 homes,” and obliterating “2,465” of them.

• Operation Guardian of the Walls (2021): eleven days of the Israeli army’s air and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure (“especially streets, water wells, and public facilities, as well as the Strip’s economic and productive capacities”) and killing “254 Palestinians” (including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 elderly people), and wounding “about 1,948 others.”

After October 2023 the Collective West (government officials and major media) openly armed and cheered the Israeli militarists’ willful and unchecked belligerence. Reported by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor in May 2024:

The Israeli Army during its forced evacuation of civilians “kills 12 members of same family for no reason” Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor concluded that

The family members were killed deliberately in the context of Israeli crimes against civilians, i.e., (they) were targeted simply because they were Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s crime of genocide, ongoing since 7 October 2023.

The Israeli army has committed hundreds of crimes, the details of which are still unknown due to the ongoing Israeli invasion and attacks. Field teams from Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor are diligently and retroactively documenting war crimes, including planned killings of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.

There remains “an urgent need … for the swift formation of an international investigation committee,” and the dispatch of “experts” … to the Strip to investigate the genocide unfolding there and to collect evidence before it is destroyed by (the belligerents).” https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6314/During-its-forced-evacuation-of-civilians,-Israeli-army-kills-12-members-of-same-family-for-no-reason

Caprice and Callousness

The Israeli government in 1971 constructed on the Israeli side a fence, border barrier or wall separating Israel from Gaza. An Oslo Agreement, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1994, permitted Palestinians to sail up to 20 nautical miles (about 37 km) off the Gaza coast. But the agreement has never been honored: “Israel has arbitrarily limited fishing to an ever-changing zone that is never farther than 12 nautical miles out.”

Restrictions on Movement

    “Before Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza, individuals and goods moved in and out through six crossings: Erez, Karni, Nahal Oz, Kerem Shalom and Sufa via Israel and Rafah via Egypt. Once the blockade was enforced, all of them were closed except for Egypt’s Rafah crossing and Israel’s Erez (for people) and Kerem Abu Shalom (for goods).” And even the Egyptian authorities “impose restrictions on the number and type of people allowed to cross the border.”

    “Palestinians in Gaza are forced to pay high unofficial ‘coordination fees’ to travel through the Rafah crossing without encountering security restrictions or delays.” And Egyptian authorities assail Palestinians “frequent searches…” causing a “journey between the Rafah crossing and Cairo International Airport”—a trip that should take no more than six hours—“to take up to 72 hours.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documents the Gaza Strip’s “Almost unlivable (conditions) after 17 years of blockade”

“Farming and the impact of the ‘buffer zone’”

    An Israeli government-imposed “buffer zone” —prohibiting movement of Palestinians—extends well beyond the border fence. From its 2008 assault, the Israeli government opposed “off-limits” land has represented about 35 percent of the Gaza’s land suitable for agriculture; and Israeli forces have destroyed or contaminated much of this arable land. Through the 2012 Israeli attack and since then Israeli forces have routinely targeted farmers working “in permitted areas.” “Israeli aircraft repeatedly spray herbicide on Palestinian lands along the borders, causing damage to agricultural crops, even in areas that are more than 300 meters from the fence;” thus “threatening farmers’ only source of livelihood.”

    Actual boundaries of a “security zone” separating Israel and Gaza are unclear and, like the designated sea area in which fishing is permitted, “the line always seems to be shifting.”

Strangulation

    “Over the years, Israeli authorities have worked to broaden and deepen the isolation of the Gaza Strip. One of the most draconian restrictions in its impact was Israel’s separation of Gaza from the West Bank. This separation policy restricted Palestinians’ entry into and exit out of Gaza, preventing university students in Gaza from receiving education in West Bank universities, professionals from participating in continuing education, patients from receiving healthcare, businessmen from trading, and families from staying united.”

    The Israeli blockade has driven the Gaza Strip’s economy into long-term, general recession “resulting in the near-total closure of commercial crossings and severe restrictions on the movement of traders and other businesspeople.” The years of wars (just in recent times from 2008 through 2021) have “exacerbated the crisis” in the Gaza Strip, “paralyzing all enterprise” as plants and offices and jobs were destroyed, consequences that extend “long after ceasefires (are) declared.”

    The average number of people living below the poverty line in the Gaza Strip is “twice higher than that of the West Bank.”

• Gaza Strip Unemployment rate by the beginning of 2023: 47 percent (compared to 23 percent in 2005)
• Gaza Strip citizens dependent on aid: 80 percent
• Gaza populations’ poverty rate by the beginning of 2023: 61.6 percent (compared to 40 percent in 2005)

• Land suitable for agriculture deducted by the buffer zone: 35 percent
• Gaza agriculture’s share of the total GDP: 7.1 percent
• Value of agricultural sector losses due to the Israeli blockade and military attacks (2006 - 2022): (in US dollars) $1.3 billion
• Livestock impaired that grazed in the buffer zone: 70 percent

• Area allowed for fishing: 3-6-12 nautical miles
• Number of Monthly incidents in which Israeli Navy targeted fishermen’s boats in 2022: 30
• Gaza’s fishermen living below the poverty line: 90 percent
• Number of registered fishermen in Gaza: 4,000 (fall from 10,000 since the year 2000)

In its April 2024 Report

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor recommends

• That the international community fulfill its legal and moral obligations to the people residing in the Gaza Strip, ensuring that international law and rulings of the International Court of Justice are respected and implemented; and that the genocide the Court has declared as likely to have occurred in Gaza in January (and ongoing for nearly six months) be ended

• That all nations fulfill their international obligations and halt all military, financial, and political support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip—particularly, the immediate halt of all arms transfers to Israel, including export permits and military assistance.

