31 mar 2016
A Palestinian medic carries the body of a child, killed in an explosion in a public playground on the beachfront of Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
In ongoing efforts to hold Israel accountable for gross violations of international law, Palestinian legal rights group Badil has published key findings on alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza war that the group submitted to the International Criminal Court earlier this month.
The report documents in detail the accounts of Palestinian victims of Israel’s large-scale military offensive on the besieged enclave and charges high-level Israeli officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the report, No Safe Place [PDF], Badil focused in particular on Israel’s mass forced displacement of some half-a-million Palestinians at the height of hostilities, around 28 percent of Gaza’s population.
Badil documents extensively Israel’s failure to establish protected humanitarian areas within the Gaza Strip where those displaced by Israel’s massive military onslaught could seek refuge.
“Given the limited physical dimensions of the Gaza Strip and sheer scale of its square footage targeted by Israeli fire, there existed no safe place to which to flee,” Badil said.
“More than this, Israel actively targeted Palestinians during and after the process of flight, and the very buildings designated by humanitarian organizations as shelters for the displaced -- home to some 300,000 displaced Palestinians at the peak of hostilities -- were subject to Israeli attack.
Israel’s 51-day assault killed at least 2,250 Palestinians, including 551 children and 299, according to Badil. Over 11,000 were physically injured, and the civilian population was left marred by acute mental trauma following the tens of thousands of tank and artillery shells that bombarded the tiny coastal enclave.
Over half of the hospitals in the besieged enclave were damaged -- six of which were forced to close down entirely -- and 26 schools were completely destroyed, Badil reported.
Badil -- joining other international right bodies -- called for the desperate need for intervention by the ICC on the grounds that Israel’s internal investigative processes are structurally inept at delivering genuine accountability or justice.
Palestinian leadership initially moved to the ICC last year amid ongoing violations carried out by Israel across the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian committee in charge of following up with the ICC met with court representatives in Jordan earlier this month to arrange a visit to the Gaza Strip. The ICC began conducting a preliminary probe in January last year examining available information to decide whether there was a "reasonable basis" to proceed with a full investigation.
The impossible task of holding Israel accountable
While Palestinian leadership has pursued bringing justice for Palestinians in the international arena -- through UN bodies in particular -- Badil said the ICC may have the potential to bring such justice to fruition when other bodies prove unable.
Simon Reynolds, lead researcher and author of the recent Badil report, told Ma’an that the ICC in theory is less prone to political interference than the UN General Assembly or Human Right Council, which operate on the basis of votes and behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Reynolds said that while the workings of the ICC are not entirely insulated from external influence, the ICC as a formal criminal tribunal provides processes that are far more rigid and transparent than other international forums used by human rights defenders to seek protection of Palestinians’ human rights.
“In addition,” Reynolds said, “The ICC also allows us to consider the criminal responsibility of individuals, rather than than the unlawful practices of States, which forms the focus of UN resolutions.
“This could prove an extremely potent tool to achieving accountability for Israeli-perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it forces offenders to acknowledge that they may personally have to answer for their crimes, rather than hiding behind the anonymity that comes with 'state responsibility.”
Reynolds, who was a major actor in submitting the Badil report to the ICC earlier this month, told Ma’an that utilizing international avenues to hold Israel and its citizens accountable for unlawful policies and actions was “inherently difficult” due to “a lack of political will among relevant actors.”
“Many powerful states and regional bodies have significant political and economic interests tied up in the fate of Israel, and Israel's projected image of a law-abiding, democratic state in the midst of the turmoil of the Middle East is essential to the maintenance and development of these interests,” Reynolds said.
“The difficulty lies not in documenting and reporting Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity; such evidence is abundant.
“Rather, the difficulty is found in persuading those in positions of power to take notice, and to realize their legal and moral obligations to intervene.”
In ongoing efforts to hold Israel accountable for gross violations of international law, Palestinian legal rights group Badil has published key findings on alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza war that the group submitted to the International Criminal Court earlier this month.
