Het Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest en het bestuur van Rotterdam Philharmonic Festivals willen niet meer werken met de Russische dirigent Valeri Gergiev (68), omdat hij geen afstand neemt van de inval in Oekraïne. Daarmee komt een einde aan een intense samenwerking van tientallen jaren. Het Gergiev Festival in september zal ook niet doorgaan. Rotterdam Philharmonic Festivals is de organisator van dit festival.
“Gisteravond is er contact met Valeri Gergiev geweest en in dit gesprek is de kloof onoverbrugbaar gebleken”
“Gisteravond is er contact met Valeri Gergiev geweest en in dit gesprek is de kloof onoverbrugbaar gebleken”, aldus een woordvoerster.
De organisaties lieten vrijdag al weten ‘met ontzetting’ kennis te hebben genomen van de Russische inval in Oekraïne en een duidelijk signaal hiertegen van Valeri te verwachten. Nam hij niet op korte termijn afstand, dan kwam hij in Rotterdam niet meer op de bok, zo klonk het. Ook orkesten, producenten en zalen in andere landen worstelden inmiddels al met de dirigent, die banden zou onderhouden met Poetin, of zegden al samenwerkingen op.
Directeur George Wiegel van Het Rotterdams Phil zei dat er altijd ‘in muzikaal opzicht tot grote tevredenheid’ met Valeri is gewerkt, maar de inval in Oekraïne is de twee organisaties ’te heftig’ om twijfel te laten bestaan over het standpunt erover van Valeri.
De Rotterdamse relaties met Valeri Gergiev zijn lang. Het Gergiev Festival werd eind vorige eeuw in het leven geroepen door de in regio Ossetië geboren Gergiev zelf, toen hij chef-dirigent was van het Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. In november 1988 leidde Valeri voor het eerst vier concerten bij het Rotterdams Phil in de Doelen, waarop hij al snel vaste gastdirigent werd en in 1995 chef. Dat bleef hij tot 2008. In de tussentijd bracht hij het orkest tot grote bloei en kreeg hij enkele onderscheidingen. Hij werd benoemd tot eredirigent.
Het Münchner Philharmoniker orkest heeft de Russische chef-dirigent Valeri Gergiev ook dinsdag ontslagen. De Rus had een ultimatum gekregen om zich voor maandagavond uit te spreken tegen de Russische agressie in Oekraïne, maar liet niks horen.
Valeri kwam in 2014 ook al in opspraak, toen hij samen met andere kunstenaars een petitie ondertekende voor de annexatie van het Oekraïense schiereiland de Krim door Rusland. Toch werd hij in 2015 aangesteld in München als chef-dirigent.
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Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noot 3/Israelische Terreur
”Shocked Israelis woke on the last day of the Jewish high holidays to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages. Militants in boats also tried to enter Israel by sea.
It was a staggering and unprecedented offensive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a catastrophic intelligence failure by Israel – and both will have long-lasting repercussions and consequences. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that Israel was at war and that Palestinians would pay a heavy price.
Militants infiltrated Jewish communities near the border with Gaza, killing and seizing civilians and soldiers. Unverified videos showed terrified Israelis covered in blood, and with hands tied behind their backs, being taken by Palestinian gunmen. Many people rushed to safe rooms in their homes as the carnage unfolded around them.”
Offensive launched from Gaza represented large failure of Israeli intelligence and is likely to have long-lasting repercussions
What happened on the border between Israel and Gaza on 7 October?
Shocked Israelis woke on the last day of the Jewish high holidays to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages. Militants in boats also tried to enter Israel by sea.
It was a staggering and unprecedented offensive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a catastrophic intelligence failure by Israel – and both will have long-lasting repercussions and consequences. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that Israel was at war and that Palestinians would pay a heavy price.
Militants infiltrated Jewish communities near the border with Gaza, killing and seizing civilians and soldiers. Unverified videos showed terrified Israelis covered in blood, and with hands tied behind their backs, being taken by Palestinian gunmen. Many people rushed to safe rooms in their homes as the carnage unfolded around them.
Hundreds of young people at an all-night dance festival in southern Israel found themselves under fire. “They were going tree by tree and shooting. Everywhere. From two sides. I saw people were dying all around,” said one survivor. Authorities later said that 260 bodies had been recovered.
By nightfall on 7 October, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) estimated there were still 200-300 Palestinian militants inside Israel. There were eight “points of engagement” where the IDF was trying to regain control from militants.
How did Israel respond?
Israel called up army reservists and launched a wave of airstrikes on the tiny strip, which is home to 2.3 million people. Netanyahu warned Palestinians in Gaza to “get out of there now” as he vowed to reduce Hamas hideouts to “rubble”, but there is nowhere for those in the blockaded territory to escape to.
Warplanes targeted several buildings in the centre of Gaza City, including Palestine Tower, an 11-storey building that houses Hamas radio stations.
Israel indicated it may launch a ground invasion and cut off electricity and fuel supplies to Gaza.
Video recorded in Gaza showed a mosque destroyed in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, and several large buildings in Gaza City in ruins.
Palestinians in Gaza shared images of text messages sent by the Israeli military to people in the Beit Hanoun area in the north of the strip that ordered them to leave their homes before the airstrikes.
How many people were killed and injured on first day? And how many Israelis have been taken hostage?
At least 700 Israelis were killed and about 2,000 people were being treated in hospitals – 19 of them in critical condition – according to reports on 8 October.
The IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said more than 400 Palestinian militants had been killed in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, and dozens more had been captured.
The Palestinian health ministry said on 8 October that at least 400 Palestinians had been killed, including 20 children, and nearly 2,000 wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since the day before. Seven people were also killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, including a child, it said.
Hamas reportedly took as many as 100 Israelis hostage – both soldiers and civilians, alive and dead.
Why did Hamas and Islamic Jihad launch the attack?
The exact reasons for the attack were not clear, but there had been growing violence for months between Israeli soldiers and settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank. Armed settlers had attacked Palestinian villages; militants in the West Bank had attacked soldiers and settlers, and there had been repeated IDF raids on Palestinian cities.
In the week before the attack, some Jews had prayed inside the compound of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. The area around the mosque is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and is the third holiest place for Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. To Jews, it is known as Temple Mount, and is venerated as the site of the biblical Jewish temple. Jews are not permitted to pray inside al-Aqsa compound; to do so is highly provocative. Hamas has called its current offensive Operation al-Aqsa Deluge.
The longer backdrop is a 16-year blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt that has almost destroyed the strip’s internal economy and has caused hardship for the people living there.
Extreme religious nationalists who are part of Israel’s rightwing coalition government have repeatedly called for the annexation of Palestinian territory. There has also been speculation that the offensive could have been encouraged by Iran as a means of scuppering moves by Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel.
Why did the attack take Israel by surprise?
Hamas must have planned this offensive for many months, and it is a mystery why Israeli intelligence appears to have had no idea it was coming.
Israel’s surveillance of Gaza is intense. It monitors activity, communications and daily life via state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, including drones flying over the strip. It also relies on human intelligence via informants, many of whom are blackmailed or otherwise coerced into assisting Israel.
The intelligence failure is monumental, and will shake the Israeli public’s faith in their government and army’s ability to protect civilians.
“All of Israel is asking itself: where is the IDF, where are the police, where is the security?” said Eli Maron, a former head of the Israeli navy, on Channel 12. “It’s a colossal failure; the [defence] establishments have simply failed, with vast consequences.”
What does Hamas hope to gain?
The militant organisation that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 has shown the world that it is a force to be reckoned with, but it is hard to see how there can be a positive outcome for Hamas or Gaza from the events this weekend.
Israel is likely to use the full force of its military might to crush militant activity, not just in Gaza but also the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the process, a huge number of Palestinian civilians are likely to be killed, and homes and infrastructure destroyed.
The hostage-taking will also complicate Israel’s response and gives Hamas a significant bargaining chip. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza by Hamas for five years, was finally released in 2011 in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
If Iran is involved, it will hope the violence will scupper any deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Does Hamas have the support of ordinary people in Gaza?
Many people in Gaza just want to get on with their lives, free from the blockade and repeated wars and conflicts. They resent the restrictions imposed on them and the fear instilled in them by Hamas rulers.
However, others are driven to take up arms by the lack of hope and the misery that is characteristic of life in Gaza. They see militant action as the only way of asserting themselves and fighting for a better future.
Support for Hamas has not been tested since the last elections in Gaza in 2006.
What has been the international reaction to the Hamas offensive?
There has been overwhelming condemnation of Hamas and support for Israel’s right to defend itself. Joe Biden told Netanyahu that the US “stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults … My administration’s support for Israeli’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”
The UN security council held an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the crisis. Meanwhile, UN peacekeeping forces have been deployed along the Lebanon-Israel border to “maintain stability and help avoid escalation”.
The Egyptian government said it was in talks with Saudi Arabia and Jordan to try to find a way to defuse the crisis. Egypt has been heavily involved in brokering ceasefires in the past.
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”On October 7, Hamas launched a massive military operation into Israeli territory. The shooting of thousands of rockets into Israel was followed by an attack by land, air and sea, with fighters penetrating deep into territory under Israeli control. They attacked military installations and temporarily took over various settlements. The death toll among Israelis has exceeded 1,200, including more than 120 soldiers; dozens of Israeli hostages were also taken into the Gaza Strip.”
On October 7, Hamas launched a massive military operation into Israeli territory. The shooting of thousands of rockets into Israel was followed by an attack by land, air and sea, with fighters penetrating deep into territory under Israeli control. They attacked military installations and temporarily took over various settlements. The death toll among Israelis has exceeded 1,200, including more than 120 soldiers; dozens of Israeli hostages were also taken into the Gaza Strip.
The planning of the operation took somewhere between a few months and two years, per different accounts from Hamas leaders. The depth and magnitude of the attack were unprecedented and took Israel by surprise. It was a reaction to changing regional dynamics and growing Israeli aggression.
While Hamas may appear to have fulfilled its declared short-term goals of deterring Israeli violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque and taking hostages to bargain for the release of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, it does not appear to have a long-term end game. A heavy-handed response by Israel is ongoing – already claiming more than 950 Palestinian lives – but sooner or later it will have to end with mediation.
Why did Hamas attack now?
Hamas’s move was triggered by three factors. First, the policies of the far-right Israeli government enabling settler violence in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem led to a sense of desperation among Palestinians and growing demands for a reaction. At the same time, the rising tensions in the West Bank caused by these policies necessitated the shift of Israeli forces away from the south and into the north to guard the settlements. This gave Hamas both a justification and an opportunity to attack.
Second, the Hamas leadership felt compelled to act due to the acceleration of Arab-Israeli normalisation. In recent years, this process further diminished the significance of the Palestinian issue for Arab leaders who became less keen on pressuring Israel on this matter.
If a Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal had been concluded, it would have been a turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which may have eliminated the already weak chances of a two-state solution. This was also part of Hamas’s calculations.
Third, Hamas was emboldened after it managed to repair its ties with Iran. In recent years, the movement had to reconsider the political position it assumed in the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, in opposition to Iran and its ally, the Syrian regime.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has said that he was personally involved in improving the relations between Hamas and Damascus. A Hamas delegation visited Damascus in October 2022 and its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh travelled to Beirut in April and Tehran in June. Just last month, Nasrallah hosted the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad al-Nakhalah and the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau Saleh al-Arouri.
Will there be a united front around Hamas?
Iran has denied direct involvement in Hamas’s operation but it has expressed support for it. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Yahya Rahim Safavi said “we support this operation, and we are sure that the resistance front also supports this issue”.
However, Hamas’s realignment with the “resistance axis” does not necessarily mean there will be a united front on the ground confronting Israel. Hezbollah, for example, has not joined the fight. Currently, domestic politics in Lebanon are not conducive to a conflict with Israel, which is holding the Lebanese group back.
What Hezbollah is trying to do is to deter the Israeli army from going too far in its revenge against Hamas in Gaza, hence it is increasing the pressure on the Lebanese border. Its shelling of Israeli positions is most probably meant to have a psychological effect than a military one. It has also chosen not to overreact in relation to the killing of three of its members by Israeli bombardment.
However, both Israel and Hezbollah are on alert and tensions are high, which means miscalculations can happen.
What is Hamas’s end game?
Three days into Hamas’s surprising and overwhelming attack, it is not clear what its end game is and what it can do to reap long-term benefits. Its priority has seemed to be to take both military and civilian hostages to help deter aggressive Israeli retaliation and later exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
However, Israel does not appear to be deterred. Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida has said that Israeli bombardment has killed four Israeli citizens held in Gaza. He has also warned that the movement will start killing hostages if Israel strikes civilian homes in Gaza without warning; this might backfire against Hamas if implemented.
The Hamas leadership has said that the objectives of the attacks are ending “Israeli violations”, securing the release of Palestinian prisoners, and “returning to the project of establishing a state”. Hamas may be able to secure a prisoner swap deal with Israel, although, in the past, many of those released from Israeli prisons had been quickly rearrested. But the group does not have a clear roadmap for moving forward on “establishing a state” and it cannot have one separately from the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
What is next?
Israel has struggled to recover from the attack. It has intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip and announced a total blockade on the coastal enclave, turning off electricity and blocking humanitarian aid. Netanyahu’s government was already facing domestic turmoil before the attack due to its judicial reforms; its stability will now be tested even further.
Israel will have to decide whether to undertake a ground invasion and if it is worth the military and political costs. Whether it proceeds with it or not, sooner or later its military operation, including the excessive bombardment of the strip, will have to come to an end. At that point, Israel will have to ask for Egypt to mediate some kind of conclusion of this escalation and a deal to exchange prisoners.
When the Israeli assault ends, Hamas, which has gained more legitimacy in Gaza and the West Bank with its operation, will also face the challenge of translating it into policies and governance that would serve the Palestinians in the long term.
The United States, for its part, will have to put its normalisation mediation plans on hold for now. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected in Israel and Saudi Arabia later this month to discuss normalisation talks, but his plans have changed and now include a visit to Jordan.
Given the current public mood in the Arab world after the Gaza attack, it would be too complicated to advance talks on a Saudi-Israeli deal. Most probably, these talks will be put on the shelf by the Saudis in the short term but not necessarily fully cancelled.
These developments work in Iran’s favour. With the progress of Arab-Israeli normalisation halted, Tehran can now pressure the US into re-entering a nuclear deal of some kind that would take some of the sanctions pressure off the Iranian economy.
Whatever mediation happens between Israel and Hamas eventually, it is unlikely to address the root causes of the conflict. There does not seem to be any political will within Israel to address issues like the imprisonment of Palestinians, the freezing of Palestinian funds, the dire socioeconomic conditions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, or the continuing settlement expansion. This means the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will continue to fester and produce cycles of violence.
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Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noten 4 en 5/Israelische Terreur
The seven fundamental rules which are the basis of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols.
1 – Persons hors de combat and those who do not take a direct part in hostilities are entitled to respect for their
lives and their moral and physical integrity. They shall in all circumstances be protected and treated humanely
without any adverse distinction.
2 – It is forbidden to kill or injure an enemy who surrenders or who is hors de combat .
3 – The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for by the party to the conflict which has them in its power.
Protection also covers medical personnel, establishments, transports and equipment. The emblem of the red
cross or the red crescent is the sign of such protection and must be respected.
4 – Captured combatants and civilians under the authority of an adverse party are entitled to respect for their lives,dignity, personal rights and convictions. They shall be protected against all acts of violence and reprisals. They shall have the right to correspond with their families and to receive relief.
5 – Everyone shall be entitled to benefit from fundamental judicial guarantees. No one shall be held responsible for an act he has not committed. No one shall be subjected to physical or mental torture, corporal punishment or cruel or degrading treatment.
6 – Parties to a conflict and members of their armed forces do not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of warfare. It is prohibited to employ weapons or methods of warfare of a nature to cause unnecessary losses or excessive suffering.
7 – Parties to a conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants in order to
spare civilian population and property. Neither the civilian population as such nor civilian persons shall be the
object of attack. Attacks shall be directed solely against military objectives.
”Shocked Israelis woke on the last day of the Jewish high holidays to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages. Militants in boats also tried to enter Israel by sea.
It was a staggering and unprecedented offensive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a catastrophic intelligence failure by Israel – and both will have long-lasting repercussions and consequences. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that Israel was at war and that Palestinians would pay a heavy price.
Militants infiltrated Jewish communities near the border with Gaza, killing and seizing civilians and soldiers. Unverified videos showed terrified Israelis covered in blood, and with hands tied behind their backs, being taken by Palestinian gunmen. Many people rushed to safe rooms in their homes as the carnage unfolded around them.”
”On October 7, Hamas launched a massive military operation into Israeli territory. The shooting of thousands of rockets into Israel was followed by an attack by land, air and sea, with fighters penetrating deep into territory under Israeli control. They attacked military installations and temporarily took over various settlements. The death toll among Israelis has exceeded 1,200, including more than 120 soldiers; dozens of Israeli hostages were also taken into the Gaza Strip.”
As Israeli forces continue to intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks, which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as war crimes.
The organization spoke to survivors and eyewitnesses, analysed satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos to investigate air bombardments carried out by Israeli forces between 7 and 12 October, which caused horrific destruction, and in some cases wiped out entire families. Here the organization presents an in-depth analysis of its findings in five of these unlawful attacks. In each of these cases, Israeli attacks violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.
“In their stated intent to use all means to destroy Hamas, Israeli forces have shown a shocking disregard for civilian lives. They have pulverized street after street of residential buildings killing civilians on a mass scale and destroying essential infrastructure, while new restrictions mean Gaza is fast running out of water, medicine, fuel and electricity. Testimonies from eyewitness and survivors highlighted, again and again, how Israeli attacks decimated Palestinian families, causing such destruction that surviving relatives have little but rubble to remember their loved ones by,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The five cases presented barely scratch the surface of the horror that Amnesty has documented and illustrate the devastating impact that Israel’s aerial bombardments are having on people in Gaza. For 16 years, Israel’s illegal blockade has made Gaza the world’s biggest open-air prison – the international community must act now to prevent it becoming a giant graveyard. We are calling on Israeli forces to immediately end unlawful attacks in Gaza and ensure that they take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects. Israel’s allies must immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo given that serious violations under international law are being committed.”
Since 7 October Israeli forces have launched thousands of air bombardments in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 3,793 people, mostly civilians, including more than 1,500 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Approximately 12,500 have been injured and more than 1,000 bodies are still trapped beneath the rubble.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, have been killed and some 3,300 others were injured, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health after armed groups from the Gaza Strip launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on 7 October. They fired indiscriminate rockets and sent fighters into southern Israel who committed war crimes including deliberately killing civilians and hostage-taking. The Israeli military says that fighters also took more than 200 civilian hostages and military captives back to the Gaza Strip.
“Amnesty International is calling on Hamas and other armed groups to urgently release all civilian hostages, and to immediately stop firing indiscriminate rockets. There can be no justification for the deliberate killing of civilians under any circumstances,” said Agnès Callamard.
Hours after the attacks began, Israeli forces started their massive bombardment of Gaza. Since then, Hamas and other armed groups have also continued to fire indiscriminate rockets into civilian areas in Israel in attacks that must also be investigated as war crimes. Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at least 79 Palestinians, including 20 children, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers amid a spike in excessive use of force by the Israeli army and an escalation in state-backed settler violence, which Amnesty International is also investigating.
Amnesty International is continuing to investigate dozens of attacks in Gaza. This output focuses on five unlawful attacks which struck residential buildings, a refugee camp, a family home and a public market. The Israeli army claims it only attacks military targets, but in a number of cases Amnesty International found no evidence of the presence of fighters or other military objectives in the vicinity at the time of the attacks. Amnesty International also found that the Israeli military failed to take all feasible precautions ahead of attacks including by not giving Palestinian civilians effective prior warnings – in some cases they did not warn civilians at all and in others they issued inadequate warnings.
“Our research points to damning evidence of war crimes in Israel’s bombing campaign that must be urgently investigated. Decades of impunity and injustice and the unprecedented level of death and destruction of the current offensive will only result in further violence and instability in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Agnès Callamard.
“It is vital that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urgently expedites its ongoing investigation into evidence of war crimes and other crimes under international law by all parties. Without justice and the dismantlement of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians, there can be no end to the horrifying civilian suffering we are witnessing.”
The relentless bombardment of Gaza has brought unimaginable suffering to people who are already facing a dire humanitarian crisis. After 16 years under Israel’s illegal blockade, Gaza’s healthcare system is already close to ruin, and its economy is in tatters. Hospitals are collapsing, unable to cope with the sheer number of wounded people and desperately lacking in life-saving medication and equipment.
Amnesty International is calling on the international community to urge Israel to end its total siege, which has cut Gazans off from food, water, electricity and fuel and urgently allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. They must also press Israel to lift its longstanding blockade on Gaza which amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, is a war crime and is a key aspect of Israel’s system of apartheid. Finally, the Israeli authorities must rescind their “evacuation order” which may amount to forced displacement of the population.
Gaza’s civilians pay the price
Amnesty International investigated five Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which took place between 7 and 12 October. Between 2012 and 2022, the Israeli authorities have denied, or failed to respond to, all of Amnesty International’s requests to gain access to Gaza. For this reason, the organization worked with a Gaza-based fieldworker who visited attack sites and collected testimony and other evidence. Amnesty International researchers interviewed 17 survivors and other eyewitnesses, as well as six relatives of victims over the phone, for the five cases included in this report. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed satellite imagery and verified photos and videos of attack sites.
In the five cases described below Amnesty International found that Israeli forces carried out attacks that violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.
Under international humanitarian law, all parties to the conflict must, at all times, distinguish between civilians and civilian objects and fighters and military objectives and direct their attacks only at fighters and military objectives. Direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects are prohibited and are war crimes. Indiscriminate attacks – those which fail to distinguish as required – are also prohibited. Where an indiscriminate attack kills or injuries civilians, it amounts to a war crime. Disproportionate attacks, those where the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects is excessive in comparison with the “concrete and direct military advantage anticipated,” also are prohibited. Knowingly launching a disproportionate attack is a war crime.