• That Appropriate Entities facilitate the entry of necessary humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip without delay in order to stop the spread of famine—stressing that, under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, bears the primary responsibility for supplying food, medical supplies, and other necessities to the Gaza Strip’s residents.

• That funding be reinstated for UNRWA immediately, as it is the main humanitarian agency in the Gaza Strip—on which more than two million people depend for their survival—putting an end to collective punishment against the Palestinian people and supporting UNRWA* and all other humanitarian institutions operating in the Strip.

• That an independent investigation be opened into the killing of starving people, especially the horrifying massacres for which Israel has tried to evade responsibility.

UNRWA 

    United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established after the 1948 War by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) on December 8, 1949. Its mission is “to carry out direct relief and works programs for Palestine refugees.” The Agency began operations on May 1, 1950. “The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.”

    “The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States;” and receives “some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.”
https://www.unrwa.org/

Genocide Convention

    The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by nations of the United Nations General Assembly (GA Resolution 260 A (III)) on December 8, 1948. 

    The Resolution entered into force in accordance with article XIII on January 12, 1951. Coming out of the Second World War and reflecting on the atrocities of that period, the contracting parties or signatories, “having considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 96 (I) dated December 11, 1946, agreed that 

genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world; and

recognizing that at all periods of history, genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity, and

being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required.

And thus, the contracting parties agreed to the naming and defining of the crime:

    In Article 2 is the definition of genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

In Article 1 the “contracting parties” (or signatories) confirm that 

Genocide—whether committed in time of peace or in time of war—is a crime under international law which they (the contracting parties or signatories) undertake to prevent and to punish. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-punishment-crime-genocide




Sources

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and Europe

Euro-Med Monitor, “Almost unlivable after 17 years of blockade.” https://euromedmonitor.org/en/gaza

_____. “Gaza: Israel deliberately militarizes civilian objects, turns schools into military bases.” May 1, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6296/Gaza:-Israel-deliberately-militarizes-civilian-objects,-turns-schools-into-military-bases

“Palestinian Territory - As part of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, ongoing for the seventh month now, the Israeli army has militarized civilian objects, including schools and educational facilities. Israel’s turning of these facilities into military bases is in flagrant violation of international law and the rules of war.”

_____. “Gaza: With its potential military operation in Rafah, Israel threatens to execute over 1.2 million Palestinians.” May 6, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6306/Gaza:-With-its-potential-military-operation-in-Rafah,-Israel-threatens-to-execute-over-1.2-million-Palestinians.

Palestinian Territory - The Israeli army issued on Monday new evacuation orders against 10s of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip.

_____. “With Gaza's only lifeline cut off, humanitarian catastrophe looms in Rafah.” May 8, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6309/With-Gaza%27s-only-lifeline-cut-off,-humanitarian-catastrophe-looms-in-Rafah

Palestinian Territory - A multidimensional humanitarian catastrophe looms in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, two days after Israel’s army ordered the forced displacement of local residents and previously displaced people, the Israeli ground incursion, and the seizure of the Rafah border crossing.

_____. “During its forced evacuation of civilians, Israeli army kills 12 members of same family for no reason.” May 10, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6314/During-its-forced-evacuation-of-civilians,-Israeli-army-kills-12-members-of-same-family-for-no-reason

Palestinian Territory - Twelve civilians were killed, and three others were injured in a direct and deliberate attack by Israel on 4 December 2023, for no reason, a Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor investigation conducted over the past months has revealed.

_____. “Israeli army carries out random killings, new forced displacement campaign in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood.” May 10, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6317/Israeli-army-carries-out-random-killings,-new-forced-displacement-campaign-in-Gaza-City%E2%80%99s-Zaytoun-neighbourhood

Palestinian Territory - As part of its ongoing military operation in Gaza City, the Israeli army carried out a second day of random killings in the city’s southeastern Zaytoun neighborhood. Israel’s clear aim is to impose a new forced displacement campaign, destroying Gaza City and the Gaza Strip’s northern region, and evacuating its residents.

_____. “New Report: Killing starving Palestinians, targeting aid trucks is a deliberate Israeli policy to reinforce famine in the Gaza Strip.” April 3, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6259/New-Report:-Killing-starving-Palestinians,-targeting-aid-trucks-is-a-deliberate-Israeli-policy-to-reinforce-famine-in-the-Gaza-Strip

Palestinian Territory - A new Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor report titled “Killing starving Palestinians and targeting aid trucks: A deliberate Israeli policy to reinforce famine in the Gaza Strip” reveals the killing of 563 Palestinians and the injury of 1,523 more due to Israel’s targeting of people waiting for aid, distribution centers, and workers responsible for organizing, protecting, and distributing aid.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. 2024. “Killing Starving Palestinians and Targeting Aid Trucks: A Deliberate Israeli Policy to Reinforce Famine in The Gaza Strip.” Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.” April 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P7yQYp7KC2eG711baOY9Ijwa5nht7a4B/view

_____. 2024 “New Report: Killing starving Palestinians, targeting aid trucks is a deliberate Israeli policy to reinforce famine in the Gaza Strip.” April 3, 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6259/New-Report:-Killing-starving-Palestinians,-targeting-aid-trucks-is-a-deliberate-Israeli-policy-to-reinforce-famine-in-the-Gaza-Strip

Palestinian Territory - A new Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor report titled “Killing starving Palestinians and targeting aid trucks: A deliberate Israeli policy to reinforce famine in the Gaza Strip” reveals the killing of 563 Palestinians and the injury of 1,523 more due to Israel’s targeting of people waiting for aid, distribution centers, and workers responsible for organizing, protecting, and distributing aid.

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