The report documents in detail the accounts of Palestinian victims of Israel’s large-scale military offensive on the besieged enclave and charges high-level Israeli officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the report, No Safe Place [PDF], Badil focused in particular on Israel’s mass forced displacement of some half-a-million Palestinians at the height of hostilities, around 28 percent of Gaza’s population.
Badil documents extensively Israel’s failure to establish protected humanitarian areas within the Gaza Strip where those displaced by Israel’s massive military onslaught could seek refuge.
“Given the limited physical dimensions of the Gaza Strip and sheer scale of its square footage targeted by Israeli fire, there existed no safe place to which to flee,” Badil said.
“More than this, Israel actively targeted Palestinians during and after the process of flight, and the very buildings designated by humanitarian organizations as shelters for the displaced -- home to some 300,000 displaced Palestinians at the peak of hostilities -- were subject to Israeli attack.
Israel’s 51-day assault killed at least 2,250 Palestinians, including 551 children and 299, according to Badil. Over 11,000 were physically injured, and the civilian population was left marred by acute mental trauma following the tens of thousands of tank and artillery shells that bombarded the tiny coastal enclave.
Over half of the hospitals in the besieged enclave were damaged -- six of which were forced to close down entirely -- and 26 schools were completely destroyed, Badil reported.
Badil -- joining other international right bodies -- called for the desperate need for intervention by the ICC on the grounds that Israel’s internal investigative processes are structurally inept at delivering genuine accountability or justice.
Palestinian leadership initially moved to the ICC last year amid ongoing violations carried out by Israel across the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian committee in charge of following up with the ICC met with court representatives in Jordan earlier this month to arrange a visit to the Gaza Strip. The ICC began conducting a preliminary probe in January last year examining available information to decide whether there was a "reasonable basis" to proceed with a full investigation.
The impossible task of holding Israel accountable
While Palestinian leadership has pursued bringing justice for Palestinians in the international arena -- through UN bodies in particular -- Badil said the ICC may have the potential to bring such justice to fruition when other bodies prove unable.
Simon Reynolds, lead researcher and author of the recent Badil report, told Ma’an that the ICC in theory is less prone to political interference than the UN General Assembly or Human Right Council, which operate on the basis of votes and behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Reynolds said that while the workings of the ICC are not entirely insulated from external influence, the ICC as a formal criminal tribunal provides processes that are far more rigid and transparent than other international forums used by human rights defenders to seek protection of Palestinians’ human rights.
“In addition,” Reynolds said, “The ICC also allows us to consider the criminal responsibility of individuals, rather than than the unlawful practices of States, which forms the focus of UN resolutions.
“This could prove an extremely potent tool to achieving accountability for Israeli-perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it forces offenders to acknowledge that they may personally have to answer for their crimes, rather than hiding behind the anonymity that comes with 'state responsibility.”
Reynolds, who was a major actor in submitting the Badil report to the ICC earlier this month, told Ma’an that utilizing international avenues to hold Israel and its citizens accountable for unlawful policies and actions was “inherently difficult” due to “a lack of political will among relevant actors.”
“Many powerful states and regional bodies have significant political and economic interests tied up in the fate of Israel, and Israel's projected image of a law-abiding, democratic state in the midst of the turmoil of the Middle East is essential to the maintenance and development of these interests,” Reynolds said.
“The difficulty lies not in documenting and reporting Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity; such evidence is abundant.
“Rather, the difficulty is found in persuading those in positions of power to take notice, and to realize their legal and moral obligations to intervene.”
25 mar 2016
Palestinian leaders are locked in ongoing attempts secure a visit by a delegation from the International Criminal Court to the besieged Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said.
Member of the Palestinian committee in charge of follow-up with the ICC, Jamil Shihadeh, told Ma’an that committee head Saeb Erekat continued attempts following meetings in Jordan with ICC delegates.
Erekat is facilitating entrance to the Gaza Strip via Egypt's Rafah crossing after Israel banned the delegation from entering the occupied Palestinian territory previously, Shihadeh said.