Whole families wiped out
At around 8:20pm on 7 October, Israeli forces struck a three-storey residential building in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, where three generations of the al-Dos family were staying. Fifteen family members were killed in the attack, seven of them children. The victims include Awni and Ibtissam al-Dos, and their grandchildren and namesakes Awni, 12, and Ibtissam, 17; and Adel and Ilham al-Dos and all five of their children. Baby Adam, just 18 months old, was the youngest victim.
Mohammad al-Dos, whose five-year-old son Rakan was killed in the attack, told Amnesty International:
“Two bombs fell suddenly on top of the building and destroyed it. My wife and I were lucky to survive because we were staying on the top floor. She was nine-months pregnant and gave birth at al-Shifa hospital a day after the attack. Our entire family has been destroyed.”
Amnesty International interviewed a neighbour whose home had been damaged in the attack. Like Mohammad al-Dos, he said that he had not received warning from Israeli forces, and nor had anyone in his family.
“It was sudden, boom, nobody told us anything,” he said.
The fact that the building was full of civilians at the time of the air strike further supports the testimony of survivors who said Israeli forces did not issue any warnings. It took relatives, neighbours and rescue teams more than six hours to remove the bodies from beneath the rubble.
Amnesty International’s research has found no evidence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack. If Israeli forces attacked this residential building knowing that there were only civilians present at the time of the attack, this would be a direct attack on a civilian object or on civilians, which are prohibited and constitute war crimes. Israel offered no explanation on the incident. It is incumbent on the attacker to prove the legitimacy of their military conduct. Even if Israeli forces targeted what they considered a military objective, attacking a residential building, at a time when it was full of civilians, in the heart of a densely populated civilian neighbourhood, in a manner that caused this number of civilian casualties and degree of destruction would be indiscriminate. Indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians are war crimes.
On 10 October, an Israeli air strike on a family home killed 12 members of the Hijazi family and four of their neighbours, in Gaza City’s al-Sahaba Street. Three children were among those killed. The Israeli military stated that they struck Hamas targets in the area but gave no further information and did not provide any evidence of the presence of military targets. Amnesty International’s research has found no evidence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack.
Amnesty International spoke to Kamal Hijazi, who lost his sister, his two brothers and their wives, five nieces and nephews, and two cousins in the attack. He said:
“Our family home, a three-storey house, was bombed at 5:15 pm. It was sudden, without any warning; that is why everyone was at home.”
Ahmad Khalid Al-Sik, one of the Hijazi family’s neighbours, was also killed. He was 37 years old and had three young children, who were all injured in the attack. Ahmad’s father described what happened:
“I was at home in our apartment and Ahmad was downstairs when the house opposite [belonging to the Hijazi family] was bombed, and he was killed. He was going to have his hair cut at the barber, which is next to the entrance of our building. When Ahmad left to go get a haircut, I could not imagine that I would not see him again. The bombing was sudden, unexpected. There was no warning; people were busy with their daily tasks.”
The barber who was going to cut Ahmad’s hair was also killed.
According to Amnesty International’s findings there were no military objectives in the house or its immediate vicinity, this indicates that this may be a direct attack on civilians or on a civilian object which is prohibited and a war crime.
Inadequate warnings
In the cases documented by Amnesty International, the organization repeatedly found that the Israeli military had either not warned civilians at all, or issued warnings which were inadequate. In some instances, they informed a single person about a strike which affected whole buildings or streets full of people or issued unclear “evacuation” orders which left residents confused about the timeframe. In no cases did Israeli forces ensure civilians had a safe place to evacuate to. In one attack on Jabalia market attack, people had left their homes in response to an “evacuation” order, only to be killed in the place to which they had fled.
On 8 October, an Israeli air strike struck the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip, killing Mohammed and Shuruq al-Naqla, and two of their children, Omar, three, and Yousef, five, and injuring their two-year-old daughter Mariam and their three-year-old nephew Abdel Karim. Around 20 other people were also injured in the strike.
Ismail al-Naqla, Mohammed’s brother and the father of Abdel Karim, told Amnesty International that their next-door neighbour received a call from the Israeli military at around 10:30am, warning that his building was about to be bombed. Ismail and Mohammed and their families left the building immediately, as did their neighbours. By 3:30pm, there had been no attack, so the al-Naqlas and others went home to collect necessities. Ismail explained that they had thought it would be safe to do so as five hours had elapsed since the warning, though they planned to leave again very quickly.
But as they were returning to their apartments, a bomb struck the building next door, destroying the al-Naqlas’ home and damaging others nearby. Mohammed and his family were still in the courtyard of their building when they were killed. Ismail described seeing part of his five-year-old nephew Yousef’s brain “outside of his head” and said that three-year-old Omar’s body could not be recovered from under the rubble until the next day. He told Amnesty International that Mariam and Abdel Karim, the two surviving children, were released from hospital quickly as Gaza’s hospitals are overwhelmed with the volume of casualties.
Giving a warning does not free armed forces from their other obligations under international humanitarian law. Particularly given the time that had elapsed since the warning was issued, those carrying out the attack should have checked whether civilians were present before proceeding with the attack. Furthermore, if, as appears, this was a direct attack on a civilian object, this would constitute a war crime.
‘Everyone was looking for their children’
At around 10:30am on 9 October, Israeli air strikes hit a market in Jabalia refugee camp, located a few kilometres north of Gaza City, killing at least 69 people. The market street is known to be one of the busiest commercial areas in northern Gaza. That day it was even more crowded than usual, as it was filled with thousands of people from nearby areas who had fled their homes empty-handed earlier that morning after receiving text messages from the Israeli army.
Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed six videos showing the aftermath of the airstrike on Jabalia camp market. The images show a densely populated area with multi-storey buildings. Videos of the aftermath and satellite imagery show at least three multi-storey buildings completely destroyed and several structures in the surroundings heavily damaged. Numerous deceased bodies are also seen under the rubble in the graphic footage.
According to the Israeli military, they were targeting “a mosque in which Hamas members had been present” when they struck Jabalia market, but they have provided no evidence to substantiate their claim. Regardless, membership in a political group does not in itself make an individual targetable. Satellite imagery analysed by Amnesty International showed no mosque in the immediate vicinity of the market street.
Based on witness testimony, satellite imagery, and verified videos, the attack, which resulted in high civilian casualties was indiscriminate and must be investigated as a war crime.
Imad Hamad, aged 19, was killed in the strike on the Jabalia market while he was on his way to buy bread and mattresses for the family. His father, Ziyad Hamad, described to Amnesty International how a day earlier their family had left their home in Beit Hanoun after receiving a warning message from the Israeli army, and had walked almost five kilometres to a UNRWA-run school, which was operating as a shelter, in Jabalia camp.
On the walk, his son, Imad, had carried his toddler brother on his shoulders. The next day, Ziyad told Amnesty International, he was carrying Imad’s dead body on his own shoulders, taking his son to be buried.
Ziyad described the hellish scenes he encountered at the morgue where he found his son’s body, along with many others.
“The bodies were burned, I was scared of looking. I didn’t want to look, I was scared of looking at Imad’s face. The bodies were scattered on the floor. Everyone was looking for their children in these piles. I recognized my son only by his trousers. I wanted to bury him immediately, so I carried my son and got him out. I carried him.”
When Amnesty International spoke to Ziyad and his displaced family, they were at a UNRWA-run school which was sheltering displaced people. He said there were no basic services or sanitation, and that they had no mattresses.
Ziyad’s despair at the injustices he has suffered is palpable.
“What did I do to deserve this?” he asked.
“To lose my son, to lose my house, to sleep on the floor of a classroom? My children are wetting themselves, of panic, of fear, of cold. We have nothing to do with this. What fault did we commit? I raised my child, my entire life, for what? To see him die while buying bread.”
While Amnesty’s researcher was talking to Ziyad over the phone, another air strike hit nearby.
Since Amnesty researchers interviewed Ziyad on 10 October, conditions for internally displaced people have deteriorated further, due to the scale of the displacement and the extent of the destruction and the devastating effects of the total blockade imposed since 9 October. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of internally displaced people in Gaza had reached 1 million by 19 October, including over 527,500 people who are staying in UNRWA emergency shelters in central and southern Gaza.
‘We cannot even count our dead’
On 10 October an Israeli air strike hit a six-storey building in Sheikh Radwan, a district of Gaza City, at 4:30pm. The strike completely destroyed the building and killed at least 40 civilians.
Satellite imagery suggests damage to buildings on this street sometime between 12:11UTC on 10 October and 7:30UTC on 11 October. The Crisis Evidence Lab geolocated two videos posted to social media that corroborate the destruction of homes in Sheikh Radwan. One of the videos, which was posted online on 10 October, shows people pulling the body of a dead infant from the rubble.
Amnesty International spoke to Mahmoud Ashour whose daughter, Iman, and her four children, Hamza, six months, Ahmad, two years, Abdelhamid six, and Rihab, eight, were all killed in the attack.
He said:
“My daughter and her children came here to seek safety because this area was relatively safe in previous attacks. But I couldn’t protect them, I have no trace left of my daughter.”
Mahmoud described the extent of the devastation:
“I’m talking to you now as I’m trying to remove the rubble with my hands. We cannot even count our dead.”
Fawzi Naffar, 61, said that 19 of his family members, including his wife, children and grandchildren, were all killed in the air strike. When Amnesty International spoke to Fawzi five days after the air strike, he had only been able to retrieve the remains of his daughter-in-law and his “son’s shoulder.”
Amnesty International’s research found that a Hamas member had been residing on one of the floors of the building, but he was not there at the time of the air strike. Membership in a political group does not itself make an individual a military target.
Even if that individual was a fighter, the presence of a fighter in a civilian building does not transform that building or any of the civilians therein into a military objective. International humanitarian law requires Israeli forces to take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians and civilian property, including by cancelling or postponing the attack if it becomes apparent that it would be indiscriminate or otherwise unlawful.
These precautions were not taken ahead of the air strike in Sheikh Radwan. The building was known to be full of civilian residents, including many children, and the danger to them could have been anticipated. This is an indiscriminate attack which killed and injured civilians and must be investigated as a war crime.
Amnesty International is calling on;
The Israeli authorities to:
Immediately end unlawful attacks and abide by international humanitarian law; including by ensuring they take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects and refraining from direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
Immediately allow unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians.
Urgently lift its illegal blockade on Gaza, which amounts to collective punishment and is a war crime, in the face of the current devastation and humanitarian imperatives.
Rescind their appalling “evacuation” order, which has left more than one million people displaced.
Grant immediate access to the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory to carry out investigations, including collecting time sensitive evidence and testimonies.
The international community and particularly Israel’s allies, including EU member states, the US and the UK, to:
Take concrete measures to protect Gaza’s civilian population from unlawful attacks.
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict given that serious violations amounting to crimes under international law are being committed. States must refrain from supplying Israel with arms and military materiel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance. They should also call on states supplying arms to Palestinian armed groups to refrain from doing so.
Refrain from any statement or action that would, even indirectly, legitimize Israel’s crimes and violations in Gaza.
Pressure Israel to lift its illegal 16-year blockade of the Gaza strip which amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s population, is a war crime and is a key aspect of Israel’s apartheid system.
Ensure the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation into the situation of Palestine receives full support and all necessary resources.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to:
Urgently expedite its ongoing investigation in the situation of Palestine, examining alleged crimes by all parties, and including the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.
Hamas and other armed groups to:
Immediately end deliberate attacks on civilians, the firing of indiscriminate rockets, and hostage-taking. They must release civilian hostages unconditionally and immediately.
Everyone in Gaza is going hungry. About 2.2 million people are surviving day by day on almost nothing, routinely going without meals. The desperate search for food is relentless, and usually unsuccessful, leaving the entire population – including babies, children, pregnant or nursing women and the elderly – hungry.
“There are no greens, fruit and dairy products here like I had before. Prices are very high because of the food shortage in the markets, so instead of three meals a day, we’ve gone down to one or two. My four-year-old has osteoporosis and needs to drink milk every day, but now I can’t get it for her.” Wisal Abu ‘Odeh, 34, a pregnant mother of two from Beit Hanoun, is a displaced person currently sheltering in the Khan Yunis area
The hunger in Gaza is not a byproduct of the war but a direct result of Israel’s declared policy, says B’Tselem in its new position paper. Residents now depend entirely on food supplies from outside Gaza, as they can no longer produce almost any food themselves. Most cultivated fields have been destroyed, and accessing open areas during the war is dangerous in any case. Bakeries, factories and food warehouses have been bombed or shut down due to lack of basic supplies, fuel and electricity. Stockpiles in private homes, stores and warehouses have long since run out, leading family and social support networks that helped residents at the start of the war to collapse, too.
Yet Israel is deliberately denying the entry of enough food into Gaza to meet the population’s needs. Only a fraction of the amount of food entering before the war is now allowed in, with limitations on the types of goods, how they are brought in and how they are distributed within Gaza.
Israel can choose to change this reality. The images of children begging for food, people waiting in long lines for paltry handouts and hungry residents charging at aid trucks are already inconceivable. The horror is growing by the minute, and the danger of famine is real. Still, Israel persists in its policy.
Changing this policy is not just a moral obligation. Allowing food into the Gaza Strip is not an act of kindness but a positive obligation under international humanitarian law: starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited, and when a civilian population lacks what it needs to survive, parties to the conflict have a positive obligation to allow rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid – including food. These two rules are considered customary law and violating them constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
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”Israel cut off all water on October 11, and most desalination also stopped that day due to the cutoff in electricity, leaving about 600,000 people without clean water, Omar Shatat, deputy director general of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, told Human Rights Watch.”
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
ISRAEL: UNLAWFUL GAZA BLOCKADE DEADLY FOR CHILDREN
Denial of Water, Fuel, Electricity Endangers Lives
Update October 19, 2023: President Joe Biden announced that the United States mediated an agreement allowing the movement of up to 20 trucks of food, medicine, and water into Gaza. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has urged negotiators to raise their “level of ambition.” OCHA reported that, in August 2023 alone, 12,072 truckloads of “authorized goods entered Gaza through the Israeli and Egyptian-controlled crossings.” After the total siege on the civilian population on October 9, a single dispatch of 20 truckloads does not adequately address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, Human Rights Watch said. Israel’s international partners should press the Israeli government to restore water and electricity supplies and lift its unlawful restrictions on aid delivery and closure.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli government should immediately end its total blockade of the Gaza Strip that is putting Palestinian children and other civilians at grave risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The collective punishment of the population is a war crime. Israeli authorities should allow desperately needed food, medical aid, fuel, electricity, and water into Gaza, and let sick and wounded civilians leave to receive medical treatment elsewhere.
Israel announced on October 18, 2023, that it would allow food, water, and medicine to reach people in southern Gaza from Egypt, but without electricity or fuel to run the local power plant or generators, or clear provision of aid to those in the north, this falls short of meeting the needs of Gaza’s population.
The Israeli bombardment and total blockade have exacerbated the longstanding humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel’s unlawful 16-year closure of Gaza, where more than 80 percent of the population relies on humanitarian aid. Doctors in Gaza report being unable to care for children and other patients because the hospitals are overwhelmed by victims of Israeli airstrikes. On October 17, a munition struck al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, causing mass casualties; Hamas blamed Israel for the strike, while Israel said it was a rocket misfire by Palestinian militants. Human Rights Watch is looking into the strike.
Public health officials said the lack of water, contamination of areas by sewage, and many bodies that cannot be safely stored in morgues could trigger an infectious disease outbreak.
“Israel’s bombardment and unlawful total blockade of Gaza mean that countless wounded and sick children, among many other civilians, will die for want of medical care,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “US President Joe Biden, who is in Israel today, should press Israeli officials to completely lift the unlawful blockade and ensure the entire civilian population has prompt access to water, food, fuel, and electricity.”
Senior Israeli officials have said the total blockade of the Gaza Strip, where children comprise nearly half of the population of 2.2 million, is part of efforts to defeat Hamas, following its October 7 attack on Israel. Hamas-led Palestinian fighters killed more than 1,300 people, according to Israeli authorities, and took scores of civilians, including women and children, as hostages. On October 9, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced “a complete siege … no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.” The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported, as of October 18, that 3,478 Palestinians have been killed. The Palestinian rights group Defense for Children International – Palestine reported that more than 1,000 children are among those killed.
The laws of war do not prohibit sieges or blockades of enemy forces, but they may not include tactics that prevent civilians’ access to items essential for their survival, such as water, food, and medicine. Parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid passage of impartial humanitarian aid for all civilians in need. Aid may be inspected but not arbitrarily delayed.
In addition, during military occupations, such as in Gaza, the occupying power has a duty under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, “of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population.” Starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited and is a war crime.
Under international human rights law, states must respect the right to water, which includes refraining from limiting access to, or destroying, water services and infrastructure as a punitive measure during armed conflicts as well as respecting the obligations to protect objects indispensable for survival of the civilian population.
Israel’s total blockade against the population in Gaza forms part of the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution that Israeli authorities are committing against Palestinians.
News media reported on October 17 that Israel had refused to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, while Egypt was refusing to allow Palestinians to cross into the Sinai. Egypt and Israel should permit civilians to pass through their respective crossings to seek at least temporary protection or life-saving medical care, while also ensuring that anyone who flees is entitled to voluntary return in safety and dignity.
Lack of Medical Care
Shortages of medical equipment, supplies, and medication in the face of overwhelming casualties are causing avoidable deaths in hospitals in the Gaza Strip. More than 60 percent of patients are children, Dr. Midhat Abbas, director general of health in Gaza, told Human Rights Watch. An intern emergency room doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital wept while speaking to Human Rights Watch by phone on October 15:
Yesterday, in the intensive care unit, it was full, and all ventilators were in use. A child came in with head trauma who needed a ventilator. They had to choose between two children, who would die. He [the doctor] made a decision that one child was more promising to treat, so we were forced to switch the ventilator, and the other child died.
A doctor at the Northern Medical Complex said that on the night of October 14, intensive-care unit medics had to disconnect an adult patient from a ventilator to use it for a 10-year-old. He said a lack of medical supplies had obliged him to stitch a woman’s head wound without gloves or sterile equipment.
In a voice message on October 14, a doctor at al-Shifa hospital described a group of patients with “back wounds, including compound fractures, that can be really painful.” He said that the hospital had run out of painkillers to administer to them.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British surgeon volunteering at al-Shifa hospital, posted on social media on October 10, that “the hospitals, because of the siege, are so short of supplies that we had to clean a teenage girl with 70 percent body surface burns with regular soap because the hospital is out of chlorhexidine (antiseptic).” On October 14, he said in a voice note shared with Human Rights Watch: “We are no longer able to do anything but the most life-saving surgeries” because medical supplies were exhausted, and deaths and injuries had caused staff shortages.
More than 5,500 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are expected to deliver within the next month, but face “compromised functionality of health facilities” and lack of “lifesaving supplies,” the United Nations Population Fund said on October 13.
“We need insulin [for diabetics],” said the head of a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) shelter on October 15. “People are dying.” The shelter was overwhelmed with 15,000 internally displaced people.
The UN World Health Organization stated on October 14 that it had flown medical and basic health supplies for 300,000 patients to Egypt, near the Gaza Strip’s southern border, and more than 1,000 tons of other humanitarian aid had been shipped to the area. As of October 17, though, humanitarian workers and aid remain blocked via the Rafah border crossing. Israeli attacks have reportedly hit the crossing repeatedly, rendering it unsafe. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said four Egyptian aid workers were injured in the Israeli strikes and that “there is not yet any sort of authorization for a safe passage from the other side of the crossing.”
Israel’s order on October 13 to all civilians located in the north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south exacerbated the medical crisis: 21 hospitals currently holding more than 2,000 patients are located in this region. The World Health Organization said the evacuations “could be tantamount to a death sentence” for the sick and injured and said hospitals were already beyond capacity in the southern Gaza Strip. A pediatric doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital said evacuating would likely cause the deaths of seven newborns in the ICU who were connected to ventilators.
Dr. Abu Sitta said that Israel’s evacuation order forced the Mohammed al-Durra Pediatric Hospital east of Gaza City to close, including a neonatal intensive care unit supported by the charity he volunteers with, Medical Aid for Palestinians.
The sick and wounded, including children and pregnant women, have not been allowed to cross Rafah into Egypt or the Erez crossing into Israel to receive treatment. Dr. Abbas, the director general of health, said, “We are in desperate need of a safe humanitarian passage for patients immediately, [and] we need field hospitals immediately.”
Electricity
On October 7, Israeli authorities cut the electricity it delivers to Gaza, the main source of electricity there. Israeli authorities also cut fuel necessary to run Gaza’s only power plant. The power plant has since run out of fuel and shut down. On October 17, Dr. Abbas told Human Rights Watch by phone that hospitals’ emergency generators will run out of fuel “within hours.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross regional director warned on October 11 that the power cuts are “putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can’t be taken. Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues.”
Water and Sewage
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 97 percent of the groundwater in Gaza is “unfit for human consumption,” leaving people dependent on the supply of water from Israel and on the territory’s desalination plants. Israel cut off all water on October 11, and most desalination also stopped that day due to the cutoff in electricity, leaving about 600,000 people without clean water, Omar Shatat, deputy director general of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, told Human Rights Watch.
The last functioning desalination plant stopped operating on October 15. Israel partially resumed water delivery that day, but only to the eastern Khan Younis area, and it amounted to less than 4 percent of the water consumed in Gaza prior to October 7, according to OCHA.
