The world must stop the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza
The magnitude of the crimes Israel is currently committing in the northern Gaza Strip in its campaign to empty it of however many residents are left is impossible to describe, not just because hundreds of thousands of people enduring starvation, disease without access to medical care and incessant bombardments and gunfire defies comprehension, but because Israel has cut them off from the world.
Ever since Israel’s current operation in the northern Gaza Strip began on 5 October, the area has been under a near complete siege, relentlessly pummeled by the military. Other than in the most exceptional cases, Israel does not allow humanitarian aid or emergency crews in, taking advantage of the fact that global attention has been diverted to irreversibly change reality on the ground.
According to reports from humanitarian agencies, about 50,000 people have already been forced out of their homes since the offensive began. The three hospitals that still operate in northern Gaza are on the brink of collapse and themselves vulnerable to attack. The same goes for public buildings used as IDP camps, where many people who had sought refuge were killed in Israeli bombardments. The few testimonies that have trickled out of northern Gaza describe dead bodies lining the streets, hunger, drinking water nowhere to be found, and civilians being killed as bombs are dropped on their homes without warning or as they flee for their lives.
For a year now, since the war began, the international community has shown utter impotence to stop the indiscriminate attack on civilians in the Gaza Strip. Now, when it is clearer than ever that Israel intends to forcibly displace northern Gaza’s residents by committing some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war, the world’s nations must take action.
Without immediate, decisive action from the international community, without using every tool available - political, legal, economic - the mass killings in the northern Gaza Strip will continue and the suffering of its besieged civilians will grow. All international bodies and institutions must act now to compel Israel to stop the war and end the carnage.
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Since October 7th, Israel has instated a systemic policy of abusing and torturing thousands of Palestinians in its custody.
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In “Welcome to Hell”, B’Tselem’s new report issued today, dozens of testimonies reveal a reality of harsh, arbitrary daily violence, sexual assault, humiliation, starvation, inhumane hygiene conditions, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, and more.
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The testimonies present the outcome of a speedy process in which the Israeli Government turned Israeli prison facilities into a network of camps dedicated mainly to abusing Palestinians.
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No more excuses. The international community must force Israel to end the occupation.
Responding to the ICJ’s advisory opinion, B'Tselem says:
Over the past 57 years, Israel has demonstrated it has no intention of ending the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem...
...but the opposite, working to further entrench it and annex the territory (whether formally or in practice). Military occupation is one element of Israel’s apartheid regime.
The international community has evaded its duty to protect the Palestinians using various excuses, including the supposed temporary nature of the occupation and the claim that a diplomatic solution designed to resolve the conflict is being negotiated.
The war must stop
The international community is clearly signaling to Israel that the war in Gaza has crossed every line.
Following close upon the ICC prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, the International Court of Justice is ordering Israel to immediately halt all military actions in the area of Rafah that will harm civilians.
Israel has proven that the only way it operates in Gaza entails lethal outcomes for civilians and destruction of living conditions. Therefore, it must immediately halt its military activity there, which will inevitably harm more victims.
*המלחמה חייבת להיפסק*
הקהילה הבינלאומית מסמנת לישראל בבירור שהמלחמה בעזה חצתה את כל הקווים האדומים.
בסופו של שבוע שבו ביקש התובע בבית הדין הפלילי הבינלאומי להוציא צווי מעצר נגד בכירים ישראלים, בית הדין הבינלאומי לצדק מורה לישראל להפסיק באופן מיידי כל פעולות לחימה במרחב רפיח שיביאו לפגיעה באזרחים.
ישראל הוכיחה כבר בעבר שהדרך היחידה שבה היא פועלת ברצועת עזה כרוכה בפגיעה קטלנית באזרחים ובהרס של תנאי החיים. לכן עליה לחדול מיד מהלחימה שתביא בהכרח לעוד קורבנות.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s request to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of committing war crimes in Gaza signals Israel’s rapid decline into a moral abyss.
The international community is signaling to Israel that it can no longer maintain its policy of violence, killing and destruction without accountability.
Likewise, the request for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders for the crimes of October 7 is important and draws a red line where harm to civilians is concerned.
As described in B'Tselem's 2021 position paper, the Israeli apartheid regime implements policies to promote the principle of Jewish supremacy on both sides of the Green Line, in the occupied West Bank, and inside Israel's sovereign territory. Link & more video below. @rcuvnegev
Yesterday's demolition took part inside Israel proper. The 300 or so people who lost their homes are Israeli citizens.
These videos demonstrate the massive scale of policing employed by the Israeli authorities to perpetrate this demolition. @ntiyft
From B'Tselem's position paper:
Israel has used this land to build hundreds of communities for Jewish citizens – yet not a single one for Palestinian citizens. The exception is a handful of towns and villages built to concentrate the Bedouin population... btselem.org/publications/f…