Palestinian leadership met with representatives from the ICC prosecutor’s office in Jordan earlier this week discuss the possibility for opening an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Files submitted to the ICC included documentation of violations committed through settlement expansion, the deadly arson attack on the Dawabsha family, near-daily killings carried out by Israeli forces on Palestinians, and Israel’s 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip, Shihadeh said.
The ICC is conducting a preliminary probe on possible Israeli war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The probe, which was opened in January of this year, is not a full investigation, but an examination of available information to decide whether there is a "reasonable basis" to proceed with a full investigation.
The turn by Palestinian leadership to the ICC has been referred to by Israeli officials as “diplomatic terrorism.”
Palestinian leadership moved to the ICC amid ongoing violations carried out by Israel that international rights group Amnesty International investigations have referred to as war crimes.
The turn to the ICC was also influenced by the lack of progress made through peace negotiations in creating an independent Palestinian state.
Member of the Palestinian committee in charge of follow-up with the ICC, Jamil Shihadeh, told Ma’an that committee head Saeb Erekat continued attempts following meetings in Jordan with ICC delegates.
Erekat is facilitating entrance to the Gaza Strip via Egypt's Rafah crossing after Israel banned the delegation from entering the occupied Palestinian territory previously, Shihadeh said.
Palestinian leadership met with representatives from the ICC prosecutor’s office in Jordan earlier this week discuss the possibility for opening an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Files submitted to the ICC included documentation of violations committed through settlement expansion, the deadly arson attack on the Dawabsha family, near-daily killings carried out by Israeli forces on Palestinians, and Israel’s 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip, Shihadeh said.
The ICC is conducting a preliminary probe on possible Israeli war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The probe, which was opened in January of this year, is not a full investigation, but an examination of available information to decide whether there is a "reasonable basis" to proceed with a full investigation.
The turn by Palestinian leadership to the ICC has been referred to by Israeli officials as “diplomatic terrorism.”
Palestinian leadership moved to the ICC amid ongoing violations carried out by Israel that international rights group Amnesty International investigations have referred to as war crimes.
The turn to the ICC was also influenced by the lack of progress made through peace negotiations in creating an independent Palestinian state.
23 mar 2016
READ THE FULL REPORT
On 8 July 2014, Israel initiated a military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Although accounts vary, most estimates put the number of residents of Gaza killed in the 50-day armed conflict at over 2,100, of whom at least 70% were civilians, including over 500 children. Over 11,000 were wounded and over 100,000 made homeless. According to Israeli official accounts, 73 Israelis were killed: 67 soldiers and 6 civilians, including one child and one migrant worker. 469 soldiers and 255 civilians were wounded.
Questions arose regarding violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the course of the conflict.
In July 2014, following discussions with Al-Mezan, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) commissioned a fact-finding mission (hereafter ‘FFM’) to Gaza, whose aim was to gather evidence and draw preliminary conclusions regarding types, causes and patterns of injuries and attacks; attacks on medical teams and facilities; evacuation; impact of the conflict on the healthcare system; and longer-term issues including rehabilitation of the wounded, mental health, public health and displacement.
PHR-Israel recruited 8 independent international medical experts, unaffiliated with Israeli or Palestinian parties involved in the conflict: four with special expertise in the fields of forensic medicine and pathology; and four experts in emergency medicine, public health, paediatrics and paediatric intensive care, and health and human rights.
THE FULL REPORT
The FFM made three visits to the Gaza Strip between 19 August and 12 November 2014. Access and meetings were facilitated by PHR-Israel in partnership with local Palestinian non-governmental organisations: the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza (PCHR).
Meetings and site visits were held in medical facilities and in the community, and included interviews with victims, witnesses, healthcare professionals and human rights workers, officials from the Gaza Ministries of Health and Justice, and representatives of international health organisations in Gaza and the West Bank. Wherever possible, forensic, medical and other material evidence was collected to support oral testimonies.
