The statement from ICHR for today's press conference at the gate of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah addressing "The catastrophic consequences of the policy of forced displacement implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip"
The statement from ICHR for today's press conference at the gate of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah addressing "The catastrophic consequences of the policy of forced displacement implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip"
On the eighty-first day of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Independent Commission for Human Rights continues to monitor the deteriorating human rights situation as a result of this war. In particular, we would like to highlight the following issues:
ICHR, based on eyewitness testimonies, has followed the Israeli army's execution of unarmed civilians in various areas of the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern region, as occurred in the Beit Lahia project at Halab School, Shadia Abu Ghazaleh School in Jabalia, and in Al-Awda residential building in the Rimal district of central Gaza City. In more than one case, citizens were killed despite raising white flags, which indicates a code of conduct and instructions adopted by the occupying soldiers that blatantly violated international norms and conventions.
ICHR has also documented repeated attacks on displacement centers, especially in Gaza and the north, where they were invaded by the occupying forces, resulting in the arrest of hundreds and the execution of civilians, as happened in Shadia Abu Ghazaleh School shelter in Jabalia. After the Israeli forces withdrew from the area on December 13th, nine bodies, including women and children, were found. In some cases, the occupying forces looted money and personal belongings of the displaced, including confiscating women's gold in several instances.
Additionally, the occupation forces arrested thousands of people, including children, women, medical teams, aid workers, and journalists, either during their displacement to the south of the Strip or during the army's raids on homes, hospitals, and displacement sites. According to survivors’ testimonies and eyewitness accounts, the occupation army strips detainees, binds them, blindfolds them, humiliates and mistreats them, and records videos and photographs of them in dignity-demeaning positions, before taking them to unknown detention centers.
Survivors’ testimonies and eyewitness accounts confirm that food shortages, severe torture, and neglect of these detainees have led to the death of an unknown number of them, with reports of enforced disappearances of several people arrested by the occupation army.
In this context, and as part of "Israel's" attempts to portray civilian facilities as being used for "military" purposes, as it claims, to justify its crimes against the healthcare system in general, and hospitals in particular, which have almost ceased functioning due to bombing, siege, invasion, and lack of medical and logistical supplies, it presented the administrative director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout, confessing that the hospital was used by Palestinian groups, in a desperate attempt to justify the crimes committed by the occupation army against hospitals and to justify further targeting of the healthcare system in general.
It was clear that Dr. Al-Kahlout was forced to make these "confessions" under torture, confirming the validity of reports about the ill-treatment of detainees, including severe torture.
The arrest of Dr. Al-Kahlout is not the first case, as more than 99 medical and health staff have been detained, including the directors of North Gaza hospitals, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, Dr. Ahmed Mahana, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout. In addition, more than 310 medical staff have been killed, and 28 out of 36 hospitals have been put out of service.
Humanitarianly, the situation has reached beyond catastrophe, especially in the displacement centers housing about 1.4 million displaced people, in conditions that can only be described as degrading to human dignity, amid the spread of epidemics and severe shortages of clean water and food.
The Security Council's decision has contributed to the continuation of the war and aggression on Gaza. At the same time, the arrangements included in the humanitarian aspect have not been implemented to date, amid a deepening humanitarian crisis and the spread of famine, especially in central and northern Gaza, which receive no aid.
Therefore, ICHR demands the following:
1. We demand the UN Security Council immediately decide to stop the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and take practical measures to stop the ongoing genocide and forced displacement in the Gaza Strip.
2. We warn against what is called "voluntary migration," which is a forced displacement process carried out by the occupying authorities amidst the destruction of life-sustaining conditions in the Gaza Strip. We call on all countries not to engage with these calls but to work to strengthen the resilience of Palestinians on their land by stopping the aggression, introducing aid, and beginning immediate reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
3. We demand the formation of an international committee to investigate the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, especially those from the Gaza Strip and reveal the fate of those arrested before it's too late.
4. ICHR is documenting Israeli crimes and will present the information to the International Criminal Court and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. We repeat our call for these entities to visit the Gaza Strip and collect information and documentation directly
5. We demand relief organizations, led by UNRWA, fulfill their duties and deploy their teams in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including central and northern regions.
6. We demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of the wounded without the need for coordination or prior approval from the occupation authorities, and we warn of a significant increase in the number of fatalities among the wounded due to the lack of necessary treatment in the Gaza Strip.
7. We warn of a significant increase in the number of deaths among the elderly and those with chronic diseases due to the destruction of health institutions and the acute shortage of medicines in the market. The Ministry of Health is urged to document the number of deaths due to the inability to access health services, which we estimate to be in the thousands since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza.
8. We warn of the onset of a famine stage that cannot be controlled, with strong indications of its occurrence in some areas, especially among poor families.
