Today marks three years since Israel began its ongoing genocidal military campaign against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Three years of mass killing and injury, starvation, repeated forced displacement, destruction of home and civilian infrastructure, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and the systematic destruction of conditions of life necessary for survival.
The aim behind this genocide was, and still is, the destruction of Palestinian’s lives in the Gaza Strip with the aim of forcibly expelling Palestinians from their cities, villages, and towns, in continuation of the Nakba in 1948. This is not merely an analysis, but rather a reality which can be clearly concluded from both Israel’s actions on the ground and the continued genocidal public statements made by Israel’s most senior officials.
After three years, Palestinians in Gaza remain confined to less than 30% of the territory and denied the most basic requirements for survival, including adequate access to water, food, healthcare and shelter. Israel continues to besiege the Gaza Strip and impose severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, essential goods, machinery and equipment necessary for survival and reconstruction.
Although a ceasefire has been announced nearly one year ago, Palestinians continue to be killed on a basis. The majority are living in tents under harsh weather conditions between the rubbles of destroyed houses and buildings with no future to look to. Gaza’s healthcare and educational systems have been devastated. Thousands of bodies remain trapped beneath the rubble, while thousands of Palestinians remain forcibly disappeared in Israeli detention, with their families denied information about their fate or whereabouts. The cumulative result is the systematic destruction of Palestinian life, society and culture in Gaza.
Yet, the international community continues its failure to take concrete actions and measures to uphold international law and protect Palestinian civilians from Israel’s genocidal acts. Despite the overwhelming evidence and consensus amongst the human rights community on the characterization of the situation as one of genocide, the international community abandoned the cries of two million Palestinians for protection, effectively turning a blind eye to Israel’s plan to destroy Palestinians’ past, present, and future in Gaza. This lack of recognition and failure to take action to protect, does not only amount to a moral and legal failure but also amounts to complicity on part of the international community in exacerbating the suffering of Palestinians.
PCHR reiterates its rejection of the so-called Board of Peace and any externally imposed arrangement that seeks to place Gaza’s governance, reconstruction or political future under foreign control. The framework endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2903 violates the basic principles of the UN Charter as it places Gaza under an additional form of colonial control that denies Palestinian control over their own political future and their inalienable right to self-determination.
The world – years ago promised, never again. Today, as the live-streamed genocide enters its fourth year, PCHR demands the international community to take concrete steps to protect over two million Palestinians who are living in the biggest concentration camp in the world and the only way to do so is by holding Israel’s settler-colonial regime accountable for the atrocities committed. Expressions and statements of condemnations are long overdue. The shameful silence and inaction must end or else the consequences will be worse for both the Palestinians and the international community.
PCHR reiterates its call on the international community to recognize the situation as one of genocide and to take immediate and effective measures in line with their obligations under international law and the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in relation to the situation in Gaza. PCHR reiterates its calls on States to impose immediate economic, diplomatic, and political sanctions, including the imposition of a comprehensive arms embargo. PCHR also calls on States to support accountability efforts aimed at holding perpetrators of international crimes accountable for their actions, including by supporting the International Criminal Court in light of the unprecedented attacks it has been facing in relation to its investigation into the situation in Palestine.
PCHR stresses that ending the genocide must be accompanied by concrete to address the root causes; Israel’s unlawful occupation, the denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and entrenched impunity. As long as these root causes remain unaddressed, cycles of violence will continue to erupt. Ending the genocide must therefore be accompanied by concrete measures to end Israel’s unlawful occupation and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights, including the rights to self-determination and return.
