Ref: 32/2013

On Monday,
29 April 2013, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) received a
delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  The delegation comprised of Claudia
McGoldrick, Special Advisor to ICRC President in Geneva, Juan Pedro Schaerer,
Head of ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt),
Patrick Geissaz, Head of ICRC in Gaza office, and Amy Christofferson, Deputy
head of ICRC Gaza office.

The
delegation was received by Jaber Wishah, PCHR’s Deputy Director for Branches
affairs, and Hamdi Shaqqoura, PCHR’s Deputy Director for Program Affairs, at
PCHR’s head office in Gaza City.  In the
meeting, they discussed a number of issues; the most significant of which was
the mechanisms applied by the ICRC and the urgent need to develop them in view
of the Israeli disregard of Palestinian civilians’ rights, which is illustrated
by the policies adopted by the successive Israeli governments.

Wishah
stressed that it is necessary for the ICRC to reconsider their work mechanisms
due to the escalation of the Israeli violations against the Palestinian
civilians and Israel’s continuous disregard of principles of international
humanitarian law.  Wishah explained that
the ICRC’s work, which started 45 years ago in the oPt, has not witnessed the
progressive development that is necessary in light of the technological
advancements.  Progress in means of work
is also warranted by the longstanding and unique nature of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  In light
of the gravity of the Israeli crimes and violations against the Palestinian
civilians, ICRC’s intervention on the humanitarian level needs to be longterm.
Such violations necessitate developing specific mechanisms that guarantee a
minimal capacity to deal with the consequences of those crimes and violations.

Wishah also
called upon the ICRC to adopt stricter and clearer positions towards the
illegal Israeli policies applied in the West Bank, the most important of which
are: the annexation and confiscation of lands; creation of a Jewish majority in
Jerusalem, the construction of the annexation wall; and Israel’s refusal to recognize
the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to occupied Jerusalem.  Moreover, he called upon the ICRC to increase
its efforts on monitoring and following up on the situation of the Palestinian
prisoners, whose living conditions have been deteriorating due to Israeli
policies and punitive measures, such as the denial of family visits.  Prisoners are being denied family visits
without any justification. and has continued after the release of Israeli
soldier Gilad

Shalit, even
though the suspension of family visits had been made dependent on his release.

During the
meeting, Shaqqoura addressed the impact of the Israeli closure imposed on the
Gaza Strip, pointing to the catastrophic consequences of this illegal punitive
measure.  Shaqqoura also discussed the
escalation of Israeli violations in the border area “buffer zone”,
explaining that PCHR’s follow-up to the field updates in the land and sea
buffer zone confirmed the increase of Israeli violations in these areas, also
in light of the agreement reached by Hamas movement and Israel following the
latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on 21 November 2012.

Additionally,
Shaqqoura drew attention to the measure taken lately by Israel to again reduce
the fishing area in the Gaza waters to 3 nautical miles and to extend the land
buffer zone up to 300 meters in the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza
Strip, which violates the abovementioned agreement.  These violations require an immediate and
urgent intervention to pressurize Israeli to respect international law and
abolish measures that deny Palestinians in the Gaza Strip the free and safe
access to their lands and property, and deny fishermen the right to sail and
fish freely in the Gaza waters.

PCHR’s
representatives further reiterated demand to the Swiss government in its
capacity as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions to convene an
international conference for the High Contracting Parties in order to develop
mechanisms that ensure the fulfillment of obligations enshrined in common
article 1 of the four conventions, which reads: “The High Contracting
Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present
Convention”.  Wishah and Shaqqoura
recalled an example of the sanctions imposed previously on the government of
South Africa, which represented then a serious global support of the South
African people in their struggle to achieve liberty.

PCHR’
representatives also highlighted that it is important for the international
community and all organizations to take a stronger position in response to
Israel’s refusal to present its periodic report on the human rights situation
to the Human Rights Council, which was supposed to be presented in
January.  This refusal constitutes a
serious precedent that should be dealt with seriously.