Ref: 49/2013 

In the past few days, Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian
Center for Human Rights (PCHR), met with a number of international
officials.  The meetings came in the
context of PCHR’s efforts to establish good relations based on joint
cooperation to defend Palestinian human rights, and mobilize the international
public opinion against Israeli violations of human rights and war crimes.

On 10 July 2013, Sourani met with Mr. Mlungisi W. Makalima, Head of
Mission of the Representative Office of South Africa to the Palestinian
Authority, and an accompanying delegation, in PCHR’s head office in Gaza
City.  Today, PCHR is organizing a field
tour for the visitors in the Gaza Strip to witness the suffering of the
Palestinian population under the ongoing closure imposed on the Gaza Strip and
Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the so-called “buffer zone”
and against fishermen in the sea.

Earlier on the same day, Sourani met with Mr. Matthias Behnke, Head of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine, and Mr. Pradeep Wagle, Head of Office Gaza, OHCHR.

On 03 July 2013, Sourani met with a delegation from the
Representative Office of Ireland to the Palestinian Authority comprised of: Ms. Dympna Hayes, Head of Mission, and 4 staff members of the office.  

On 02 July 2013, Sourani met with Mr. Maichael Köhler, Director of
the EU Neighborhood Policy within the Directorate General for Development and
Cooperation at the European Commission, and an accompanying delegation. Mona
Shawa, Director of PCHR Women’s Rights Unit, and Mohsen Abu Ramadan, Chairman
of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza. 

On 01 July 2013, Sourani met with Mr. Leonhard Moll,
Head of Mission of the Representative Office of Austria to the
Palestinian Authority. 

In these meetings, Sourani reviewed the human rights situation in
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in light of Israeli violations of Palestinian
human rights.  The meetings further
discussed developments in Egypt and the impact of the Egyptian crisis on the
Gaza Strip. Sourani highlighted the disastrous impacts of the closure imposed
by Israel on the Gaza Strip. 

The meetings further discussed the obstacles imposed by the Israeli
legal system against Palestinian victims’ access to justice, especially
Amendment No. 8 to the Israeli Tort Law (Liability of the State), which exempts
Israel from any liability for damage inflicted upon residents of an “enemy”
territory during “a combat action.”