UNRWA warned that “people will start dying of severe dehydration” unless access to water is resumed. The Associated Press reported on October 15 that a doctor had treated 15 cases of children with bacterial dysentery due to lack of clean water, which can also cause diseases like cholera, particularly in children under 5.
“Israel has cut off the most basic goods necessary for survival in Gaza, where there are more than a million children at risk,” Van Esveld said. “Every hour that this blockade continues costs lives.”
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Hierdoor nemen kwetsbare bevolkingsgroepen hun toevlucht tot niet-drinkbare waterbronnen, waaronder water met een hoog zoutgehalte en brak water uit landbouwputten. Dat kan leiden tot ernstige ziektes en uitbraken van virusziektes.
Onmiddellijk staakt-het-vuren en toegang voor humanitaire hulp noodzakelijk
Ongekend lijden van kinderen
In de afgelopen drie weken heeft het conflict tussen Israël en Hamas een tragische tol geëist van vele kinderen, met 2.360 dodelijke kinderslachtoffers en 5.364 gewonde kinderen als gevolg van aanvallen en zeer slechte omstandigheden in Gaza zelf. Meer dan vierhonderd kinderen komen elke dag om of raken gewond. Daarnaast zijn meer dan dertig Israëlische kinderen omgekomen, en tientallen bevinden zich nog steeds in gevangenschap in de Gazastrook.
Overleven en grote trauma’s
Bijna elk kind in de Gazastrook heeft te dagelijks te maken met grote aanvallen, ontheemding en ernstige tekorten aan essentiële levensbehoeften zoals voedsel, water en medicijnen. De schrijnende gebeurtenissen en wijdverbreide vernietigingen leiden tot grote trauma’s bij de kinderen in Gaza, een plek waar al langer veel kinderen hevig worstelen met depressies door de uitzichtloze situatie in de Gazastrook.
Oproep voor menselijkheid
Het doden en verwonden van kinderen, ontvoeringen van kinderen, aanvallen op ziekenhuizen en scholen en het weigeren van humanitaire toegang zijn ernstige schendingen van kinderrechten. UNICEF roept dringend alle betrokken partijen op tot een staakt-het-vuren, het verlenen van humanitaire toegang en de vrijlating van alle gijzelaars. Burgers, vooral kinderen, moeten worden beschermd onder alle omstandigheden.
Escalatie op de Westelijke Jordaanoever
Ook op de Westelijke Jordaanoever is het aantal slachtoffers onder kinderen alarmerend gestegen, met bijna honderd Palestijnse slachtoffers, waaronder 28 kinderen, en minstens 160 gewonde kinderen.
Noodzaak van humanitaire hulp
Het aantal kinderslachtoffers is simpelweg onthutsend en lijkt alleen maar erger te worden. Als de spanningen niet verminderen en humanitaire hulp niet snel wordt toegestaan – inclusief voedsel, water, medische voorraden en brandstof – zal het dagelijkse aantal kinderen dat omkomt en gewond raakt blijven stijgen.
Kritieke behoefte aan brandstof en water
Brandstof is essentieel voor de werking van essentiële voorzieningen zoals ziekenhuizen, water-ontziltingsinstallaties en waterpompstations. Honderd jonge baby’s in ziekenhuizen in Gaza kunnen alleen overleven als mechanische ventilatie van couveuses ononderbroken stroomvoorzieningen hebben. De toegang tot elektriciteit is letterlijk een kwestie van leven of dood.
Ook worden de 2,3 miljoen mensen in Gaza geconfronteerd met groot gebrek aan water. De meeste watersystemen zijn vernietigd of beschadigd. Ook zijn vele watersystemen buiten werking doordat er geen brandstof is om ze draaiende te houden. Momenteel bedraagt de waterproductiecapaciteit slechts 5 procent van de gebruikelijke dagelijkse productie. Hierdoor nemen kwetsbare bevolkingsgroepen hun toevlucht tot niet-drinkbare waterbronnen, waaronder water met een hoog zoutgehalte en brak water uit landbouwputten. Dat kan leiden tot ernstige ziektes en uitbraken van virusziektes.
Oproep tot onmiddellijke maatregelen
De schrijnende realiteit is dat het dodental in Gaza flink zal blijven stijgen als couveuses beginnen te falen, als ziekenhuizen donker worden en als kinderen onveilig water blijven drinken en geen toegang hebben tot medicijnen als ze ziek worden.
Daarom is onmiddellijk nodig dat er:
Een humanitair staakt-het-vuren komt.
Medische evacuaties per direct mogelijk zijn.
Civiele infrastructuur beschermd wordt, om zo verdere slachtoffers onder burgers en kinderen te voorkomen.
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noten 10 t/m 12/Israelische Terreur
” (Beirut, October 12, 2023) – Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question and answer document on white phosphorus. Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border, and interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza.”
Use in Populated Areas Poses Grave Risks to Civilians
(Beirut, October 12, 2023) – Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question and answer document on white phosphorus. Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border, and interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza.
White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signaling, and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk.
“Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians.”
On October 11, Human Rights Watch interviewed by phone two people from the al-Mina area in Gaza City, who described observing strikes consistent with the use of white phosphorus. One was in the street at the time, while the other was in a nearby office building. Both described ongoing airstrikes before seeing explosions in the sky followed by what they described as white lines going earthward. They estimated that the attack took place sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Both said that the smell was stifling. The person who was in his office said that the smell was so strong that he went toward the window to see what was happening and then filmed the strike.
Human Rights Watch reviewed the video and verified that it was taken in Gaza City’s port and identified that the munitions used in the strike were airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles. Other videos posted to social media and verified by Human Rights Watch show the same location. Dense white smoke and a garlic smell are characteristics of white phosphorus.
Human Rights Watch also reviewedtwo videos from October 10 from two locations near the Israel-Lebanon border. Each shows 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signaling.
White phosphorus ignites when exposed to atmospheric oxygen and continues to burn until it is deprived of oxygen or exhausted. Its chemical reaction can create intense heat (about 815°C/1,500°F), light, and smoke.
Upon contact, white phosphorus can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh. White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. Already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and the wounds are re-exposed to oxygen. Even relatively minor burns are often fatal. For survivors, extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities. The trauma of the attack, the painful treatment that follows, and appearance-changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion.
The use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life, Human Rights Watch said. This concern is amplified given the technique evidenced in videos of airbursting white phosphorus projectiles. Airbursting of white phosphorus projectiles spreads 116 burning felt wedges impregnated within the substance over an area between 125 and 250 meters in diameter, depending on the altitude of the burst, thereby exposing more civilians and civilian structures to potential harm than a localized ground burst.
Israeli authorities have not commented on whether or not they used white phosphorus during the ongoing fighting.
Israel’s use of white phosphorus comes amid hostilities following Hamas’ deadly attacks on October 7 and subsequent rocket attacks that have killed, as of October 12, more than 1,300 Israelis, including hundreds of civilians, and taking of scores of Israelis as hostages in violation of international humanitarian law. Heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza in this period has killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, including scores of civilians, and displaced more than 338,000 people. Many communities in southern Israel have also been displaced and more than 1,500 Palestinian militants reportedly died in Israel. Israeli authorities have cut electricity, water, fuel and food into Gaza, in violation of the international humanitarian law prohibition against collective punishment, exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation from over 16 years of Israeli closure.
Human Rights Watch has documented the Israeli military’s use of white phosphorus in previous conflicts in Gaza, including in 2009. Israel should ban all use of “airburst” white phosphorus munitions in populated areas without exception. There are readily available and non-lethal alternatives to white phosphorus smoke shells, including some produced by Israeli companies, which the Israeli army has used in the past as an obscurant for its forces. These alternatives have the same effect and dramatically reduce the harm to civilians.
In 2013, in response to a petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza, the Israeli military stated that it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas except in two narrow situations that it revealed only to the justices. In the court’s ruling, Justice Edna Arbel said that the conditions would “render use of white phosphorous an extreme exception in highly particular circumstances.” Although this ruling did not represent an official change in policy, Justice Arbel called on the Israeli military to conduct a “thorough and comprehensive examination” and adopt a permanent military directive.
Attacks using air-delivered incendiary weapons in civilian areas are prohibited under Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). While the protocol contains weaker restrictions for ground-launched incendiary weapons, all types of incendiary weapons produce horrific injuries. Protocol III applies only to weapons that are “primarily designed” to set fires or cause burns, and thus some countries believe it excludes certain multipurpose munitions with incendiary effects, notably those containing white phosphorus.
Human Rights Watch and many states have long called for closing these loopholes in Protocol III. These attacks should add impetus to the calls from at least two dozen countries for the CCW Meeting of States Parties to set aside time to discuss the adequacy of Protocol III. The next meeting is scheduled for November at the United Nations in Geneva.
Palestine joined Protocol III on January 5, 2015, and Lebanon on April 5, 2017, while Israel has not ratified it.
“To avoid civilian harm, Israel should stop using white phosphorus in populated areas,” Fakih said. “Parties to the conflict should be doing everything they can to spare civilians from further suffering.”
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”Two key principles enable the achievement of this goal. First – the principle of distinction – determines what legitimate targets are: according to Article 52(2) of Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, only military objects are legitimate targets for attack. They are defined as objects that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction would offer a definite military advantage to the attacking side. The second principle – the principle of proportionality – limits how attacks are to be carried out: according to Article 51(5)b of the Protocol, legitimate targets must not be attacked if the expected harm to civilians would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. Whether or not an attack is proportionate is not determined by the actual harm inflicted but by the information those responsible for it had or should have had.
Israel’s airstrikes since the start of the war are an abject violation of these principles and constitute a war crime. The massive scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented.”
Since the start of the war, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs on the Gaza Strip. Gaza is an enclave enclosed on all sides. There are no safe rooms, no shelters, no safe spaces. Residents have no way to protect themselves. They wait, in terror and fear, hoping to survive. Over a million people have already left their homes in an attempt to find a safe place; some have been killed while fleeing, others where they sought shelter.
Israel, like Hamas and like every country in the world, must follow international humanitarian law. These legal provisions were not enacted by human rights or pro-Palestinian organizations. They were accepted by all nations – including Israel – out of a shared understanding that even during war, there must be rules that minimize the suffering caused to civilians and ensure that they are kept outside the cycle of hostilities to the extent possible.
Two key principles enable the achievement of this goal. First – the principle of distinction – determines what legitimate targets are: according to Article 52(2) of Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, only military objects are legitimate targets for attack. They are defined as objects that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction would offer a definite military advantage to the attacking side. The second principle – the principle of proportionality – limits how attacks are to be carried out: according to Article 51(5)b of the Protocol, legitimate targets must not be attacked if the expected harm to civilians would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. Whether or not an attack is proportionate is not determined by the actual harm inflicted but by the information those responsible for it had or should have had.
Israel’s airstrikes since the start of the war are an abject violation of these principles and constitute a war crime. The massive scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented. Entire residential neighborhoods have been destroyed, and, according to Gaza authorities, at least 16,000 residential units have been completely destroyed, while an additional 11,000 have been rendered uninhabitable. The horrifying death toll, which rises every day, is unfathomable: according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 7,000 people have been killed, including almost 3,000 minors, more than 1,700 women, and dozens of families who were killed together when their houses collapsed on them. More than 17,000 people have been injured, about 2,000 are still missing under the rubble.
These figures cannot be reconciled with the provisions of international law described above: neither with the requirement for each of the thousands of targets bombed to have made “an effective contribution” to Hamas’s activities and their destruction to have offered a “definite military advantage” to Israel; nor with the requirement that even if the targets did meet these conditions, the massive loss of life and damage to property was proportionate. Such an interpretation would be not only legally mistaken but also morally unacceptable.
Israel says Hamas is to blame for these figures because it uses civilians as human shields, conceals weapons in their homes, and fires at civilian targets in Israel from within a civilian population, allegedly leaving Israel with no choice but to harm civilians in its war against Hamas. According to this view, assigning full responsibility to Hamas means that every action taken by Israel, however horrific the outcome, would be considered legitimate. Such a claim is baseless. Respect for the law, international humanitarian law included, is not subject to reciprocity: failure by one side to comply does not give the other license to do the same.
Fighting Hamas poses difficult challenges to Israel: How to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilian ones, when Hamas does not distinguish itself from the rest of the population? How to avoid harming civilians who are not taking part in the hostilities when Hamas members continue to fire on Israeli communities from within population centers? B’Tselem does not pretend to advise the government or the military how to conduct the fighting in Gaza, nor is this the role of a human rights organization. But one thing is clear: The choice whether or not to obey the law is Israel’s. The government and the military must stay respect the law and maintain humanity as they search for the answers.
On October 7, Hamas committed horrific war crimes. Hundreds of Hamas militants and other residents of Gaza entered Israeli territory, firing at anyone who passed by. They entered communities and homes, shot and killed entire families and party-goers, set homes on fire, and committed atrocities. More than 1,300 people were killed, thousands more were injured, and many are still missing. More than 200 people – including babies, children, women, and the elderly – were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip and are being held hostage.
There is no way, nor can there be a way, to justify these crimes, and any attempt to do so must be rejected and denounced. But these crimes cannot justify the death and destruction Israel is now inflicting on Gaza’s more than two million residents. Targeting civilians, their property and civilian infrastructure is always prohibited, and Israel must end this immediately.
Israel, like any other country, is obligated to protect its citizens. However, Israel, like any other country, is also obligated to comply with the restrictions set by international humanitarian law.
END
[15]
”Het conflict tussen Israël en Palestina, dat nu al bijna drie weken aan de gang is, laat een immens spoor van vernieling achter. Nieuwe satellietbeelden tonen de enorme verwoesting in de Gazastrook als gevolg van de Israëlische bombardementen. Volledige dorpen en steden zijn van de kaart geveegd.”
”Het conflict tussen Israël en Palestina, dat nu al bijna drie weken aan de gang is, laat een immens spoor van vernieling achter. Nieuwe satellietbeelden tonen de enorme verwoesting in de Gazastrook als gevolg van de Israëlische bombardementen. Volledige dorpen en steden zijn van de kaart geveegd.”
Het conflict tussen Israël en Palestina, dat nu al bijna drie weken aan de gang is, laat een immens spoor van vernieling achter. Nieuwe satellietbeelden tonen de enorme verwoesting in de Gazastrook als gevolg van de Israëlische bombardementen. Volledige dorpen en steden zijn van de kaart geveegd.
Israël wil de Palestijnse terreurorganisatie Hamas, die de macht heeft in de Gazastrook, uitschakelen als wraak voor de verrassingsaanval van 7 oktober. Daarbij kwamen zeker 1400 Israëli’s om het leven en werden tweehonderd anderen gegijzeld. Israël voerde al talloze bombardementen uit op Gaza, met de dood van meer dan zevenduizend mensen – onder wie vooral burgers – als gevolg.
Materiële tol
Niet alleen de menselijke, maar ook de materiële tol is groot. Dat tonen nieuwe satellietbeelden van de Amerikaanse bedrijven Maxar Technologies en Planet Labs. Op de foto’s is te zien hoe verschillende dorpen en steden in Gaza volledig platgebombardeerd zijn.
In de stad Beit Hanoun, dicht bij de noordelijke grens met Israël, zijn de meeste gebouwen met de grond gelijk gemaakt. Enkele dagen na het begin van het conflict meldden de Israëlische autoriteiten dat ze de stad, zogezegd ‘het centrum van Hamas’, maar liefst 120 keer hadden aangevallen.
De Gazastrook is een van de dichtstbevolkte gebieden ter wereld, met een oppervlakte van 365 vierkante kilometer en ongeveer twee miljoen inwoners. Het Israëlische leger raadt alle Gazanen aan om het gebied te verlaten. Volgens de Verenigde Naties zijn sinds het begin van het conflict al zeker 1,4 miljoen Palestijnen gevlucht.
As Israeli forces continue to intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks, which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as war crimes.
The organization spoke to survivors and eyewitnesses, analysed satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos to investigate air bombardments carried out by Israeli forces between 7 and 12 October, which caused horrific destruction, and in some cases wiped out entire families. Here the organization presents an in-depth analysis of its findings in five of these unlawful attacks. In each of these cases, Israeli attacks violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.
“In their stated intent to use all means to destroy Hamas, Israeli forces have shown a shocking disregard for civilian lives. They have pulverized street after street of residential buildings killing civilians on a mass scale and destroying essential infrastructure, while new restrictions mean Gaza is fast running out of water, medicine, fuel and electricity. Testimonies from eyewitness and survivors highlighted, again and again, how Israeli attacks decimated Palestinian families, causing such destruction that surviving relatives have little but rubble to remember their loved ones by,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The five cases presented barely scratch the surface of the horror that Amnesty has documented and illustrate the devastating impact that Israel’s aerial bombardments are having on people in Gaza. For 16 years, Israel’s illegal blockade has made Gaza the world’s biggest open-air prison – the international community must act now to prevent it becoming a giant graveyard. We are calling on Israeli forces to immediately end unlawful attacks in Gaza and ensure that they take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects. Israel’s allies must immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo given that serious violations under international law are being committed.”
Since 7 October Israeli forces have launched thousands of air bombardments in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 3,793 people, mostly civilians, including more than 1,500 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Approximately 12,500 have been injured and more than 1,000 bodies are still trapped beneath the rubble.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, have been killed and some 3,300 others were injured, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health after armed groups from the Gaza Strip launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on 7 October. They fired indiscriminate rockets and sent fighters into southern Israel who committed war crimes including deliberately killing civilians and hostage-taking. The Israeli military says that fighters also took more than 200 civilian hostages and military captives back to the Gaza Strip.
“Amnesty International is calling on Hamas and other armed groups to urgently release all civilian hostages, and to immediately stop firing indiscriminate rockets. There can be no justification for the deliberate killing of civilians under any circumstances,” said Agnès Callamard.
Hours after the attacks began, Israeli forces started their massive bombardment of Gaza. Since then, Hamas and other armed groups have also continued to fire indiscriminate rockets into civilian areas in Israel in attacks that must also be investigated as war crimes. Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at least 79 Palestinians, including 20 children, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers amid a spike in excessive use of force by the Israeli army and an escalation in state-backed settler violence, which Amnesty International is also investigating.
Amnesty International is continuing to investigate dozens of attacks in Gaza. This output focuses on five unlawful attacks which struck residential buildings, a refugee camp, a family home and a public market. The Israeli army claims it only attacks military targets, but in a number of cases Amnesty International found no evidence of the presence of fighters or other military objectives in the vicinity at the time of the attacks. Amnesty International also found that the Israeli military failed to take all feasible precautions ahead of attacks including by not giving Palestinian civilians effective prior warnings – in some cases they did not warn civilians at all and in others they issued inadequate warnings.
“Our research points to damning evidence of war crimes in Israel’s bombing campaign that must be urgently investigated. Decades of impunity and injustice and the unprecedented level of death and destruction of the current offensive will only result in further violence and instability in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Agnès Callamard.
“It is vital that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urgently expedites its ongoing investigation into evidence of war crimes and other crimes under international law by all parties. Without justice and the dismantlement of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians, there can be no end to the horrifying civilian suffering we are witnessing.”
The relentless bombardment of Gaza has brought unimaginable suffering to people who are already facing a dire humanitarian crisis. After 16 years under Israel’s illegal blockade, Gaza’s healthcare system is already close to ruin, and its economy is in tatters. Hospitals are collapsing, unable to cope with the sheer number of wounded people and desperately lacking in life-saving medication and equipment.
Amnesty International is calling on the international community to urge Israel to end its total siege, which has cut Gazans off from food, water, electricity and fuel and urgently allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. They must also press Israel to lift its longstanding blockade on Gaza which amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, is a war crime and is a key aspect of Israel’s system of apartheid. Finally, the Israeli authorities must rescind their “evacuation order” which may amount to forced displacement of the population.
Gaza’s civilians pay the price
Amnesty International investigated five Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which took place between 7 and 12 October. Between 2012 and 2022, the Israeli authorities have denied, or failed to respond to, all of Amnesty International’s requests to gain access to Gaza. For this reason, the organization worked with a Gaza-based fieldworker who visited attack sites and collected testimony and other evidence. Amnesty International researchers interviewed 17 survivors and other eyewitnesses, as well as six relatives of victims over the phone, for the five cases included in this report. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed satellite imagery and verified photos and videos of attack sites.
In the five cases described below Amnesty International found that Israeli forces carried out attacks that violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.
Under international humanitarian law, all parties to the conflict must, at all times, distinguish between civilians and civilian objects and fighters and military objectives and direct their attacks only at fighters and military objectives. Direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects are prohibited and are war crimes. Indiscriminate attacks – those which fail to distinguish as required – are also prohibited. Where an indiscriminate attack kills or injuries civilians, it amounts to a war crime. Disproportionate attacks, those where the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects is excessive in comparison with the “concrete and direct military advantage anticipated,” also are prohibited. Knowingly launching a disproportionate attack is a war crime.
Whole families wiped out
At around 8:20pm on 7 October, Israeli forces struck a three-storey residential building in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, where three generations of the al-Dos family were staying. Fifteen family members were killed in the attack, seven of them children. The victims include Awni and Ibtissam al-Dos, and their grandchildren and namesakes Awni, 12, and Ibtissam, 17; and Adel and Ilham al-Dos and all five of their children. Baby Adam, just 18 months old, was the youngest victim.
Mohammad al-Dos, whose five-year-old son Rakan was killed in the attack, told Amnesty International:
“Two bombs fell suddenly on top of the building and destroyed it. My wife and I were lucky to survive because we were staying on the top floor. She was nine-months pregnant and gave birth at al-Shifa hospital a day after the attack. Our entire family has been destroyed.”
Amnesty International interviewed a neighbour whose home had been damaged in the attack. Like Mohammad al-Dos, he said that he had not received warning from Israeli forces, and nor had anyone in his family.
“It was sudden, boom, nobody told us anything,” he said.
