Ref: 10/2022

Date: 04 April 2022

On Sunday afternoon, 03 April 2022, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) received at its head office in Gaza City a delegation from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA.)  The delegation included Ms. Asmaa Shalabi, Section Chief, Middle East and North Africa, Operations and Advocacy Division; Mr. Andrea De Domenico, Deputy Head of OCHA office in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt); Mr. Noel Tsekouras, Head of OCHA Gaza sub-office; and Mr. Hamada al-Bayari, Humanitarian Affairs Analyst at OCHA – Gaza office.  Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, and Dr. Fadel al-Muzaini, Head of the Economic and Social Rights Unit, met with the delegation.

PCHR and OCHA have enjoyed a collaborative relationship for years as they hold regular meetings to promote the enjoyment of human rights in the oPt and ensure Palestinian civilians’ right to protection.

The parties reviewed the human rights situation in the oPt and shed light on the Israeli occupation forces’ (IOF) murders of civilians and intention to inflict serious harm to Palestinians’ bodily integrity.  They also discussed the deterioration of humanitarian conditions triggered by the ongoing restrictions on freedom of movement of individuals and goods and the repercussions of the illegal Israeli closure, ongoing for 15 years, on the economic and social rights of the Gaza Strip population.  The meeting also addressed the ongoing policy of settlement activity and land confiscation in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.  It also reviewed the systematic destruction of Palestinian civilians’ properties, particularly targeting houses during the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and house demolitions in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinians.

The meeting also included a briefing on the latest developments relevant to prosecution of Israeli war criminals, who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the oPt, before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the role of human rights organizations in documenting the crimes committed by Israel to hold it accountable, especially that the ICC has become the last resort for the Palestinian victims after as Israel continues to disregard its obligations under international law.