12-11-2019

Press Release

On the shelling of the headquarters of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine, the Commission calls upon an international investigation at the highest level

At approximately 09:50 AM on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, the headquarters of the Independent Commission in the Gaza Strip, which occupies the fifth, sixth and the seventh floors of a multi stories building near the Palestinian Legislative Council in the center of Gaza City, was shelled.

Mr. Bahjat Al-Helu, ICHR’s Coordinator of the Awareness and Training Unit in the Gaza Strip, was slightly injured. It was a fortunate coincidence that the colleagues on the targeted floor just left the place a few minutes prior the shelling to participate in a meeting on the seventh floor, otherwise they would have been directly hit.  

The Independent Commission for Human Rights, condemns the attacks on its offices in Gaza City (and) calls upon the international community to take urgent action to stop the aggression carried out by the occupying power since (the early morning) of today on the Gaza Strip. The Occupying power targeted the house of Bahaa Abu Al-Atta in the neighborhood of Al-Shojaeya in Gaza, assassinated him and his wife and wounded his children. Furthermore, ICHR calls for stopping Israeli war crimes and spare civilians a high humanitarian cost in light of the deterioration of the Gaza Strip in its economic and social conditions. It also considers targeting human rights institutions in this way is a dangerous precedent that requires an urgent international intervention and investigation at the highest level. (ICHR) will continue its work in the service of human rights and expose Israeli crimes, and will continue to follow up the bombing of its headquarters with the relevant international and judicial bodies.