The fact that the building was full of civilians at the time of the air strike further supports the testimony of survivors who said Israeli forces did not issue any warnings. It took relatives, neighbours and rescue teams more than six hours to remove the bodies from beneath the rubble.
Amnesty International’s research has found no evidence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack. If Israeli forces attacked this residential building knowing that there were only civilians present at the time of the attack, this would be a direct attack on a civilian object or on civilians, which are prohibited and constitute war crimes. Israel offered no explanation on the incident. It is incumbent on the attacker to prove the legitimacy of their military conduct. Even if Israeli forces targeted what they considered a military objective, attacking a residential building, at a time when it was full of civilians, in the heart of a densely populated civilian neighbourhood, in a manner that caused this number of civilian casualties and degree of destruction would be indiscriminate. Indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians are war crimes.
On 10 October, an Israeli air strike on a family home killed 12 members of the Hijazi family and four of their neighbours, in Gaza City’s al-Sahaba Street. Three children were among those killed. The Israeli military stated that they struck Hamas targets in the area but gave no further information and did not provide any evidence of the presence of military targets. Amnesty International’s research has found no evidence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack.
Amnesty International spoke to Kamal Hijazi, who lost his sister, his two brothers and their wives, five nieces and nephews, and two cousins in the attack. He said:
“Our family home, a three-storey house, was bombed at 5:15 pm. It was sudden, without any warning; that is why everyone was at home.”
Ahmad Khalid Al-Sik, one of the Hijazi family’s neighbours, was also killed. He was 37 years old and had three young children, who were all injured in the attack. Ahmad’s father described what happened:
“I was at home in our apartment and Ahmad was downstairs when the house opposite [belonging to the Hijazi family] was bombed, and he was killed. He was going to have his hair cut at the barber, which is next to the entrance of our building. When Ahmad left to go get a haircut, I could not imagine that I would not see him again. The bombing was sudden, unexpected. There was no warning; people were busy with their daily tasks.”
The barber who was going to cut Ahmad’s hair was also killed.
According to Amnesty International’s findings there were no military objectives in the house or its immediate vicinity, this indicates that this may be a direct attack on civilians or on a civilian object which is prohibited and a war crime.
Inadequate warnings
In the cases documented by Amnesty International, the organization repeatedly found that the Israeli military had either not warned civilians at all, or issued warnings which were inadequate. In some instances, they informed a single person about a strike which affected whole buildings or streets full of people or issued unclear “evacuation” orders which left residents confused about the timeframe. In no cases did Israeli forces ensure civilians had a safe place to evacuate to. In one attack on Jabalia market attack, people had left their homes in response to an “evacuation” order, only to be killed in the place to which they had fled.
On 8 October, an Israeli air strike struck the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip, killing Mohammed and Shuruq al-Naqla, and two of their children, Omar, three, and Yousef, five, and injuring their two-year-old daughter Mariam and their three-year-old nephew Abdel Karim. Around 20 other people were also injured in the strike.
Ismail al-Naqla, Mohammed’s brother and the father of Abdel Karim, told Amnesty International that their next-door neighbour received a call from the Israeli military at around 10:30am, warning that his building was about to be bombed. Ismail and Mohammed and their families left the building immediately, as did their neighbours. By 3:30pm, there had been no attack, so the al-Naqlas and others went home to collect necessities. Ismail explained that they had thought it would be safe to do so as five hours had elapsed since the warning, though they planned to leave again very quickly.
But as they were returning to their apartments, a bomb struck the building next door, destroying the al-Naqlas’ home and damaging others nearby. Mohammed and his family were still in the courtyard of their building when they were killed. Ismail described seeing part of his five-year-old nephew Yousef’s brain “outside of his head” and said that three-year-old Omar’s body could not be recovered from under the rubble until the next day. He told Amnesty International that Mariam and Abdel Karim, the two surviving children, were released from hospital quickly as Gaza’s hospitals are overwhelmed with the volume of casualties.
Giving a warning does not free armed forces from their other obligations under international humanitarian law. Particularly given the time that had elapsed since the warning was issued, those carrying out the attack should have checked whether civilians were present before proceeding with the attack. Furthermore, if, as appears, this was a direct attack on a civilian object, this would constitute a war crime.
‘Everyone was looking for their children’
At around 10:30am on 9 October, Israeli air strikes hit a market in Jabalia refugee camp, located a few kilometres north of Gaza City, killing at least 69 people. The market street is known to be one of the busiest commercial areas in northern Gaza. That day it was even more crowded than usual, as it was filled with thousands of people from nearby areas who had fled their homes empty-handed earlier that morning after receiving text messages from the Israeli army.
Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed six videos showing the aftermath of the airstrike on Jabalia camp market. The images show a densely populated area with multi-storey buildings. Videos of the aftermath and satellite imagery show at least three multi-storey buildings completely destroyed and several structures in the surroundings heavily damaged. Numerous deceased bodies are also seen under the rubble in the graphic footage.
According to the Israeli military, they were targeting “a mosque in which Hamas members had been present” when they struck Jabalia market, but they have provided no evidence to substantiate their claim. Regardless, membership in a political group does not in itself make an individual targetable. Satellite imagery analysed by Amnesty International showed no mosque in the immediate vicinity of the market street.
Based on witness testimony, satellite imagery, and verified videos, the attack, which resulted in high civilian casualties was indiscriminate and must be investigated as a war crime.
Imad Hamad, aged 19, was killed in the strike on the Jabalia market while he was on his way to buy bread and mattresses for the family. His father, Ziyad Hamad, described to Amnesty International how a day earlier their family had left their home in Beit Hanoun after receiving a warning message from the Israeli army, and had walked almost five kilometres to a UNRWA-run school, which was operating as a shelter, in Jabalia camp.
On the walk, his son, Imad, had carried his toddler brother on his shoulders. The next day, Ziyad told Amnesty International, he was carrying Imad’s dead body on his own shoulders, taking his son to be buried.
Ziyad described the hellish scenes he encountered at the morgue where he found his son’s body, along with many others.
“The bodies were burned, I was scared of looking. I didn’t want to look, I was scared of looking at Imad’s face. The bodies were scattered on the floor. Everyone was looking for their children in these piles. I recognized my son only by his trousers. I wanted to bury him immediately, so I carried my son and got him out. I carried him.”
When Amnesty International spoke to Ziyad and his displaced family, they were at a UNRWA-run school which was sheltering displaced people. He said there were no basic services or sanitation, and that they had no mattresses.
Ziyad’s despair at the injustices he has suffered is palpable.
“What did I do to deserve this?” he asked.
“To lose my son, to lose my house, to sleep on the floor of a classroom? My children are wetting themselves, of panic, of fear, of cold. We have nothing to do with this. What fault did we commit? I raised my child, my entire life, for what? To see him die while buying bread.”
While Amnesty’s researcher was talking to Ziyad over the phone, another air strike hit nearby.
Since Amnesty researchers interviewed Ziyad on 10 October, conditions for internally displaced people have deteriorated further, due to the scale of the displacement and the extent of the destruction and the devastating effects of the total blockade imposed since 9 October. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of internally displaced people in Gaza had reached 1 million by 19 October, including over 527,500 people who are staying in UNRWA emergency shelters in central and southern Gaza.
‘We cannot even count our dead’
On 10 October an Israeli air strike hit a six-storey building in Sheikh Radwan, a district of Gaza City, at 4:30pm. The strike completely destroyed the building and killed at least 40 civilians.
Satellite imagery suggests damage to buildings on this street sometime between 12:11UTC on 10 October and 7:30UTC on 11 October. The Crisis Evidence Lab geolocated two videos posted to social media that corroborate the destruction of homes in Sheikh Radwan. One of the videos, which was posted online on 10 October, shows people pulling the body of a dead infant from the rubble.
Amnesty International spoke to Mahmoud Ashour whose daughter, Iman, and her four children, Hamza, six months, Ahmad, two years, Abdelhamid six, and Rihab, eight, were all killed in the attack.
He said:
“My daughter and her children came here to seek safety because this area was relatively safe in previous attacks. But I couldn’t protect them, I have no trace left of my daughter.”
Mahmoud described the extent of the devastation:
“I’m talking to you now as I’m trying to remove the rubble with my hands. We cannot even count our dead.”
Fawzi Naffar, 61, said that 19 of his family members, including his wife, children and grandchildren, were all killed in the air strike. When Amnesty International spoke to Fawzi five days after the air strike, he had only been able to retrieve the remains of his daughter-in-law and his “son’s shoulder.”
Amnesty International’s research found that a Hamas member had been residing on one of the floors of the building, but he was not there at the time of the air strike. Membership in a political group does not itself make an individual a military target.
Even if that individual was a fighter, the presence of a fighter in a civilian building does not transform that building or any of the civilians therein into a military objective. International humanitarian law requires Israeli forces to take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians and civilian property, including by cancelling or postponing the attack if it becomes apparent that it would be indiscriminate or otherwise unlawful.
These precautions were not taken ahead of the air strike in Sheikh Radwan. The building was known to be full of civilian residents, including many children, and the danger to them could have been anticipated. This is an indiscriminate attack which killed and injured civilians and must be investigated as a war crime.
Amnesty International is calling on;
The Israeli authorities to:
Immediately end unlawful attacks and abide by international humanitarian law; including by ensuring they take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects and refraining from direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
Immediately allow unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians.
Urgently lift its illegal blockade on Gaza, which amounts to collective punishment and is a war crime, in the face of the current devastation and humanitarian imperatives.
Rescind their appalling “evacuation” order, which has left more than one million people displaced.
Grant immediate access to the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory to carry out investigations, including collecting time sensitive evidence and testimonies.
The international community and particularly Israel’s allies, including EU member states, the US and the UK, to:
Take concrete measures to protect Gaza’s civilian population from unlawful attacks.
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict given that serious violations amounting to crimes under international law are being committed. States must refrain from supplying Israel with arms and military materiel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance. They should also call on states supplying arms to Palestinian armed groups to refrain from doing so.
Refrain from any statement or action that would, even indirectly, legitimize Israel’s crimes and violations in Gaza.
Pressure Israel to lift its illegal 16-year blockade of the Gaza strip which amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s population, is a war crime and is a key aspect of Israel’s apartheid system.
Ensure the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation into the situation of Palestine receives full support and all necessary resources.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to:
Urgently expedite its ongoing investigation in the situation of Palestine, examining alleged crimes by all parties, and including the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.
Hamas and other armed groups to:
Immediately end deliberate attacks on civilians, the firing of indiscriminate rockets, and hostage-taking. They must release civilian hostages unconditionally and immediately.
END
[17]
‘De Amerikaanse president Biden heeft Israël gewaarschuwd dat het de steun van zijn bondgenoten aan het kwijtraken is door “het lukraak bombarderen” van de Gazastrook. Volgens cijfers van de gezondheidsautoriteiten in Gaza zijn zeker 18.000 mensen gedood en meer dan 50.000 mensen gewond geraakt.”
De Amerikaanse president Biden heeft Israël gewaarschuwd dat het de steun van zijn bondgenoten aan het kwijtraken is door “het lukraak bombarderen” van de Gazastrook. Volgens cijfers van de gezondheidsautoriteiten in Gaza zijn zeker 18.000 mensen gedood en meer dan 50.000 mensen gewond geraakt.
Biden sprak op een fondsenwerfbijeenkomst voor zijn herverkiezingscampagne. Niet eerder sinds het uitbreken van de oorlog uitte hij zulke zware kritiek op het handelen van Israël. De VS is de belangrijkste bondgenoot voor de Israëliërs.
De president vertelde aan zijn gehoor van voornamelijk Joodse donateurs dat hij Netanyahu heeft gewaarschuwd niet dezelfde fouten te maken als de VS na de aanslagen van 11 september 2001. “We hadden niet in Afghanistan hoeven zijn. We hadden zo veel dingen niet hoeven doen.”
Kabinet aanpassen
Hij vindt ook dat premier Netanyahu zijn ministersploeg moet veranderen. De Amerikaanse president pikte Netanyahu’s minister van Veiligheid eruit: de ultranationalistische Itamar Ben-Gvir. De leider van de uiterst rechtse partij Joodse Kracht werd meermaals veroordeeld, onder meer voor het aanzetten tot racisme. Ben-Gvir is een tegenstander van een eigen staat voor de Palestijnen.
Biden noemde het huidige Israëlische kabinet de conservatiefste regering in de geschiedenis van het land. Netanyahu “moet zijn regering aanpassen. Dit kabinet maakt het erg moeilijk”, zei hij.
Biden herhaalde dat hij voorstander is van een tweestatenoplossing, waarbij ook de Palestijnen een eigen staat krijgen. Datzelfde benadrukte hij nadat Netanyahu eind december was geïnstalleerd.
“We hebben een mogelijkheid om de regio te verenigen”, zei hij vandaag. “Maar we moeten zeker zijn dat Netanyahu begrijpt dat hij wat moet bewegen. Je kan geen ‘nee’ zeggen tegen een Palestijnse staat. Dat wordt het moeilijke deel.”
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noten 13 t/m 17/Israelische Terreur
”Volgens Dekkers zou Israël helpen met de evacuatie van de baby’s, maar is dat niet gebeurd. Het Israëlische leger (IDF) zegt gisteren brandstof te hebben achtergelaten bij het ziekenhuis, maar ook dat die door Hamas is ingenomen. Volgens Dekkers was die brandstof sowieso onvoldoende.”
De twee grootste ziekenhuizen van Gaza-stad functioneren niet meer, zegt correspondent Ralph Dekkers. Het Al-Shifa zit al drie dagen zonder water en ook de brandstof is op. Toch zitten er nog tussen de vijf- á zeshonderd patiënten, zegt Dekkers, waaronder baby’s waarvan de couveuses niet meer werken.
Volgens Dekkers zou Israël helpen met de evacuatie van de baby’s, maar is dat niet gebeurd. Het Israëlische leger (IDF) zegt gisteren brandstof te hebben achtergelaten bij het ziekenhuis, maar ook dat die door Hamas is ingenomen. Volgens Dekkers was die brandstof sowieso onvoldoende.
Er wordt flink gevochten rond de ziekenhuizen in Gaza-stad‘, aldus Dekkers die erop wijst dat de VS weliswaar heeft gewaarschuwd dat die gevechten zich niet naar het ziekenhuiscomplex mogen verplaatsen, maar dat het er wel ‘naar uitziet dat het die kant opgaat’. Volgens Dekkers doet het verhaal al jaren de ronde dat zich onder het ziekenhuis een Hamas-commandopost bevindt, maar dat zodra de IDF het ziekenhuis inneemt, die post zich ongetwijfeld via de verbonden tunnels zal verplaatsen.
Escalatie Libanon
De strijd tussen Israël en de Hezbollah-milities in Libanon is het stadium van de schermutselingen inmiddels ruim voorbij en escaleert intussen verder. Beide partijen vuren volgens Dekkers raketten op elkaar af met een diepte van veertig kilometer. Israël heeft gewaarschuwd met een krachtig antwoord te zullen komen. ‘Dat kan heftiger worden’, zegt Dekkers.
Ook in Syrië nemen de gevechten in intensiteit toe: de VS heeft vannacht opnieuw Iraanse posities in het land onder vuur genomen nadat Amerikaanse bases in de regio het doelwit waren.
De Israëlische president Netanyahu heeft ten slotte een opmerkelijke speech gehouden waarin hij zegt dat de Palestijnse Autoriteit onder leiding van Mahmoud Abbas geen rol zal spelen in de toekomst van Gaza. Daarmee gaat hij lijnrecht in tegen bondgenoot Verenigde Staten die juist wel inzetten op een bestuurlijke hoofdrol voor de Palestijnse Autoriteit.
EINDE BERICHT
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The Israeli military’s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes.”
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHGAZA: UNLAWFUL ISRAELI HOSPITAL STRIKESWORSEN HEALTH CRISIS
Israel’s Blockade, Bombardment Decimate Healthcare System; Investigate as War Crimes
The Israeli military’s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes.
Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified for hospitals. Even the threat of an attack or minor damage can have massive life-or-death implications for patients and caregivers.
The Israeli government should end attacks on hospitals. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the ICC should investigate.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli military’s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying the Gaza Strip’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite the Israeli military’s claims on November 5, 2023, of “Hamas’s cynical use of hospitals,” no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, have been killed in 137 “attacks on health care” in Gaza as of November 12. These attacks, alongside Israel’s decisions to cut off electricity and water and block humanitarian aid to Gaza, have severely impeded health care access. The United Nations found as of November 10 that two-thirds of primary care facilities and half of all hospitals in Gaza are not functioning at a time when medical personnel are dealing with unprecedented numbers of severely injured patients. Hospitals have run out of medicine and basic equipment, and doctors told Human Rights Watch that they were forced to operate without anesthesia and to use vinegar as an antiseptic.
“Israel’s repeated attacks damaging hospitals and harming healthcare workers, already hard hit by an unlawful blockade, have devastated Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure,” said A. Kayum Ahmed, special adviser on the right to health at Human Rights Watch. “The strikes on hospitals have killed hundreds of people and put many patients at grave risk because they’re unable to receive proper medical care.”
Human Rights Watch investigated attacks on or near the Indonesian Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, the International Eye Care Center, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, and the al-Quds Hospital between October 7 and November 7. Human Rights Watch spoke by phone with two displaced people sheltering in hospitals and 16 healthcare workers and hospital officials in Gaza and analyzed and verified open-source data, including videos posted to social media and satellite imagery, as well as WHO databases.
Israeli forces struck the Indonesian Hospital multiple times between October 7 and October 28, killing at least two civilians. The International Eye Care Center was struck repeatedly and completely destroyed after a strike on October 10 or 11. Strikes hit the compound and vicinity of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital on October 30 and 31. Damage to the hospital as well as a lack of fuel for hospital generators resulted in its closure on November 1. Repeated Israeli strikes damaged the al-Quds Hospital and injured a man and child out front. Israeli forces on several occasions struck well-marked ambulances, killing and wounding at least a dozen people in one incident on November 3, including children, outside al-Shifa hospital.
These ongoing attacks are not isolated. Israeli forces have also carried out scores of strikes damaging several other hospitals across Gaza. WHO reported that as of November 10, 18 out of 36 hospitals and 46 out of 72 primary care clinics were forced to shut down. The forced closure of these facilities stems from damage caused by attacks as well as the lack of electricity and fuel.
Health workers at Gaza’s hospitals told Human Rights Watch they are dealing with unprecedented numbers of injured patients. Additionally, thousands of internally displaced people sheltering at hospitals have been put at risk, facing shortages of food and medicine. Gaza’s hospitals have been forced to address these issues with shortages of medical staff, some of whom have been killed or injured outside their work.
A doctor at Nasser Medical Center said: “At 3 a.m. I dealt with a 60-year-old woman with a cut wound in her head. I can’t make a suture to heal her wound—no gloves, no equipment—so we have to use unsterile techniques.”
Hospitals and other medical facilities are civilian objects that have special protections under international humanitarian law, or the laws of war. Hospitals only lose their protection from attack if they are being used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy,” and after a required warning. Even if military forces unlawfully use a hospital to store weapons or encamp able-bodied combatants, the attacking force must issue a warning to cease this misuse, set a reasonable time limit for it to end, and lawfully attack only after such a warning has gone unheeded. Ordering patients, medical staff, and others to evacuate a hospital should only be used as a last resort. Medical personnel need to be protected and permitted to do their work.
All warring parties must take constant care to minimize harm to civilians. Attacks on hospitals being used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy” are still unlawful if indiscriminate or disproportionate. The use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas heightens the risk of indiscriminate attacks. Attacks in which the anticipated loss of civilian life and property are excessive compared with the concrete and direct military gain are disproportionate. Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified with respect to hospitals, since even the threat of an attack or minor damage can have massive life-or-death implications for patients and their caregivers.
The Israeli military on October 27 claimed that “Hamas uses hospitals as terror infrastructures,” publishing footage alleging that Hamas was operating from Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel also alleged that Hamas was using the Indonesian Hospital to hide an underground command and control center and that they had deployed a rocket launchpad 75 meters from the hospital.
These claims are contested. Human Rights Watch has not been able to corroborate them, nor seen any information that would justify attacks on Gaza hospitals. When a journalist at a news conference showing video footage of damage to the Qatar Hospital sought additional information to verify voice recordings and images presented, the Israeli spokesperson said, “our strikes are based on intelligence.” Even if accurate, Israel has not demonstrated that the ensuing hospital attacks were proportionate.
Israel’s general evacuation order on October 13 to 22 hospitals in northern Gaza was not an effective warning because it did not take into account the specific requirements for hospitals, including providing for the safety of patients and medical personnel. The sweeping nature of the order and the impossibility of safe compliance, given that there is no reliably secure way to flee or safe place to go in Gaza, also raised concerns that the purpose was not to protect civilians, but to terrify them into leaving. The WHO director general has said that “it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives.”
The Israeli government should immediately end unlawful attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and other civilian objects, as well as its total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which amounts to the war crime of collective punishment, Human Rights Watch said. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups need to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control from the effects of attacks and not use civilians as “human shields.”
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel should investigate apparently unlawful Israeli attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has jurisdiction over the current hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups that covers unlawful conduct by all parties. The ICC’s Rome Statute prohibits as a war crime “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against … medical units and transport.” Israeli and Palestinian officials should cooperate with the commission and the ICC in their work, Human Rights Watch said.
The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and other countries should suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel as long as its forces continue to commit widespread, serious abuses amounting to war crimes against Palestinian civilians with impunity. All governments should demand that Israel restore the flow of electricity and water to Gaza and allow in fuel and humanitarian aid, ensuring that water, food, and medication reach Gaza’s civilian population.
“Israel’s broad-based attack on Gaza’s healthcare system is an attack on the sick and the injured, on babies in incubators, on pregnant people, on cancer patients,” Ahmed said. “These actions need to be investigated as war crimes.”
Blockade’s Effect on Hospitals
Israel’s blockade has severely constrained hospitals, which have run out of essential medicines and basic equipment. While Israeli authorities have allowed minimal humanitarian aid into Gaza, they have continued to block the entry of fuel, which hospitals need for their generators. WHO reported that “hospitals are on the brink of collapse due to the shortage of electricity, medicine, equipment and specialized personnel.”
On October 22, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed grave concern about the impact of the blockade. They noted that 120 newborn children were in incubators, 70 of whom required mechanical ventilation. The incubators and ventilators cannot operate without a stable electricity supply. “The death toll will increase exponentially if incubators start to fail, if hospitals go dark, if children continue to drink unsafe water and have no access to medicine when they get sick,” UNICEF said. Between November 11 and 13, three premature babies and 29 other patients reportedly died at al-Shifa hospital amid the power outage and lack of medical supplies, according to UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Emerging reports show that unsanitary conditions at hospitals are further affecting access to health care. Tanya Haj Hassan, a doctor who runs a support network for Gaza healthcare workers, told The Guardian that “hundreds of people are sharing one toilet and living in the hospital corridors, and that obviously has significant concerns for hygiene, sanitation and the functioning of the hospitals.” Doctors are also reporting that more and more patients are showing signs of disease associated with overcrowding and a lack of sanitation.
A doctor at al-Aqsa Hospital told Human Rights Watch on October 23: “There is a huge shortage of medicines, no electricity, no diesel, no solar, no water to drink or to use. And the electricity company shut electricity to all civilians. … There is a chronic triage and restrictions on medication; we have had to make referrals to Egypt, but there is no way to get there.”
Israeli Evacuation Orders
Israeli authorities have ordered the evacuation of all 22 hospitals in Gaza city and northern Gaza. “These [evacuation orders] are impossible to carry out, risking the lives of inpatients and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and particularly the most vulnerable requiring life support,” WHO said, adding that there is “insufficient ambulance capacity for transfer and insufficient bed capacity to care for these patients in the south.” WHO described the order as “a death sentence for the sick and injured.”
OCHA expressed concern that “thousands of patients and medical staff, as well as about 117,000 IDPs, are staying in these facilities.” Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders or MSF) general director Meinie Nicolai said: “Israel’s 24-hour notice that people in Northern Gaza must leave their land, homes and hospitals is outrageous—this represents an attack on medical care and on humanity.”
As of November 13, all but one of the hospitals in Gaza city and northern Gaza are reportedly out of service, according to OCHA.
Human Rights Watch interviewed two people with disabilities sheltering in hospitals who said they could not evacuate. “If they bomb the hospital, I will be dead. I know I cannot move,” said Samih al-Masri, a 50-year-old man who said he lost both legs in an Israeli drone strike in 2008 and was sheltering at al-Quds hospital.’
Indonesian Hospital The Israeli military repeatedly struck the compound and vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, one of two major hospitals in northern Gaza.
On October 7, an airstrike hit an area behind the Indonesian Hospital, which OCHA reported killed two men, including a staff member, and injured five others. Hosni Salha, a security guard, was killed while sitting in one of the hospital’s vehicles along with the driver and a paramedic, a doctor from the hospital said. After the attack, the doctor took a photo at the scene that shows a destroyed vehicle. The second civilian was a man passing by the hospital when the attack occurred, the doctor said.
The doctor said that the hospital was treating patients injured in the hostilities, including families wounded in airstrikes that hit their homes. He said that following airstrikes that hit his apartment building, he searched for his daughter, a second-year engineering student. The strikes killed her and four other civilians, including a child: “I started digging with my hands with all my strength; civil defense members haven’t arrived yet. I kept digging with my hands until I saw part of her t-shirt, I kept digging, when I saw her, she was already martyred.”
The doctor said the Israeli military provided no order to evacuate or advance warning before the first attack on the hospital. He said that on October 13, a week after the first strike, the hospital received an Israeli evacuation order.
Even those who finish their treatment can’t leave. They have no place to go after losing their houses and families and there is no safe place. We have a girl at the hospital who lost her entire family. She currently has no one to stay with, no place to go to. There’s also a boy staying at the hospital. We are waiting for him to be identified by a family member or relative.
On October 16, another airstrike hit five meters away from the hospital, partially damaging the building, which the doctor said terrified patients and staff.
He said that on the night of October 27, after the Israeli government apparently deliberately disrupted telecommunications in Gaza, the hospital was struck again, causing additional damage to the building. Human Rights Watch geolocated a video and three photographs released on October 28 showing a crater inside the hospital’s courtyard.
On October 30, OCHA reported that this attack came after a renewed order by the Israeli military to immediately evacuate the hospital.
CCTV footage published by Al Jazeera on October 29 shows the moments the hospital ceiling collapsed due to strikes near the hospital. The hospital published photos of the collapsed ceiling to its Facebook page, which it said were the result of strikes in the vicinity of the hospital. Another strike on October 30 targeted an area near the hospital, causing dust and smoke to spread to its entrance. Footage from November 4 and November 6 show additional strikes in the hospital’s vicinity.
In a November 5 news conference, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson alleged that “the Indonesian Hospital is being used by Hamas to hide an underground command and control center,” that Hamas had a rocket launchpad 75 meters from the hospital, and that it was stealing fuel from the hospital.
In a news conference the next day, the Indonesia-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), a volunteer group that funds the hospital, disputed the allegations, stating that the only tunnel connected to the hospital was used to send fuel to the hospital’s fuel tank to power its generators. Human Rights Watch is not in a position to corroborate the claims by Israel or the committee.
A MER-C volunteer told the media on October 30 that 2,530 people had been treated at the hospital for injuries and that 164 patients remained hospitalized. He said that more than 1,500 displaced residents were also sheltering in empty hospital rooms and in courtyards. On October 31, an influx of patients were sent to the hospital following an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia refugee camp that Gaza’s Health Ministry reported killed more than 50 people and injured 150. On November 2, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that the hospital’s main generator stopped operating due to a lack of fuel.
International Eye Hospital Human Rights Watch reviewed and verified photos and video footage of the International Eye Hospital in theTal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City showing large structural damage to the main building. In the published material and in satellite imagery from October 10 and 11, damage signatures are consistent with an airstrike using a large air-dropped munition. Two strikes appear to have taken place: one on October 8 and another on October 10 or 11, which destroyed the facility. On October 21, the hospital wrote in a post on its Facebook page that the “hospital no longer exists” with a photo showing its complete destruction.
Human Rights Watch was unable to find any published information from Israeli authorities in English, Arabic, or Hebrew reflecting that any advance warning was given or providing any legal basis for the attacks on the medical facility.
Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital Beginning the night of October 30-31, the Israeli military repeatedly struck the compound and vicinity of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, south of Gaza City on the campus of the Islamic University of Gaza’s Faculty of Medicine. The hospital served as the only specialized cancer treatment center in the Gaza Strip.
In satellite imagery collected on the morning of October 30, three impact craters are visible, one measuring 10 meters in diameter, less than 100 meters from the main hospital complex. On the morning after, an additional crater is visible within the hospital complex in the courtyard, measuring at least 15 meters in diameter.
OCHA reported on October 31 that the hospital had been “hit for the second night in a row,” that there was damage to the third floor, and that staff and people sheltering in the hospital were exposed to smoke, causing suffocation and panic.
The hospital director, Sobhi Skaik, told Human Rights Watch on November 3 that the October 31 attack struck the third floor of the hospital, affecting both the east and west wings, as well as the approximately 100 to 150 cancer patients there, their families, and hospital staff.
Human Rights Watch verified several videos posted on social media that show the effects of the attacks. A video posted to social media early on October 30 shows damage to the hospital’s interior. A video taken from inside the hospital and published on social media early in the evening on October 30 shows a strike near the hospital complex. A loud blast is heard in the video followed by billowing smoke.
Photos and video published by the media and on social media on October 31 show damage inside the hospital’s east wing, where there is a large circular hole in the southeastern-facing exterior wall, blown out windows, and a destroyed interior wall.
Human Rights Watch determined that the damage was most likely caused by a shell from a direct fire weapon, such as a tank’s main gun. A video posted on social media on October 30 shows an Israeli tank along Salah al-Din Road, 1.7 kilometers east of the hospital. Multiple clusters of armored military vehicles, including tanks and bulldozers, are also visible on satellite imagery from October 31 southeast of the hospital following the Israeli offensive inside the Gaza Strip. On that day, the closest armored vehicles were less than 500 meters from the hospital.
The hospital shut down on November 1 because of the airstrikes and lack of fuel. Skaik said hospital staff were forced to evacuate patients to the Dar al-Salam hospital in Khan Younis in unsafe conditions. “We evacuated under fire,” he said. “We had no protection.” He said an international agency told him that all they could do was “convey the message” to the Israelis.
According to Skaik and the Gaza Health Ministry, on November 2, four cancer patients died following the hospital evacuation. Skaik said that Dar al-Salam hospital was trying to provide services but that it was unable to provide the cancer patients the treatment they needed without the medical devices at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which cannot be transferred, and that medications were running out. The Health Ministry warned that the condition of 70 of the hospital’s cancer patients was critical.
Human Rights Watch was unable to find any published information from Israeli authorities in English, Arabic, or Hebrew providing any advance warning to the hospital or a legal basis for the attacks on the medical facility. Turkish officials have condemned the Israeli military’s attack on the hospital as a violation of international law.
Al-Quds Hospital Multiple Israeli strikes had hit the vicinity of the al-Quds hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City by October 16, as shown in videos and photos posted to social media that Human Rights Watch collected and reviewed. The strikes followed Israeli evacuation orders, despite visual evidence that the hospital was being used to treat patients and shelter displaced families. Several high-rise buildings were completely destroyed in the streets adjacent to the hospital, as is evident in November 6 satellite imagery.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) issued a statement that the hospital, which is under its auspices, had received an Israeli order to evacuate by 4 p.m. (initially 6 a.m.) on October 14. By October 16, strikes had hit the vicinity of the hospital five times, the PRCS said. A video it published on October 18 shows a strike hitting less than 200 meters from the hospital’s entrance.
On October 20, the PRCS reported that the Israeli authorities warned about a strike on the hospital by phone and ordered an evacuation. On October 22, Israeli authorities reportedly ordered the hospital to evacuate twice within the span of half an hour. The PRCS posted a video from inside the hospital showing people standing at its entrance following what the hospital said were intense Israeli strikes 20 meters away. The hospital said the strikes occurred during a meeting of hospital staff with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
On October 29, the PRCS said that Israeli authorities warned it about a strike on the hospital and ordered an immediate evacuation, which was preceded by strikes that destroyed buildings as close as 50 meters from the hospital. Footage published on October 29 shows a strike next to the hospital building, just in front of another PRCS site, and damages to the hospital. Videos published on October 30 show the aftermath of the strike and damage to the PRCS site.
Strikes hitting the vicinity of the hospital continued on October 31, according to posts by the PRCS. Footage published on November 2 by the PRCS and other social media accounts show additionalstrikes in the vicinity the hospital. The PRCS announced on November 2 that fire from Israeli vehicles one kilometer south injured a man and child in front of the hospital and hit the sixth floor of the hospital where many displaced women and children were sheltering, damaging the hospital’s central air conditioning units and a water tank.
Video footage shows shattered windows, smoke, and dust as a result of what appears to be an explosion roughly 35 meters northwest of the main hospital entrance on November 3. The PRCS reported that the attack, whose effects are shown in video footage posted on social media, shattered internal glass panels and collapsed parts of the hospital’s plaster ceiling. There were 21 injuries reported, mostly to women and children. Further strikes were reported near the hospital throughouttheday.
On November 5, footage shows medical personnel moving an injured man into the hospital while an explosion is audible in the background after a hit nearby. The PRCS stated that the strikes then increased in intensity, duration, and proximity to the hospital, and have led to 12 injuries among people sheltering inside, in addition to injuries to two patients, one of whom was in the intensive care unit.
OCHA reported that 14,000 displaced people were in al-Quds hospital along with hospital staff and patients as of October 29. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that hundreds of injured, bed-ridden, and long-term patients, including those in intensive care, on life-support, and babies in incubators, were being endangered by strikes in the vicinity of the hospital along with displaced people and medical staff, and that it “is close to, if not impossible” to evacuate patients in the current situation.
Strikes on Ambulances
Israeli forces have on several occasions struck ambulances marked with the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem, often near hospitals. Ambulances, like medical facilities, have special protections under the laws of war such that they may not be attacked unless being used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy” and after due warning. In at least one case, the Israeli military claimed that armed groups were unlawfully using the ambulance that had been attacked, but did not provide more information or a warning.
On November 3, the Israeli military struck a marked ambulance just outside of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital. Video footage and photographs taken shortly after the strike and verified by Human Rights Watch show a woman on a stretcher in the ambulance and at least 21 dead or injured people in the area surrounding the ambulance, including at least 5 children. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 15 people were killed and 60 injured in the strike. An IDF spokesperson said in a televised interview that day: “Our forces saw terrorists using ambulances as a vehicle to move around. They perceived a threat and accordingly we struck that ambulance.” Human Rights Watch did not find evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes.
On October 7, WHO reported that an ambulance in front of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis was struck around 2 p.m., injuring several paramedics. A verified video posted to social media and an Anadolu Agency photograph showed the destroyed ambulance outside the complex.
WHO reported that a separate attack on October 7, which hit two ambulances in Jabalia, killed two paramedics and injured others.
Gaza’s Health Ministry also reported that on October 13, Israeli strikes hit three ambulances, injuring 10 paramedics.
Hostilities and Blockade
The Israeli military’s current operations in Gaza began following an October 7 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel that resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people, hundreds of them civilians, according to the Israeli government. Hamas and Islamic Jihad took hostage 240 people, including children, people with disabilities, and older people. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have also launched thousands of rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli population centers.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began on October 7, more than 11,000 people have been killed as of November 10, including more than 4,500 children. Over 1.5 million people have been displaced, OCHA said.
The Israeli government’s blockade of Gaza, preventing civilians’ access to items essential for their survival, such as water, food, and medicine, amounts to collective punishment and is a war crime. Warring parties must facilitate the rapid passage of impartial humanitarian aid for all civilians in need. During military occupations, such as in Gaza, the occupying power has a duty under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, “of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population.”
END
”Medische zorg is in Gaza bijna niet meer mogelijk. Zeker vier ziekenhuizen zijn omsingeld door het Israëlische leger en met name het grootste hospitaal, Al Shifa, ligt al een paar dagen onder vuur. Volgens internationale hulporganisaties is Al Shifa verstoken van water en elektriciteit en kan er niet meer worden geopereerd. Waarom valt Israël ziekenhuizen aan?”
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MEDISCHE ZORG IN GAZA BIJNA NIET MEER MOGELIJK DOOR OORLOG, ZIEKENHUIZEN
Door het uitvallen van de stroom, vanwege gebrek aan brandstof, zijn er volgens de directeur van het Al Shifa-ziekenhuis in Gaza-Stad zeker twee pasgeboren baby’s en een jonge man op de intensive care overleden. Een kleine 40 pasgeboren baby’s in couveuses vechten voor hun leven. Dat meldt het ministerie van Volksgezondheid, dat onder bewind van Hamas staat.
Ook de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO) en het Rode Kruis melden dat er sprake is van intens geweld bij het grootste ziekenhuis. Bij aanvallen zijn al meerdere doden gevallen. Het Rode Kruis pleit voor het beschermen van zo’n 20.000 gewonden, ontheemden en het medisch personeel. ‘Dit kan niet zo doorgaan, deze mensen moeten in lijn met het oorlogsrecht worden beschermd’, schrijft Fabrizio Carboni namens het Rode Kruis op X.
De WHO wil dat er een gevechtspauze komt, zodat iedereen de ziekenhuizen veilig kan verlaten. De ziekenhuisdirectie van Al Shifa en het Israëlische leger meldden dat de baby’s en andere patiënten die in levensgevaar zijn, worden geëvacueerd. Volgens een woordvoerder van het Israëlische leger willen de militairen helpen ‘omdat we niet willen dat Hamas in de toekomst doorgaat deze mensen als menselijk schild te gebruiken’.
Ook een ander groot ziekenhuis in Gaza, Al Quds, is uitgevallen door brandstoftekort. De Palestijnse Rode Halve Maan, zusterorganisatie van het Rode Kruis, meldt dat er geen brandstof meer is voor de generatoren die voor stroom zorgden. Ook is er een tekort aan medische goederen, voedsel en water. De baby’s in deze kliniek riskeren uitdroging door een tekort aan alternatieven voor moedermelk.
Volgens de Palestijnse autoriteiten worden meerdere ziekenhuizen flink geraakt door Israëlische aanvallen. Het Indonesische ziekenhuis zou zijn beschadigd en in het Al-Rantisi-ziekenhuis zou brand zijn uitgebroken. Vier ziekenhuizen zouden zijn omsingeld. Tanks en andere gepantserde voertuigen hebben het gebied rondom de ziekenhuizen volledig afgesloten, meldt Al Jazeera.
VERBORGEN COMMANDOCENTRA
Volgens de directeur van het Al Shifa voert Israël oorlog tegen de ziekenhuizen in Gaza-stad. Het Israëlische leger (IDF) zegt dat burgers geen doelwit zijn en dat het IDF zijn best doet om ze niet te raken. Israël meldt dat Hamas verborgen commandocentra onder het Al Shifa en andere ziekenhuizen heeft gebouwd.
Het gebouw zelf zou ook worden gebruikt om aanvallen uit te voeren. Daarbij zouden burgers als menselijk schild worden ingezet. Onder het Al Shifa zouden slaapzalen en badkamers zijn voor tientallen Hamas-strijders. Ook zou Hamas zelf nog voldoende brandstof hebben. Hamas ontkent de beschuldigingen.
Volgens defensiespecialist Peter Wijninga, verbonden aan het Den Haag Centrum voor Strategische Studies, heeft het IDF tot nu toe geen sluitend bewijs geleverd dat er onder de ziekenhuizen inderdaad commandocentra zijn gevestigd. ,,Maar dat is niet zo vreemd, aangezien Hamas deze centra tot nu toe altijd verborgen wist te houden. Ik denk dat Israël niet zomaar aanvallen uitvoert in de buurt van gezondheidsvoorzieningen. Ze weten meer. De kans is dan ook groot dat ze binnenkort bewijs zullen vrijgeven. Want bewijs van de aanwezigheid van militaire faciliteiten is ook noodzakelijk om de beschermde status van een ziekenhuis te laten vervallen. Anders kunnen deze aanvallen als een oorlogsmisdaad worden gezien.’’
Toch vindt Wijninga het een zeer lastige afweging om een ziekenhuis aan te vallen. ,,Israël zegt de zogeheten ‘nevenschade’, ofwel burgerslachtoffers, zo beperkt mogelijk te willen houden, maar in dit geval is dat bijna niet te doen. Veel patiënten kunnen niet eens worden geëvacueerd. Het IDF moet een afweging maken of de militaire winst van het oprollen van een commandocentrum opweegt tegen de slachtoffers die er worden gemaakt. Dat lijkt me een enorm dilemma.’’
Raketlanceerinstallaties bij scholen
Tot nu toe werden er beelden getoond van tunnels die beginnen in bunkers en woonhuizen en raketlanceerinstallaties die vlakbij scholen en speeltuinen zijn neergezet. Wijninga: ,,Zeker als Hamas ook ziekenhuizen en de tunnels onder deze gebouwen gebruikt voor militaire doeleinden, kun je deze organisatie ook verantwoordelijk houden voor de slachtoffers. Niet alleen Israël.’’
In de tussentijd wordt de situatie van de ziekenhuizen in Gaza dus steeds ernstiger en is medische zorg in veel gevallen niet meer mogelijk. Volgens de WHO zijn 21 van de 36 klinieken in de strook buiten gebruik doordat ze verwoest of beschadigd zijn, of doordat de brandstof op is. Hulpgoederen die vanuit Egypte Gaza binnenkomen, kunnen het noorden niet bereiken vanwege de onveilige situatie. In de ziekenhuizen die nog wel (deels) operationeel zijn, liggen niet alleen patiënten. Tienduizenden Gazanen die hun huis uit zijn gevlucht, gebruiken de ziekenhuizen als schuilplaats.
EINDE BERICHT
[20]
[20]
”WHO reported that a separate attack on October 7, which hit two ambulances in Jabalia, killed two paramedics and injured others.”
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHGAZA: UNLAWFUL ISRAELI HOSPITAL STRIKESWORSEN HEALTH CRISIS
Israel’s Blockade, Bombardment Decimate Healthcare System; Investigate as War Crimes
”Vlak na het uitbreken van de oorlog, op 7 oktober, riep het Israëlische leger de Gazanen op het noorden van de Gazastrook te verlaten. Veel van hen trokken naar de stad Khan Younis. Deze week werd ook die voormalige ‘veilige plek’ onderdeel van het strijdtoneel.
NOS
85 PROCENT VAN DE MENSEN IN GAZA IS OPDE VLUCHT, MAAR NERGENS IS HET VEILIG
Een week geleden werden de gevechten tussen Israël en Hamas en de bombardementen op Gaza hervat, na een tijdelijke gevechtspauze van zeven dagen. Sindsdien is het Israëlische leger niet alleen in het noorden van de Gazastrook aanwezig, maar stak het leger ook de grens over in het zuiden. De honderdduizenden ontheemde Palestijnen die zich daar bevinden slaan daardoor opnieuw op de vlucht.
Vlak na het uitbreken van de oorlog, op 7 oktober, riep het Israëlische leger de Gazanen op het noorden van de Gazastrook te verlaten. Veel van hen trokken naar de stad Khan Younis. Deze week werd ook die voormalige ‘veilige plek’ onderdeel van het strijdtoneel.
Al eerder voerde het leger aanvallen uit op steden in het zuiden van de Gazastrook, hoewel ze als ‘veilig’ werden bestempeld, maar nu roept het leger op om nog zuidelijker te trekken. Bijvoorbeeld naar de grens bij Rafah of Al-Mawasi.
Geïmproviseerde schuilplaatsen
“We zien enorme stromen aan ontheemde mensen die nu naar het zuidelijkste puntje komen, naar Rafah”, zegt Rik Peeperkorn, vertegenwoordiger van de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO) in de Palestijnse gebieden. “Elke ochtend zie je meer geïmproviseerde schuilplaatsen”, zegt hij. “Overal zie je mensen die proberen plastic vellen te krijgen, hout te sprokkelen. Op zoek naar van alles eigenlijk om maar een soort tent te maken.”
Het gaat om de zwaarste gevechten sinds het begin van de oorlog, zei de Israëlische generaal Finkelman eerder deze week over de opnieuw losgebarsten strijd. Dat heeft gevolgen voor de ontheemde Gazanen. Volgens schattingen van de Verenigde Naties zijn 1,9 van de 2,2 miljoen inwoners van Gaza ontheemd. Niet alleen moeten zij opnieuw evacueren, ook de (internationale) hulpverlening loopt gevaar door de gevechten.
Cijfers dodenaantal moeilijker te controleren:
Sinds 1 december, de dag dat de oorlog in Gaza werd hervat na een week gevechtspauze, is het moeilijker om het aantal doden in kaart te brengen. Persbureau Reuters legde donderdag uit dat in de eerste zes weken van de oorlog cijfers van ziekenhuismortuaria naar het ministerie van Volksgezondheid in Gaza werden gestuurd. Dat wordt geleid door Hamas en huisde in het al Shifa-ziekenhuis.
Voor die data legden ambtenaren in Excel-sheets namen, leeftijden en identiteitskaartnummers van de doden vast. Die lijsten werden dan doorgestuurd naar het Palestijnse ministerie van Volksgezondheid op de Westelijke Jordaanoever. Die geven de cijfers weer door aan de persbureaus. Dat ministerie laat aan Reuters weten dat van de vier mensen die het datacentrum in het al Shifa-ziekenhuis leidden één persoon gedood is bij een luchtaanval en drie mensen vermist zijn geraakt, nadat het pand door Israël in beslag was genomen.
Sindsdien is het volgens het persbureau lastig geworden om bij te houden hoeveel mensen er dagelijks omkomen. Volgens de laatste cijfers van de Palestijnse ministeries zijn er sinds het begin van de oorlog 17.177 mensen gedood. Voor de gevechtspauze ging het om ongeveer 15.000 mensen. Volgens Unicef waren er voor de gevechtspauze 5300 kinderen onder het aantal doden.
Het Israëlische leger heeft eenzijdig Al-Mawasi aangewezen als “humanitaire zone”. Het gaat om een klein gebied van ongeveer 1 kilometer breed en 14 kilometer lang aan de zuidwestkust van de Gazastrook. VN-organisatie UNRWA heeft meerdere keren genoemd dat “eenzijdig uitgeroepen ‘veilige zones’ helemaal niet veilig zijn”.
Het Israëlische leger garandeert overigens niet dat het niet ook dat gebied zal aanvallen.
EINDE
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
ISRAEL/OPT: ”NOWHERE SAFE IN GAZA”/UNLAWFUL
ISRAELI STRIKES ILLUSTRATE CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR PALESTINIAN LIVES
Further evidence of war crimes killing 46 civilians
Victims of attack on church include three-month-old baby and woman aged 80
“There is nowhere safe in Gaza during this war” – Ramez al-Sury, whose three children were killed
Israeli forces have demonstrated – yet again – a chilling indifference to the catastrophic toll on civilians of their ongoing relentless bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip.
As part of its ongoing investigation into violations of the laws of war, Amnesty International has documented two illustrative cases in which Israeli strikes killed 46 civilians, including 20 children. The oldest victim was an 80-year-old woman and the youngest was a three-month-old baby. These attacks must be investigated as war crimes.
The attacks, which occurred on 19 and 20 October, hit a church building where hundreds of displaced civilians were sheltering in Gaza City and a home in al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Amnesty International, based on its in-depth investigation of these events, has determined that these strikes were indiscriminate attacks or direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, which must be investigated as war crimes.
“These deadly, unlawful attacks are part of a documented pattern of disregard for Palestinian civilians, and demonstrate the devastating impact of the Israeli military’s unprecedented onslaught has left nowhere safe in Gaza, regardless of where civilians live or seek shelter,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Director of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy.
“We urge the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to take immediate concrete action to expedite the investigation into war crimes and other crimes under international law opened in 2021.
“The harrowing accounts from survivors and relatives of victims describing the devastating human toll of these bombardments offer a snapshot of the mass civilian suffering being inflicted daily across Gaza by the Israeli military’s relentless attacks, underscoring the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire.”
Amnesty International visited the sites of the strikes, took pictures of the aftermath of each attack, and interviewed a total of 14 individuals, including nine survivors, two other witnesses, a relative of victims and two church leaders. Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed satellite imagery and open-source audio-visual material to geolocate and verify the attacks.
The organization also reviewed relevant statements by the Israeli military and sent questions to the Israeli military’s spokesperson unit on 30 October regarding the church attack and the al-Nuseirat camp attack. At the time of publication, no response had been received.
Israeli authorities have not published any credible evidence of the basis for these strikes, including about alleged military objectives present. On the contrary, in the case of the bombing of the church building, the Israeli military published contradictory information, including a video it later withdrew and a statement it failed to substantiate. Amnesty International’s research did not find any indication that the buildings hit could be considered military objectives or were used by fighters.
These findings build on previous Amnesty International documentation of unlawful Israeli strikes during the current escalation and on documentation of a similar pattern of unlawful strikes during previous rounds of Israeli operations in Gaza. The current bombardment is unparalleled for Gaza in its intensity, in the number of civilians killed, and in the level of destruction to homes, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure
“Israeli forces’ callous disregard for international humanitarian law has been documented by the organization extensively in previous military operations – but the intensity and cruelty of the current bombardment is unparalleled,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.
“The horrifying death toll in Gaza – with more than 11,000 Palestinians killed, including more than 4,600 children within just six weeks – is in itself a signal of just how disposable Palestinian lives are in the eyes of Israeli forces ordering and carrying out these attacks.”
‘My heart died with my children’
On 19 October, an Israeli air strike destroyed a building in the compound of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in the heart of Gaza’s old city, where an estimated 450 internally displaced members of Gaza’s small Christian community were sheltering. The strike killed 18 civilians and injured at least 12 others.
Ramez al-Sury, who lost his three children and 10 other relatives in the attack, told Amnesty International: “My heart died with my children that evening. All my children were killed: Majid, 11, Julie, 12, and Suhail, 14. I have nothing left. I should have died with my children.
“I left them only two minutes earlier. My sister called me to go downstairs to the basement to help my father [who is] bedridden since he had a stroke… my children stayed in the room with my cousins and their wives and children. That is when the strike happened and killed everyone.
“We left our homes and came to stay at the church because we thought we would be protected here. We have nowhere else to go… The church was full of peaceful people, only peaceful people… There is nowhere safe in Gaza during this war. Bombardments everywhere, day and night. Every day, more and more civilians are killed. We pray for peace, but our hearts are broken.”
Sami Tarazi told Amnesty International that his parents, Marwan and Nahed, were killed, along with his six-month-old niece, Joelle, and his 80-year-old relative, Elaine.
One of the church leaders told Amnesty International: “We don’t know why this bombardment [was launched] against our church; nobody has provided any explanation for causing such a tragedy. This is a church, a place of peace and love and prayer… There is no safety anywhere in Gaza at present.”
On 20 October, the Israeli military posted a video of drone footage on social media, reviewed and archived by Amnesty International, showing the moment of the air strike on a building within the church compound. Several media outlets then quoted an Israeli military statement indicating that “IDF fighter jets struck the command and control center belonging to a Hamas terrorist involved in the launching of rockets and mortars toward Israel”, acknowledging that “a wall of a church in the area was damaged” as a result of the strike, and assuring that “the incident is under review”.
However, the Israeli military video showing the strike has since been deleted, and no information has been provided by the Israeli military or authorities to substantiate the claim that the destroyed church building was a Hamas “command and control center”, nor any further information about the purported review of the strike.
Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab examined, verified and geolocated videos and images posted on social media of the immediate aftermath of the strike, and analyzed satellite images of the location before and after the strike – all confirming the destruction of one building and partial destruction of another in the church compound.
Amnesty International’s weapons expert also examined the military’s video and other images, and concluded that a large air-delivered munition directly struck the building where those killed and injured were sheltering.
Church officials had publicly stated that hundreds of civilians were sheltering there prior to the strike, so their presence would therefore have been known to the Israeli military. The Israeli military’s decision to go ahead with a strike on a known church compound and site for displaced civilians was reckless and therefore amounts to a war crime, even if there was a belief that there was a military objective nearby.
I will live with that guilt for the rest of my life’
On 20 October at around 2pm local time, 28 civilians – including 12 children – were killed by an Israeli strike, which destroyed the al-Aydi family home and severely damaged two neighbouring houses in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, within the area where the Israeli military had ordered residents of northern Gaza to move to.
Rami al-Aydi, his wife Ranin, and their three children – Ghina, 10, Maya, eight, and Iyad, six – were killed. Zeina Abu Shehada and her two children, Amir al-Aydi, four, and Rakan al-Aydi, three, were also killed, along with Zeina’s two sisters and mother.
Hani al-Aydi, who survived the strike, told Amnesty International: “We were sitting at home, it was full of people, of children, of relatives. Suddenly, without any warning, everything collapsed on our head. All my brothers died, my nephews, my nieces… My mother died, my sisters died, our home is gone… There is nothing here, and now we are left with nothing and are displaced. I don’t know how much worse things will get. Could it get any worse?”
Hazem Abu Shehada’s wife and three daughters were among the victims. They had moved from the nearby al-Maghazi refugee camp looking for safety. He told Amnesty International: “I will live with that guilt for the rest of my life. It was I who suggested they move there temporarily. I wish I did not do that, I wish I could turn the clock back. I’d rather we all died together than losing my family.”
The strike also caused severe damage and the near-total destruction of the neighbouring houses of the al-Ashram and Abu Zarqa families. Six people were killed at the Abu Zarqa home, including four children: sisters Sondos, 12, and Areej, 11; and their cousins Yara, 10, and Khamis Abu Tahoun, 12.
Amnesty International’s investigation found that all of those present in the al-Aydi house that was hit directly and in the two nearby homes were civilians. Two members of the al-Aydi family had permits to work in Israel, which requires rigorous security checks by Israeli authorities, for those obtaining the permit and their extended family.
Satellite imagery of the site confirms destruction – consistent with an air strike – between 20 October at 11:19 UTC and 21 October at 08:22 UTC. The area and many of the structures appear to have sustained significant damage.
International humanitarian law
Parties to an armed conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and civilian objects on the one hand and fighters and military objectives on the other. Direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects are prohibited, as are indiscriminate attacks.
When attacking a military objective, Israel is obligated to take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, death and injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects. Such precautions include doing all that is possible to verify that a target is a military objective; choosing means and methods of attack that minimize civilian harm; assessing whether an attack would be disproportionate; giving effective advance warning where feasible; and canceling an attack should it become apparent that it would be unlawful.
Amnesty International did not find any indication that there were any military objectives at the site of the two strikes or that the people in the buildings were military targets, raising concerns that these strikes were direct attacks on civilians or on civilian objects.
But even if there had been a legitimate military objective in the vicinity of any of the buildings that were hit, these strikes failed to distinguish between military objectives and civilian objects. The evidence collected by Amnesty International also indicates that the Israeli military failed to take feasible precautions to minimize damage to civilians and civilian property, including by not providing any warning – at minimum to anyone living in the locations that were hit – before launching the attacks.
Indiscriminate strikes that kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes. A longstanding pattern of reckless attacks that strike civilian objects, which Amnesty International has documented throughout Israel’s ongoing attacks, as well as during the 2008-9, 2014, and 2021 conflicts, may amount to directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, also a war crime.
The extremely high population density in Gaza entails additional challenges for all the parties involved in the conflict. Hamas and other armed groups are required under international humanitarian law to take feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of attacks. This includes, to the extent feasible, avoiding locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas.
However, even if armed groups fail to fulfil their obligations, Israel remains bound by international humanitarian law, including prohibitions against indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
Background
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to aid for people in Gaza amidst an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Amnesty International documented how Hamas and other armed groups launched indiscriminate rockets into Israel on 07 October 2023, and sent fighters who committed war crimes, such as deliberate mass killings of civilians and hostage taking. According to Israeli authorities, at least 239 people, including 33 children, remain hostages of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
The organization has also documented damning evidence of war crimes by Israeli forces in their Gaza offensive, including other indiscriminate attacks, that have resulted in mass civilian casualties, wiped out entire families, and destroyed residential neighbourhoods.
END
VOLKSKRANT
ZE ZIJN NAAR EEN VEILIGE PLEK GEGAAN EN NU ZIJN ZE
Ook het zuidelijke gedeelte van de Gazastrook, waar Gazanen in opdracht van Israël massaal naartoe zijn gegaan, blijkt onveilig. Het huis waarin zijn familie zat werd zaterdagmiddag gebombardeerd, vertelt Sami Al-Ajrami. Ondertussen worden water, voedsel en brandstof steeds schaarser.
Ze waren vrijdag naar het zuiden van de Gazastrook gegaan, zoals bevolen door het Israëlische leger. De zussen van Sami Al-Ajrami en hun kinderen, en vrienden. Ze gingen naar Deir al-Balah, ten zuiden van de rivierbedding Wadi Gaza. Daar zou het veilig zijn. Maar dat bleek anders. ‘Het huis waar mijn familie zat is net gebombardeerd’, vertelt Al-Ajrami aan de telefoon vanuit het ziekenhuis Shuhadaa’ Al Aqsa.
Al-Ajrami, van wie de familie voor zover de Volkskrant bekend geen banden heeft met Hamas, verblijft zelf met zijn dochters in een ander huis. Hij kan niet geloven wat er is gebeurd. ‘Ze zijn naar een veilige plek gegaan en nu zijn ze daar gedood. Waarom?’ Al-Ajrami, die werkt als fixer voor internationale media, kan weinig anders zeggen dan dat. ‘Waarom? Deze plek zou veilig zijn.’ Het telefoongesprek is kort. Hij wil terug naar de gewonden en ‘proberen afscheid te nemen van degenen die dood zijn’.
Bij hem in het ziekenhuis is zijn vriend Wisam al-Ashi, een video-editor. Ook hij is gisteren met zijn familie naar het zuiden gegaan en zit met zo’n vijftig mensen in een huis net aan de noordkant van Wadi Gaza. Al-Ashi, de redelijkheid zelve en nooit vol verwijt over Israël, is de weg kwijt.
‘Mijn vriend Sami staat hier naast me te huilen, hij heeft net heel veel familieleden verloren. Er zijn veel doden, veel gewonden. En ik vraag me af: waar zijn we dan veilig? Israël heeft via sociale media en via pamfletten die uit de lucht kwamen gezegd dat we het noorden moesten verlaten. We hebben dat gedaan. Veel mensen zitten nu met drie of vier families bij elkaar in een huis. En dan, zomaar, worden ze gedood. Waarom? Ik kan het niet begrijpen.’
Gebrek aan water
Iets verder naar het zuiden zit Reham Owda, een jonge vrouw uit Gaza-Stad. Zaterdagochtend al, voor haar vertrek naar het zuiden, moest ze haar huis uit, vertelt ze via de telefoon, omdat de hele straat werd geëvacueerd vanwege aanstaande bombardementen. Ze schuilde in het Shifa-ziekenhuis. Die avond kwam ze aan in de zuidelijke stad Khan Younis. ‘Het grootste probleem is dat we geen water hebben, omdat er geen elektriciteit is. De pompen werken niet. Wij hebben nog een paar flessen mineraalwater.’
Ook in Khan Younis zijn er bombardementen, vertelt ze. Dus ook daar geen veiligheid. ‘Maar het ergste nu is het gebrek aan elektriciteit en brandstof voor de generatoren. Sommige families hebben nog een beetje diesel op voorraad.’ Om in contact met de buitenwereld te blijven, vertelt ze, gaan mensen naar de medische centra om de batterij van de telefoon op te laden.
Ook Al-Ashi noemt als grootste nood nu vooral het gebrek aan water. ‘Om je te wassen, voor wat dan ook. Drinkwater kun je nog in flessen krijgen. Maar de prijs gaat snel omhoog. En het is op steeds minder plekken te krijgen. Ook voedsel is er nog, maar wordt steeds duurder, omdat de voorraden kleiner worden doordat Israël de toevoer via de grensovergangen heeft gestopt.’
Gazanen spreken van tweede Nakba
Voor veel mensen in Gaza roept wat nu gaande is herinneringen op aan 1948, toen honderdduizenden Palestijnen op de vlucht sloegen, in wat sindsdien de Nakba heet – de catastrofe. Ze verlieten hun huizen en talloze families namen de sleutel mee. Voor als ze terug zouden gaan. In veel Palestijnse huizen hangt nog zo’n sleutel. Zij wonen sindsdien in vluchtelingenkampen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, in Libanon en Jordanië. En in de Gazastrook.
Velen in Gaza, opnieuw verdreven, spreken nu over een tweede Nakba. Sommigen gaan om die reden niet naar het zuiden, ze zeggen dat ze liever sterven in hun eigen huis. Stel dat er een kans komt naar Egypte te gaan, zouden ze dat doen? Reham Owda: ‘Ik blijf hier tot we terug kunnen naar Gaza-Stad. Tenzij ze ons dwingen om te gaan.’ Wisam al-Ashi: ‘Jazeker, dan ga ik. Ik wil niet dat mijn familie, mijn kinderen doodgaan. Elke keer als ik kinderen zie die zijn gestorven, zie ik mijn eigen kinderen voor me.’
Bij het bombardement op de plek waar de familie van Sami al-Ajrami ‘veilig’ onderdak had gevonden, blijkt een woonblok van zes gebouwen geraakt. Geruchten doen de ronde, zegt hij zondagochtend, dat in een van de woningen een lid zat van Al-Qassam, de gewapende brigade van Hamas. En zo heeft Al-Ajrami zondag veertien familieleden begraven.
At least 700 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours – one of the highest daily death tolls since the war began on October 7.
From the north to the south, Palestinians in Gaza say nowhere is safe.
The Israeli military targeted the Jabalia refugee camp for a second day. Several homes were destroyed, killing dozens of people. More are buried under the rubble.
Israel has also called on residents from certain neighbourhoods in Khan Younis in southern Gaza to evacuate. Roads leading to other parts of the city or further south have been destroyed or heavily damaged.
More than 15,500 people have been confirmed killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
A Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson told Al Jazeera that conditions across Gaza are “beyond dire”, warning that rescuers lack the resources to reach all victims of Israeli bombardment.
“There are dozens of civilians being killed in every single air strike. Hundreds are also being wounded,” said Mahmoud Basal.
END
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noot 21/Israelische Terreur
United Nations S/RES/2417 (2018) Security Council Distr.: General
24 May 2018
Resolution 2417 (2018)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 8267th meeting, on 24 May 2018 The Security Council,
Recalling all relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 1296 (2000), 1894 (2009), 2175 (2014), and 2286 (2016) and its Presidential Statement of 9 August 2017 (S/PRST/2017/14),
Deeply concerned about the level of global humanitarian needs and the threat of famine presently facing millions of people in armed conflicts, as well as about the number of undernourished people in the world which, after decades of decreasing, increased over the last two years, with the majority of food insecure people and seventy-five percent of all stunted children under the age of five living in countries affected by armed conflict, amounting to 74 million people facing crisis food insecurity or worse in situations of armed conflict,
Noting the devastating impact on civilians of ongoing armed conflict and related violence, and emphasising with deep concern that ongoing armed conflicts and violence have devastating humanitarian consequences, often hindering an effective humanitarian response, and are therefore a major cause of the current risk of famine,
Expressing concern over the growing number of armed conflicts in different geographic areas all over the globe, and underlining the urgent need for redoubled efforts for their prevention and resolution, addressing where pertinent the regional dimensions of armed conflicts with specific emphasis on regional diplomacy and arrangements,
Reiterating its commitment to pursue all possible avenues to prevent and end armed conflicts, including through addressing their underlying root causes in an inclusive, integrated and sustainable manner,
Recognising the need to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity,
Reiterating its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and, in this connection, its commitment to address conflict-induced food insecurity, including famine, in situations of armed conflict,
Reaffirming the full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
Recognising that armed conflict impacts on food security can be direct, such as displacement from land, livestock grazing areas, and fishing grounds or destruction of food stocks and agricultural assets, or indirect, such as disruptions to food systems and markets, leading to increased food prices or decreased household purchasing power, or decreased access to supplies that are necessary for food preparation, including water and fuel,
Noting with deep concern the serious humanitarian threat, posed to civilians by landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices in affected countries, which has serious and lasting social and economic consequences for the populations of such countries and their agricultural activities, as well as of personnel participating in law enforcement, humanitarian, peacekeeping, rehabilitation and clearance programmes and operations,
Stressing the particular impact that armed conflict has on women, children, including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and other civilians who may have specific vulnerabilities including persons with disabilities and older persons, and stressing the protection and assistance needs of all affected civilian populations,
Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
Recalling the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, and the obligation of High Contracting Parties and parties to armed conflict to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law in all circumstance s,
Underlining that using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare may constitute a war crime,
Stressing that responding effectively to humanitarian needs in armed conflict, including the threat of conflict-induced famine and food insecurity in situations of armed conflict, requires respect for international humanitarian law by all parties to conflict, underlining the parties’ obligations related to protecting civilians and civilian objects, meeting the basic needs of the civilian population within their territory or under their effective control, and allowing and facilitating the rapid and unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief to all those in need,
Recalling its intention to mandate United Nations peacekeeping and other relevant missions, where appropriate, to assist in creating conditions conducive to safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian assistance,
Demanding that all parties to armed conflicts fully comply with their obligations under international law, including international human rights law, as applicable, and international humanitarian law, in particular their obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the obligations applicable to them under the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977 and 2005, to ensure the respect and protection of all medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities,
Reaffirming the obligation of all parties to an armed conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, in particular their obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the obligations applicable to them under the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, to ensure the respect and protection of all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, as well as with the rules and principles of international human rights law and refugee law,
Reaffirming the need for all parties to armed conflict to respect the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence in the provision of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance, and reaffirming also the need for all actors engaged in the provision of such assistance in situations of armed conflict to promote and fully adhere to these principles,
Stressing that the fight against impunity and to ensure accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other egregious crimes has been strengthened through the work on and prosecution of these crimes in the national and international criminal justice system, ad hoc and mixed tribunals as well as specialized chambers in national tribunals,
Reaffirming the primary responsibility of States to protect the population throughout their whole territory,
1. Recalls the link between armed conflict and violence and conflict-induced food insecurity and the threat of famine, and calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding respecting and protecting civilians and taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including objects necessary for food production and distribution such as farms, markets, water systems, mills, food processing and storage sites, and hubs and means for food transportation, and refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, crops, livestock, agricultural assets, drinking water installations and supplies, and irrigation works, and respecting and protecting humanitarian personnel and consignments used for humanitarian relief operations;
2. Stresses in this regard that armed conflict, violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and food insecurity can be drivers of forced displacement, and, conversely, forced displacement in countries in armed conflict can have a devastating impact on agricultural production and livelihoods, recalls the relevant prohibition on the forced displacement of civilians in armed conflict, and stresses the importance of fully complying with international humanitarian law and other applicable international law in this context;
3. Stresses the need for humanitarian assistance to be gender- and agesensitive, and to remain responsive to the different needs of the population, ensuring that these needs are integrated in the humanitarian response;
4. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and underlines the importance of safe and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to civilians in armed conflicts, calls upon all parties concerned, including neighbouring States, to cooperate fully with the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations agencies in providing such access, invites States and the Secretary-General to bring to its attention information regarding the unlawful denial of such access in violation of international law, where such denial may constitute a threat to international peace and security, and, in this regard, expresses its willingness to consider such information and, when necessary, to adopt appropriate steps;
5. Strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in a number of conflict situations and prohibited by international humanitarian law;
6. Strongly condemns the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supply and access for responses to conflict-induced food insecurity in situations of armed conflict, which may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law;
7. Urges all parties to protect civilian infrastructure which is critical to the delivery of humanitarian aid and to ensure the proper functioning of food systems and markets in situations of armed conflict;
8. Urges those with influence over parties to armed conflict to remind the latter of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law;
9. Recalls that the Council has adopted and can consider to adopt sanction measures, where appropriate and in line with existing practice, that can be ap plied to individuals or entities obstructing the delivery o
10. Strongly urges States to conduct, in an independent manner, full, prompt, impartial and effective investigations within their jurisdiction into violations of international humanitarian law related to the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, including the unlawful denial of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in armed conflict, and, where appropriate, to take action against those responsible in accordance with domestic and international law, with a view to reinforcing preventive measures, ensuring accountability and addressing the grievances of victims;
11. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide information on the humanitarian situation and response, including on the risk of famine and food insecurity in countries with armed conflict, as part of his regular reporting on countryspecific situations;
12. Further requests the Secretary-General to report swiftly to the Council when the risk of conflict-induced famine and wide-spread food insecurity in armed conflict contexts occurs, and expresses its intention to give its full attention to such information provided by the Secretary-General when those situations are brought to its attention;
13. Further requests the Secretary-General to brief the Security Council every twelve months on the implementation of this resolution within his annual briefing on the protection of civilians.
Evidence Indicates Civilians Deliberately Denied Access to Food, Water
The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.
The Israeli government should not attack objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population, lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip, and restore electricity and water.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.
Since Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel – statements reflecting a policy being carried out by Israeli forces. Other Israeli officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza would be conditioned either on the release of hostages unlawfully held by Hamas or Hamas’ destruction.
“For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza’s population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s population.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza between November 24 and December 4. They described their profound hardships in securing basic necessities. “We had no food, no electricity, no internet, nothing at all,” said one man who had left northern Gaza. “We don’t know how we survived.”
In southern Gaza, those interviewed described the scarcity of potable water, the lack of food leading to empty shops and lengthy lines, and exorbitant prices. “You are on a constant search for things needed to survive,” said a father of two. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on December 6 that 9 out of 10 households in northern Gaza and 2 out of 3 households in southern Gaza had spent at least one full day and night without food.
International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war crime. Criminal intent does not require the attacker’s admission but can also be inferred from the totality of the circumstances of the military campaign.
In addition, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza, as well as its more than 16-year closure, amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, a war crime. As the occupying power in Gaza under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has the duty to ensure that the civilian population gets food and medical supplies.
On November 17, the WFP warned of the “immediate possibility” of starvation, highlighting that supplies of food and water were practically non-existent. On December 3, it reported a “high risk of famine,” indicating that Gaza’s food system was on the brink of collapse. And on December 6, it declared that 48 percent of households in northern Gaza and 38 percent of displaced people in southern Gaza had experienced “severe levels of hunger.”
On November 3, the Norwegian Refugee Council announced that Gaza was grappling with “catastrophic water, sanitation, and hygiene needs.”Wastewater and desalination facilities were shut down in mid-October due to fuel and electricity shortages and have been largely inoperable since, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. Even before October 7, according to the UN, Gaza had virtually no potable water.
Prior to the current hostilities, 1.2 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million people were estimated to be facing acute food insecurity, and over 80 percent were reliant on humanitarian aid. Israel maintains overarching control over Gaza, including over the movement of people and goods, territorial waters, airspace, the infrastructure upon which Gaza relies, as well as the registry of the population. This leaves Gaza’s population, which Israel has subjected to an unlawful closure for 16 years, almost entirely dependent on Israel for access to fuel, electricity, medicine, food, and other essential commodities.
After the imposition of a “total blockade” on Gaza on October 9, Israeli authorities resumed piping water to some parts of southern Gaza on October 15 and, as of October 21, allowed limited humanitarian aid to arrive through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on October 18 that Israel would not allow humanitarian assistance “in the form of food and medicines” into Gaza through its crossings “as long as our hostages are not returned.”
The government continued to block the entry of fuel until November 15, despite warnings about the serious consequences of doing so, leading to the shutdown of bakeries, hospitals, sewage pumping stations, water desalination plants, and wells. These facilities, which have been left unusable, are indispensable to the civilian population’s survival. Although limited amounts of fuel were subsequently allowed in, on December 4, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, called it “utterly insufficient.” On December 6, Israel’s war cabinet approved a “minimal” increase in fuel supplies to southern Gaza.
On December 1, immediately after the seven-day ceasefire, the Israeli military resumed bombing Gaza and expanded its ground offensive, stating that its military operations in the south would carry “no less strength” than in the north. While United States officials said that they urged Israel to allow fuel and humanitarian aid to enter Gaza at the same levels observed during the ceasefire, the Defense Ministry’s coordinator of government activities in the territories said on December 1 that it halted all aid entry. Limited aid deliveries resumed on December 2, but still at grossly insufficient levels, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Alongside the crushing blockade, the Israeli military’s extensive airstrikes in the strip have resulted in widespread damage or destruction to objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population.
UN experts said on November 16 that the significant damage “threatens to make the continuation of Palestinian life in Gaza impossible.” Notably, Israeli forces’ bombing of Gaza’s last operational wheat mill on November 15 ensures that locally produced flour will be unavailable in Gaza for the foreseeable future, as highlighted by OCHA. Additionally, the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said that the decimation of road networks had made it more difficult for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to those who need it.
“Bakeries and grain mills have been destroyed, agriculture, water and sanitation facilities,” Scott Paul, a senior humanitarian policy adviser for Oxfam America, told the Associated Press on November 23.
Israel’s military actions in Gaza have also had a devastating impact on Gaza’s agricultural sector. The sustained bombardment, coupled with fuel and water shortages, alongside the displacement of more than 1.6 million people to southern Gaza, has made farming nearly impossible, according to Oxfam. In a report from November 28, OCHA said that livestock in the north are facing starvation due to the shortage of fodder and water, and that crops are increasingly abandoned and damaged due to lack of fuel to pump irrigation water. Existing problems, such as water scarcity and restricted access to farming land near the border fence, have compounded the difficulties faced by local farmers, many of whom are displaced. On November 28, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said that Gaza is suffering from at least a US$1.6 million daily loss in farm production.
On November 28, the Palestine Food Security Sector, led by the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization, reported that over a third of agricultural land in the north had been damaged in the hostilities. Satellite imagery reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicates that since the start of the Israeli military’s ground offensive on October 27, agricultural land, including orchards, greenhouses, and farmland in northern Gaza, has been razed, apparently by Israeli forces.
The Israeli government should immediately cease using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, Human Rights Watch said. It should abide by the prohibition on attacks on objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population and lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip. The government should restore water and electricity access, and allow desperately needed food, medical aid, and fuel into Gaza, including via its crossing at Kerem Shalom.
Concerned governments should call on Israel to end these abuses. The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and other countries should also suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel as long as its forces continue to commit widespread and serious abuses amounting to war crimes against civilians with impunity.
“The Israeli government is compounding its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and the blocking of humanitarian aid by its cruel use of starvation as a weapon of war,” Shakir said. “The deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza calls for an urgent and effective response from the international community.”
Background
The Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7 killed at least 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, with more than 200 people taken hostage, acts amounting to war crimes. The resulting Israeli bombardment and ground offensive resulted in more than 18,700 Palestinians killed, including more than 7,700 children, according to Gaza authorities.
UN experts stated on November 16 that half of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure had been destroyed. OCHA reported that as of December 10, over half of Gaza’s housing units had been damaged or destroyed, as provided by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza as well as hospitals, schools, mosques, bakeries, water pipes, sewage, and electricity networks. On November 4 and 5 alone, according to OCHA, seven water facilities across the Gaza Strip were directly hit and sustained major damage, including water reservoirs in Gaza City, the Jabalia refugee camp, and Rafah.
The Israeli military’s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza’s healthcare sector, thereby affecting the population’s ability to access life-saving treatment, including to prevent diseases, wasting, and deaths linked to malnutrition, exacerbating the dire ramifications of starvation. “We will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system,” the World Health Organization’s Margaret Harris said on November 28.
Humanitarian Consequences
On October 13, Israeli authorities issued an order for more than a million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours – an order that was impossible to comply with. Since then, and as conditions in the north worsened, hundreds of thousands have been displaced to Rafah and Khan Younis governorates in the south, where it has become increasingly difficult to secure the means to survive. Under international humanitarian law, evacuations must be carried out under conditions that ensure those displaced have access to unimpeded humanitarian aid, including sufficient food and work, otherwise they may amount to forcible displacement. Evacuations that would increase the likelihood of starvation are prohibited.
The humanitarian consequences of Israel’s military actions in Gaza have been severe. During the first eight weeks of hostilities, northern Gaza was the focus of the Israeli military’s intense air and, later, ground offensive. Except for the seven-day ceasefire that began on November 24, during which UN convoys brought in limited quantities of flour and high-energy biscuits, aid access to the north had been largely severed. Between November 7 and at least November 15, none of the bakeries in the north were operational due to the lack of fuel, water, wheat flour, and structural damage, according to OCHA.
According to the WFP, there is a serious risk of starvation and famine in Gaza. UN officials have said that 1.9 million people, over 85 percent of Gaza’s population, are internally displaced, adding that the conditions in an ever-shrinking southern area of the Gaza strip could become “even more hellish.”
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths stated on December 5 that the Israeli military campaign in southern Gaza had led to “apocalyptic” conditions, making meaningful humanitarian operations impossible.
As of December 6, the only water desalination plant in northern Gaza was nonfunctional and the pipeline supplying water to the north from Israel remained closed, increasing the risk of dehydration and waterborne diseases arising from the consumption of water from unsafe sources. Hospitals have been particularly hard hit, with only 1 of 24 hospitals in northern Gaza functional and able to admit new patients, although services are limited, as of December 14.
Across Gaza, the humanitarian crisis deepened with a persistent electricity blackout since October 11 as well as several communications shutdowns that denied people access to reliable safety information, emergency medical services, and severely hindered humanitarian operations, with OCHA saying on November 18 that the telecommunications blackout between November 16 and 18, the fourth such blackout since October 7, “brought the already challenging delivery of humanitarian assistance to an almost complete halt, including life-saving assistance to people injured or trapped under the rubble as a result of airstrikes and clashes.” Another telecommunications blackout took place on December 14.
Since the beginning of the Israeli military’s ground offensive on October 27, satellite imagery reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicates that orchards, greenhouses, and farmland in northern Gaza have been razed, apparently by Israeli forces, compounding concerns of dire food insecurity and loss of livelihood. Satellite imagery indicates that the razing of agricultural land continued in northern Gaza during the seven-day ceasefire, which began on November 24 and ended on December 1, when the Israeli military was in direct control of the area.
While the Israeli government allowed a steady and slightly increased stream of humanitarian aid, including cooking gas for the first time since October 7, to enter the Gaza Strip during the seven-day ceasefire that ended on December 1, it deliberately hindered the entry of relief supplies at the scale needed for over a month prior, while it imposed a siege affecting the entire civilian population. This contributed to a catastrophic humanitarian situation of far-reaching consequences with over 80 percent of the population internally displaced, many of whom have been sheltering in overcrowded, unhealthy and unsanitary conditions at UN shelters in the south. The aid that entered during the ceasefire “barely registers against the huge needs of 1.7 million displaced people,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on November 27.
Some 200 trucks, including four tankers carrying up to 130,000 liters of fuel and four tankers of cooking gas, entered Gaza each day of the ceasefire. In comparison, an average of 500 trucks of food and goods entered Gaza each day before the conflict and 600,000 liters of fuel are needed in Gaza per day just to operate water and desalinization plants. As the bombardment resumed and Israeli forces advanced south, aid access was again severely hindered. On December 5, for the third consecutive day, OCHA reported that only Rafah governorate in Gaza received limited aid distributions. In the adjacent Khan Younis governorate, it said aid distribution largely stopped due to the intensity of hostilities.
Accounts from Civilians in Gaza
Human Rights Watch spoke to 11 civilians who evacuated northern Gaza to the perceived safety of the south due to heavy bombardment, fear of imminent airstrikes, or because Israel ordered them to evacuate. Several said they were displaced a number of times before reaching the south, as they struggled to find suitable shelters and safety along their journey. In the south, they found overcrowded shelters, empty markets and soaring prices, and long lines for limited supplies of bread and drinking water. To protect their identities, Human Rights Watch is using pseudonyms for all those interviewed.
“I have to walk three kilometers to get one gallon [of water],” said 30-year-old Marwan, who fled to the south with his pregnant wife and two children on November 9. “And there is no food. If we are able to find food, it is canned food. Not all of us are eating well.”
“We don’t have enough of anything,” said 36-year-old Hana, who fled her home in the north to Khan Younis in the south with her father, his wife and her brother on October 11. She said that in the south they don’t always have access to clean water, forcing them to drink nonpotable, salty, water.
Bathing has become a luxury, she said, due to the lack of means to heat water, requiring them to scavenge for wood. In desperate situations, she said, they even resort to burning old clothes for cooking. The process of making bread poses its own challenges, given the scarcity of ingredients that they cannot afford. “We make bad bread because we don’t have all the ingredients and we cannot afford it,” she said.
Majed, 34, who fled with his wife and four surviving children to the south on or around November 10 said that while the situation in the south was dire, it was incomparable to what he and his family had to endure while staying in the north. They had been in an area near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City for just over a month after their house was bombed on October 13, killing Majed’s 6-year-old son:
“In those 33 days we didn’t have bread because there was no flour,” he said. “There was no water – we were buying water, sometimes for [US]$10 a cup. It wasn’t always drinkable. Sometimes, [the water we drank] was from the bathroom and sometimes from the sea. The markets around the area were empty. There wasn’t even canned food.”
Taher, 32, who fled south with his family on November 11, described similar conditions in Gaza city in the first weeks of November. “The city was out of everything, of food and water,” he said. “If you find canned food, the prices were so high. We decided to eat just once a day to survive. We were running out of money. We decided to just have the necessities, to have less of everything.”
International Standards and Evidence of Deliberate Action
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under article 54(1) of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) and article 14 of the Second Additional Protocol (Protocol II). Although Israel is not a party to Protocols I or II, the prohibition is recognized as reflective of customary international humanitarian law in both international and noninternational armed conflicts. Parties to a conflict may not “provoke [starvation] deliberately” or deliberately cause “the population to suffer hunger, particularly by depriving it of its sources of food or of supplies.”
Warring parties are also prohibited from attacking objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as food and medical supplies, agricultural areas, and drinking water installations. They are obligated to facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need, and to not deliberately block humanitarian aid or restrict the freedom of movement of humanitarian relief personnel. In each of its four previous wars in Gaza since 2008, Israel maintained the flow of drinking water and electricity into Gaza and opened the Israeli crossings for humanitarian delivery.
Evidence of intent to deliberately use starvation as a method of warfare can be demonstrated by public statements of officials involved in military operations. The following high-ranking Israeli officials could be expected to play a significant role in determining policy with respect to allowing or blocking food and other necessities to the civilian population.
On October 9, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we must act accordingly.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a tweet on October 17, “So long as Hamas does not release the hostages – the only thing that should enter Gaza is hundreds of tons of air force explosives – not an ounce of humanitarian aid.”
Energy Minister Israel Katz, who reported that he ordered the cuts to electricity and water, said on October 11:
“For years, we have given Gaza electricity, water, and fuel. Instead of a thank you, they sent thousands of human animals to butcher, murder, rape and kidnap babies, women and elderly people. This is why we have decided to cut off the supply of water, electricity and fuel, and now, the local power plant has collapsed, and there is no electricity in Gaza. We will keep holding a tight siege until the Hamas threat is lifted from Israel and the world. What has been will be no more.”
“Humanitarian aid to Gaza? Not a switch will be flicked on, not a valve will be opened, not a fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages come home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. Let no one lecture us about morality.”
“I supported the agreement between PM [Prime Minister] Netanyahu and President Biden to supply water to the southern Gaza Strip because it aligned with Israeli interests too. I am vehemently opposed to lifting the blockade and letting goods into Gaza for humanitarian reasons. Our commitment is to the families of the murdered and to the kidnapped hostages – not Hamas murderers and the people who helped them.”
On November 4, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that no fuel must enter Gaza “under any circumstances.” He later called Israel’s war cabinet’s decision to permit small amounts to enter the strip “a grave mistake” and said that it “stop this scandal immediately and prevent fuel from coming into the Strip,” as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
In a video posted online on November 4, Col. Yogev Bar-Shesht, deputy head of the Civil Administration, said in an interview from inside Gaza, “Whoever returns here, if they return here after, will find scorched earth. No houses, no agriculture, no nothing. They have no future.”
On November 24, in a televised interview with CNN, Mark Regev, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Israel was depriving Gaza of fuel since October 7 to strengthen Israel’s position when it came to negotiating with Hamas on release of hostages. “Had we done so [allowed the fuel in] … we would never have gotten our hostages out,” he said.
On December 1, the Defense Ministry’s coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, said that the entry of fuel and aid to Gaza was halted after Hamas violated the conditions of the ceasefire agreement. His office confirmed his statement in response to a Times of Israel query, stating: “After the Hamas terror organization violated the agreement and in addition fired at Israel, the entry of humanitarian aid was stopped in the manner stipulated in the agreement.”
Other officials have since October 7 called for the limited entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying that doing so serves Israel’s military aims.
Prime Minister Netanyahu on December 5 answered a question about Israel potentially losing leverage against Hamas if it allowed more humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying: “The war efforts are supported by the humanitarian effort … this is because we follow laws of war because we know that if there would be a collapse – diseases, pandemics, and groundwater infections – it will stop the fighting.”
Defense Minister Gallant said: “We’re required to allow the humanitarian minimum to allow for the military pressure to continue.”
Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s national security adviser, said at a news conference on November 17: “If there is an epidemic, the fighting will be stopped. If there is a humanitarian crisis and an international outcry, we will not be able to continue the fighting under those conditions.”
On October 18, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Israel would not prevent humanitarian aid from entering Gaza from Egypt following pressure from the US and other international allies:
“In light of President Biden’s demand, Israel will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Destruction of Agricultural Products and Impacts on Food Production
During ground operations in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have apparently destroyed agricultural products, exacerbating shortages of food with long-term effects. This has included razing orchards, fields, and greenhouses.
Israel’s military said it conducted military operations in the Beit Hanoun area, including in an undisclosed agricultural area in Beit Hanoun, to clear tunnels and other military objectives.
Fields and orchards north of Beit Hanoun, for example, were first damaged during hostilities following Israel’s ground operations in late October. Bulldozers carved new roads, clearing the way for Israeli military vehicles.
Since mid-November, after Israeli forces took control of the same area in northeastern Gaza, satellite imagery shows that orchards, fields, and greenhouses have been systematically razed, leaving sand and dirt. Human Rights Watch contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment on December 8 but has not received a response.
Farmers in this area planted crops such as citrus fruit, potatoes, dragon fruit, and prickly pear, contributing to the livelihoods of Palestinians in Gaza. Other crops include tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries. Some plots were razed in a day. Trees that yield citrus fruit, as well as the cacti that yield dragon fruit, take years of care to mature before they can yield fruit.
High resolution satellite imagery shows bulldozers were used to destroy fields and orchards. Tracks are visible, as well as mounds of earth on the edges of the former plots.
Whether by deliberate razing, damage due to hostilities or the inability to irrigate or work the land, farmland across northern Gaza has been drastically reduced since the beginning of the Israeli ground operations.
Farms and farmers in southern Gaza have also been affected. Action Against Hunger found that of 113 farmers from southern Gaza surveyed between October 19 and 31, 60 percent reported that their assets and/or crops have been damaged, 42 percent reported that they had no access to water to irrigate their farms, and 43 percent reported that they were unable to harvest their crops.
CORRECTION
12/18/2023: This news release has been updated to reflect the October date on which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not allow humanitarian assistance “in the form food and medicines” into Gaza through its crossings “as long as [Israel’s] hostages are not returned.”
1/15/2024: This news release has been updated to reflect the correct attribution for statistics provided regarding the damage and destruction to civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
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”The Israeli authorities must immediately restore Gaza’s electricity supply and suspend the increased restrictions imposed as a result of the Minister of Defence’s order of 9 October 2023 and lift its illegal 16-year blockade on the Gaza Strip. The collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population amounts to a war crime – it is cruel and inhumane”
The shutdown of Gaza’s only power plant will exacerbate an already desperate humanitarian crisis for more than 2.2 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip, amid a massive bombing campaign by Israel that has killed at least 1,350 people and injured more than 6,000 people.
The airstrikes were launched in retaliation to the attack on 7 October by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups from Gaza who fired indiscriminate rockets and sent fighters into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring more than 2,700 and taking hostages, including many civilians.
“The Israeli authorities must immediately restore Gaza’s electricity supply and suspend the increased restrictions imposed as a result of the Minister of Defence’s order of 9 October 2023 and lift its illegal 16-year blockade on the Gaza Strip. The collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population amounts to a war crime – it is cruel and inhumane. As the occupying power, Israel has a clear obligation under international law to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s civilian population are met,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard.
The blackout has plunged the Gaza strip into darkness and will exacerbate an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. It will further limit communications and access to the internet. The power cuts will have a severe impact on essential services, access to clean water and will cause a public health disaster leaving Gaza’s already depleted hospitals without vital medical equipment at a time when medics are struggling to treat thousands gravely wounded in Israeli attacks. It will also endanger the lives of hospital patients, including people with chronic conditions or those in intensive care, including newborn babies on life support.
An Israeli minister said today that the authorities will not restore power or allow water or fuel to enter until Hamas releases hostages. This is an explicit confirmation that these acts have been taken to punish civilians in Gaza for the actions of Palestinian armed groups. Amnesty reiterates that Palestinian civilians are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and Israel must not, under international law, make them suffer for acts they play no role in and cannot control.
“Palestinian armed groups’ horrific mass killing of Israeli civilians and other serious violations do not absolve Israel from upholding its obligations to respect international humanitarian law and to protect civilians. The collective punishment of civilians in Gaza will not bring justice to the victims of war crimes by Hamas and other armed groups or security to civilians in Israel,” said Agnes Callamard.
Amnesty International is also concerned by the repeated attacks on the Rafah border crossing. It calls on Israel to facilitate the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and to allow safe passage for those in need of medical care outside the Gaza Strip. It urges the international community to work towards an agreement over humanitarian corridors.
Israeli authorities must refrain from committing unlawful attacks that kill or injure civilians and destroy civilian homes and infrastructure. Israeli officials must refrain from incitement to violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and ensure the safety of all civilians living under its control. All Palestinian armed groups in Gaza must release all civilian hostages unconditionally and immediately.
Amnesty International is currently investigating Israeli air strikes in Gaza, including the air strike on a residential building in al-Zeitoun neighbourhood, which killed 15 members of the same family, including seven children – five siblings and their two cousins, in addition to their elderly grandparents; the destruction of Burj Palestine, a high-rise building in al-Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza; and the bombing of a crowded market street in Jabalia refugee camp, which killed at least 69 people, including at least 15 Children.
Amnesty International is calling on Israel and Palestinian armed groups to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
This output is part of a series of articles by Amnesty International into the escalating violence and human rights violations in Israel, Gaza and elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Amnesty International has published its initial findings on war crimes committed by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups including mass summary executions, hostage-taking, and the firing of inherently indiscriminate rockets. With evidence still emerging of the violations committed in southern Israel, Amnesty International will continue its investigations to determine the full range of crimes committed under international law.
Background
Since 2007, Israel has imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip collectively punishing its entire population. The current fighting is the sixth major military operation Israel and Gaza-based armed groups since then. On 9 October Israel’s minister of defence Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege on Gaza… No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed,” as part of the Israeli retaliatory attack following the attack by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups that killed 1,200 people.
In June, Amnesty International published its investigation into the May 2023 offensive on the Gaza strip, finding that Israel had unlawfully destroyed Palestinian homes, often without military necessity in what amounts to a form of collective punishment against the civilian population.
In its February 2022 report, Amnesty International set out how Israeli forces have committed in Gaza (as well as in the West Bank and Israel) acts prohibited by the Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Apartheid Convention, as part of a widespread and systemic attack against the civilian population with the aim of maintaining a system of oppression and domination over Palestinians, thereby constituting the crime against humanity of apartheid.
Previous reports by Amnesty International on violations and crimes committed in the context of fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed groups can be found here.
Amnesty International is an impartial human rights organization and seeks to ensure that all parties to an armed conflict comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Accordingly, in future briefings, Amnesty International will be investigating Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip to determine whether it is complying with the rules of international humanitarian law, including by taking necessary precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects and refraining from unlawful attacks and from collective punishment of the civilian population, as required under international law. Amnesty International will also continue to monitor the activities of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups.
No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
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‘ 7 – Parties to a conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants in order to
spare civilian population and property. Neither the civilian population as such nor civilian persons shall be the
object of attack. Attacks shall be directed solely against military objectives.”
The seven fundamental rules which are the basis of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols.
1 – Persons hors de combat and those who do not take a direct part in hostilities are entitled to respect for their
lives and their moral and physical integrity. They shall in all circumstances be protected and treated humanely
without any adverse distinction.
2 – It is forbidden to kill or injure an enemy who surrenders or who is hors de combat .
3 – The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for by the party to the conflict which has them in its power.
Protection also covers medical personnel, establishments, transports and equipment. The emblem of the red
cross or the red crescent is the sign of such protection and must be respected.
4 – Captured combatants and civilians under the authority of an adverse party are entitled to respect for their lives,dignity, personal rights and convictions. They shall be protected against all acts of violence and reprisals. They shall have the right to correspond with their families and to receive relief.
5 – Everyone shall be entitled to benefit from fundamental judicial guarantees. No one shall be held responsible for an act he has not committed. No one shall be subjected to physical or mental torture, corporal punishment or cruel or degrading treatment.
6 – Parties to a conflict and members of their armed forces do not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of warfare. It is prohibited to employ weapons or methods of warfare of a nature to cause unnecessary losses or excessive suffering.
7 – Parties to a conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants in order to
spare civilian population and property. Neither the civilian population as such nor civilian persons shall be the
object of attack. Attacks shall be directed solely against military objectives.
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noten 22 t/m 24/Israelische Terreur
In de Gazastrook zijn 23.968 mensen gedood in de honderd dagen die de oorlog tussen Hamas en Israël nu duurt, meldt het Palestijnse ministerie van Gezondheid. Er zouden meer dan 60.000 mensen gewond zijn geraakt.
De oorlog brak op 7 oktober uit toen Hamas in een grootschalige aanval op Israël bijna 1200 mensen doodde. Strijders verkrachtten burgers en gijzelden ongeveer 250 mensen, van wie meer dan honderd inmiddels zijn vrijgelaten. Israël reageerde met massale bombardementen op Gaza en is het gebied binnengevallen met grondtroepen.
Hulporganisaties benadrukken bij het bereiken van de trieste mijlpaal van honderd dagen oorlog dat de humanitaire situatie voor de Palestijnse burgers uitzichtloos is. Bijna de hele bevolking is op de vlucht en ziektes verspreiden zich snel. Israël beklemtoont juist dat het niet zal stoppen met de militaire operatie totdat Hamas volledig is uitgeschakeld en het land weer veilig is.
EINDE BERICHT
[26]
‘ De cijfers zijn ontstellend. Volgens het Palestijnse ministerie van Gezondheid heeft het conflict nu al aan meer dan 20.000 Palestijnen het leven gekost. Onder hen minstens 8.000 kinderen en 6.200 vrouwen. Ongeveer 56.000 Palestijnen raakten gewond. Dit aantal stijgt iedere dag.”
De cijfers zijn ontstellend. Volgens het Palestijnse ministerie van Gezondheid heeft het conflict nu al aan meer dan 20.000 Palestijnen het leven gekost. Onder hen minstens 8.000 kinderen en 6.200 vrouwen. Ongeveer 56.000 Palestijnen raakten gewond. Dit aantal stijgt iedere dag.
Het geweld tegen kinderen strekt zich uit tot buiten de Gazastrook. Meer dan dertig Israëlische kinderen zijn gedood, terwijl er minstens twintig nog steeds gegijzeld worden in de Gazastrook – hun lot is onbekend. Op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, inclusief Oost-Jeruzalem, zijn minstens 56 kinderen gedood en 450.000 kinderen hebben humanitaire hulp nodig.
80 UNICEF – vrachtwagens stonden al voor het staakt-het-vuren aan de grens met Gaza te wachten, volgeladen met drinkwater, medicijnen en hygiëneproducten en materiaal om sanitaire voorzieningen te herstellen. De afgelopen dagen konden al 100 vrachtwagens de grens met Egypte oversteken en hulp bieden aan honderdduizenden mensen.
UNICEF verdeelde 10.000 lokaal aangekochte hygiënekits voor gezinnen in Noord-Gaza voor meer dan 50.000 mensen.
UNICEF bereikte 13.500 kinderen (waaronder 6.884 meisjes en 107 kinderen met een handicap) met recreatieve activiteiten in 31 opvangplaatsen voor ontheemden in Khan Younis, Deir Al Balah, Rafah, An Nuseirat en Bani Suhila en kampen in Zuid-Gaza.
De vaccinatiediensten werden hervat met 3 types levensreddende vaccins die van de centrale opslagplaatsen in Gaza Stad werden naar het zuiden van Gaza werden gebracht door UNICEF en de WHO.
In totaal werden tien niet-begeleide en van hun familie gescheiden kinderen (drie in de Gazastrook en zeven op de Westelijke Jordaanoever) door UNICEF geïdentificeerd en geregistreerd.
UNICEF bracht ook extra voorraden, waaronder dekens, dekzeilen, tenten, medisch materiaal, voedselvoorraden en water, per vliegtuig naar het vliegveld van El Arish in Egypte.
HUMANITAIRE SITUATIE MEER DAN KRITIEK
In Gaza is de humanitaire situatie meer dan kritiek: drinkwater en voedsel raken op, chaos en paniek nemen toe en vrachtwagens met hulpgoederen worden maar mondjesmaat toegelaten. Luchtaanvallen en bombardementen hebben ziekenhuizen en scholen verwoest. Minstens 370 scholen en ruim 177.000 woningen zijn beschadigd of vernield. 8 van de 36 ziekenhuizen in Gaza – die ook worden gebruikt als schuilplaats voor mensen die hun huizen zijn ontvlucht – functioneren niet langer. Alle aanvoerroutes zijn afgesneden. Kinderen en families in Gaza hebben bijna geen voedsel of water meer, ze hebben geen toegang meer tot medicijnen of ziekenhuizen en de brandstof raakt op. Brandstof is van het grootste belang voor het functioneren van essentiële faciliteiten zoals ziekenhuizen, ontziltingsinstallaties en waterpompstations. Op de neonatale intensive care afdelingen liggen meer dan 100 pasgeborenen, waarvan sommigen in couveuses liggen en afhankelijk zijn van mechanische beademing, waardoor een ononderbroken stroomvoorziening een kwestie van leven of dood is.
WATER RAAKT OP
Gaza is een kerkhof geworden voor duizenden kinderen. En toch zijn het niet alleen de bombardementen die levensbedreigend voor hen zijn. De meer dan een miljoen kinderen in Gaza hebben ook een gebrek aan water. De Gazastrook heeft geen beken, rivieren of andere betrouwbare waterbronnen en is daarom uitsluitend afhankelijk van zeewater. Speciale ontziltingsinstallaties, ondersteund door UNICEF, filteren het water. Door een gebrek aan brandstof en electriciteit werkt op dit moment geen van de zes installaties.
DE WATERPRODUCTIECAPACITEIT LIGT OP 5% VAN HET NORMALE NIVEAU EN DE 2,3 MILJOEN INWONERS VAN GAZA MOETEN OVERLEVEN MET 3 LITER WATER PER PERSOON PER DAG.
Kinderen drinken zout of vervuild water, met nierproblemen, diarree en uitdroging tot gevolg. Tenzij de toegang tot schoon water wordt hersteld, zullen meer mensen, waaronder kinderen, ziek worden of sterven aan uitdroging of door water overgedragen ziekten.Ongeveer een miljoen mensen zijn hun huizen ontvlucht, waarvan bijna de helft kinderen, en velen schuilen in overvolle opvangplaatsen met zeer beperkte toegang tot water en sanitaire voorzieningen – omstandigheden die vooral gevaarlijk zijn voor jonge kinderen.
KINDEREN ZIJN GETRAUMATISEERD
Het aanhoudende conflict in de Gazastrook stelt kinderen niet alleen bloot aan fysiek gevaar, maar ook aan onvoorstelbare emotionele en psychologische schade die nog generaties lang voelbaar zal zijn. Voor deze nachtmerrie begon hadden al 800.000 kinderen in Gaza – dat zijn 3 kinderen op 4 – nood aan psychosociale hulp. Nesma, een UNICEF-collega, vertelde over haar vierjarige dochter Talia die ernstige symptomen van stress en angst vertoont. Ze trekt haar haren uit en krabt zichzelf tot bloedens toe. Maar op dit moment heeft ze niet de mogelijkheid om zich te bekommeren om haar mentale gezondheid. “Ik blijf tegen mezelf zeggen: “Nesma, zorg dat ze dit overleven. Eens dit allemaal voorbij is, kan ik op zoek naar mentale steun en medische zorg.”
VERHOOGD RISICO OP ONDERVOEDING
Nog voor de escalatie van het geweld hadden al veel kinderen in Gaza te kampen met groeiachterstand en bloedarmoede door ondervoeding. Op dit moment is de voedselonzekerheid bijzonder groot en lopen vooral kinderen, zwangere vrouwen en vrouwen die borstvoeding geven, een verhoogd risico op ondervoeding en de gezondheidsproblemen die daarvan het gevolg kunnen zijn. Door de oorlog zijn de lopende voedingsprogramma’s bovendien ernstig verstoord voor naar schatting 337.000 kinderen jonger dan vijf jaar en 155.000 zwangere vrouwen en moeders die borstvoeding geven
UNICEF IN ACTIE
Medewerkers van UNICEF blijven ter plaatse om te voorzien in de eerste behoeften van kinderen. Net als de bevolking van Gaza, werden ook onze collega’s gevraagd de stad te verlaten, maar we blijven in het zuiden van de Gazastrook om kinderen verder te helpen, met onder andere medische benodigdheden, hygiënekits en brandstof.UNICEF blijft zich inzetten om de toegang tot zuiver water tijdelijk te herstellen voor 1.326 miljoen mensen in Deir Al Balah, Khan Younis, Rafah en Noord-Gaza, waaronder meer dan 670.000 kinderen, door brandstof en waterzuiveringsmateriaal aan te leveren.We leverden al medische benodigdheden en medicijnen aan ziekenhuizen, maar gezien het hoge aantal gewonden, raken ziekenhuisbedden en essentiële (anesthetische) medicijnen, snel op. Verder voorzag UNICEF ondersteuning in cash om meer dan 450.000 mensen, van wie de helft kinderen, te helpen water en voedsel te kopen, we organiseren dagelijks activiteiten voor ontheemde kinderen en voorzien psychosociale ondersteuning. Ook werken we samen met partners om de gezondheidszorg in zowel het noorden als het zuiden van Gaza te ondersteunen.
UNICEF EN PARTNERS DRINGEN AAN OP MEER TOEGANG OM DRINGEND WATER, MEDICIJNEN, GEZONDHEIDSZORG EN ESSENTIËLE DIENSTEN TE KUNNEN LEVEREN
Sinds de escalatie van het conflict op 7 oktober mag maar een beperkt aantal vrachtwagens met humanitaire hulp de Gazastrook in. De tekorten in Gaza leiden tot paniek en chaos onder de bevolking. De levering van water in beperkte hoeveelheden redt levens, maar de noden zijn immens – niet alleen op het vlak water, maar ook van voedsel, brandstof, medicijnen en essentiële goederen en diensten. Als we geen regelmatige aanvoer van humanitaire hulp kunnen garanderen, is de dreiging van mogelijk dodelijke epidemieën zeer reëel.UNICEF gaat door met het aanleveren van extra noodvoorraden in Egypte en blijft aandringen op veilige, duurzame humanitaire toegang om levensreddende hulp te kunnen bieden aan kinderen in nood. Humanitaire hulpgoederen moeten kinderen en families in nood veilig kunnen bereiken, waar ze zich ook bevinden, in overeenstemming met het humanitair oorlogsrecht.
INTERNATIONAAL HUMANITAIR RECHT MOET WORDEN GERESPECTEERD
Niets kan het doden, verminken of ontvoeren van kinderen rechtvaardigen. Het gaat om een ernstige schending van het internationaal humanitair recht. We roepen alle partijen op om kinderen niet als doelwit te gebruiken en alle noodzakelijke maatregelen te nemen om hun bescherming tijdens de vijandelijkheden te garanderen.De ontvoering van kinderen door een partij betrokken in het conflict is een ernstige schending het internationaal humanitair recht. Het nemen van gijzelaars is onder alle omstandigheden verboden. UNICEF roept op tot de onmiddellijke en veilige vrijlating van alle gijzelaars.Aanvallen op burgers en civiele infrastructuur, zoals ziekenhuizen, zijn onaanvaardbaar en moeten onmiddellijk stoppen. UNICEF blijft oproepen de vijandelijkheden onmiddellijk te staken, de bescherming van de kinderen te waarborgen en ervoor te zorgen dat humanitaire hulp veilig en op tijd bij kinderen in nood kan worden gebracht.
IEDER KIND, WAAR HET ZICH OOK BEVINDT EN WIE HET OOK IS, MOET WORDEN BESCHERMD.
Gouden sandaaltjes, donkerblauwe rubberen laarsjes, rode Spider-Manslofjes, piepkleine tijgerprint All Stars, snowboots, gympen, Crocs en een paar zwarte pumps. Ze liggen als de stille herinnering aan de duizenden kinderen in Gaza die sinds oktober zijn omgekomen in de oorlog met Israël, zondag honderd dagen geleden begonnen.Vrijwilligers legen vuilniszak na vuilniszak met gedoneerde schoentjes. “Het is heftig om hier te zijn, maar ook mooi om mensen een beeld te geven van de realiteit,” zegt vrijwilliger Dounia Bouchlaghmi. “Bij het nieuws worden mensen snel ongevoelig gemaakt en dit maakt indruk. Ik zag een man al huilen. We proberen de kinderen op deze manier weer mens te maken. Er zijn ook mensen die spontaan aanbieden om te helpen.”Voorbijgangers blijven tussen winkelstraat en stadsbezoek even staan. Zo wisselt de samenstelling rondom de schoentjes voortdurend, als een tijdelijk monument, deze zee van schoentjes. Bloemen en knuffeltjes worden neergelegd en ondertussen worden sonoor de namen van de jonge slachtoffers opgenoemd. “Majida Muhannad, 5 jaar, Ahmad Hossam, 12 jaar, Sarah Mahmoud Ahl, baby.” Bekende en minder bekende Nederlanders lezen ze op, Theo Maassen komt langs, net als Najib Amhali. De namen schallen over de Dam en weerklinken in de omliggende straten.
Verdriet
Volgens Save the Children en het Palestijnse ministerie zijn sinds de uitbraak van de oorlog begin oktober, die volgde op de terroristische aanslag van Hamas in Israël, al meer dan tienduizend Palestijnse kinderen om het leven gekomen. Elke tien minuten sterft een Palestijns kind, concludeerde WHO-directeur Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in november. Die aantallen worden op de Dam steeds herhaald.“Het duurt al veel te lang dat er dag en nacht gebombardeerd is op Gaza,” zegt Esther van der Most, directeur van stichting Plant een Olijfboom, dat doorgaans olijfbomen plant in de Palestijnse gebieden om verzet te steunen tegen landonteigening. “Meer dan tienduizend kinderen zijn inmiddels vermoord, dat moet gewoon stoppen. Ik zeg ook bewust vermoord, omdat er te vaak in verhullende termen over Palestijnen wordt gesproken.” Van der Most verloor zelf ook familie in de oorlog, haar schoonfamilie is Palestijns. “We zijn hier met elkaar omdat we ook veel verdriet hebben. Voor mensen die familie hebben zoals ik, maar ook mensen die dat niet hebben, raakt dit leed diep. Een heel volk wordt daar afgeslacht.”Sinds de oorlog in Gaza heeft de stichting meerdere acties georganiseerd, zowel in Nederland als in de vorm van hulpacties in Gaza. In december plaatsten vrijwilligers al achtduizend schoentjes voor Gazaanse kinderen in Rotterdam.Plant een Olijfboom hecht eraan dingen helder te benoemen, benadrukt ze. “De Palestijnse kinderen zouden in deze schoenen hebben kunnen lopen.” EINDE ARTIKEL
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Noten 25 t/m 27/Israelische Terreur