The FFM interviewed 68 hospitalised patients who had been injured in the course of the attacks, in different hospitals, most of them outside Gaza. See Appendix 1 for transcripts.
Findings
The FFM
On 8 July 2014, Israel initiated a military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Although accounts vary, most estimates put the number of residents of Gaza killed in the 50-day armed conflict at over 2,100, of whom at least 70% were civilians, including over 500 children. Over 11,000 were wounded and over 100,000 made homeless. According to Israeli official accounts, 73 Israelis were killed: 67 soldiers and 6 civilians, including one child and one migrant worker. 469 soldiers and 255 civilians were wounded.
Questions arose regarding violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the course of the conflict.
In July 2014, following discussions with Al-Mezan, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) commissioned a fact-finding mission (hereafter ‘FFM’) to Gaza, whose aim was to gather evidence and draw preliminary conclusions regarding types, causes and patterns of injuries and attacks; attacks on medical teams and facilities; evacuation; impact of the conflict on the healthcare system; and longer-term issues including rehabilitation of the wounded, mental health, public health and displacement.
PHR-Israel recruited 8 independent international medical experts, unaffiliated with Israeli or Palestinian parties involved in the conflict: four with special expertise in the fields of forensic medicine and pathology; and four experts in emergency medicine, public health, paediatrics and paediatric intensive care, and health and human rights.
THE FULL REPORT
The FFM made three visits to the Gaza Strip between 19 August and 12 November 2014. Access and meetings were facilitated by PHR-Israel in partnership with local Palestinian non-governmental organisations: the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza (PCHR).
Meetings and site visits were held in medical facilities and in the community, and included interviews with victims, witnesses, healthcare professionals and human rights workers, officials from the Gaza Ministries of Health and Justice, and representatives of international health organisations in Gaza and the West Bank. Wherever possible, forensic, medical and other material evidence was collected to support oral testimonies.
The FFM interviewed 68 hospitalised patients who had been injured in the course of the attacks, in different hospitals, most of them outside Gaza. See Appendix 1 for transcripts.
Findings
- The overwhelming majority of injuries causing death or requiring hospitalisation seen by the FFM were the result of explosion or crush injuries, often multiple complex injuries;
- A majority of hospitalised patients interviewed reported people being injured or killed while in, or very close to, their homes or those of relatives and neighbours;
- Numerous cases in which
- significant numbers of casualties including members of the same family and rescuers were killed or injured in a single incident;
- ‘double tap’ or multiple consecutive strikes on a single location led to multiple civilian casualties and to injuries and deaths among rescuers;
- heavy explosives were used in residential neighbourhoods, resulting in multiple civilian casualties;
- emergency medical evacuation was not enabled and/or in which medical teams were killed or injured in the course of evacuation of the injured (notably in Shuja’iya, Gaza City);
- At least one case in which a mine-breaching explosive device (tsefa shirion) was used in a residential street in Khuza’a, Khan Younis, causing massive destruction.
- At least one case, of Shuhada’ Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, where several people were killed and injured in what was apparently a deliberate attack on the hospital on 21 July 2014.
- A convoy of hundreds of civilians came under fire while attempting to flee the town on 23 July 2014;
- A medical clinic in which civilians and injured people were sheltering after this attack was hit by missiles, causing deaths and injuries;
- A seriously injured 6-year-old child was not assisted and his evacuation was obstructed despite eye contact with troops on the ground on 24 July. He later died;
- Civilians in a house occupied by Israeli soldiers suffered abuse and ill-treatment including beatings, denial of food and water, and use as human shields. One was shot dead at close range.
- The strains placed on hospitals in Gaza during the attacks;
- Problems with referral and evacuation of patients from Gaza hospitals to hospitals outside;
- Long-term internal displacement in Gaza as a result of the partial or total destruction of about 18,000 homes;
- Long-term psychosocial and mental health damage caused by this and previous wars;
- An increased need for rehabilitation services and insufficient current resources in Gaza to meet them.
- The attacks were characterised by heavy and unpredictable bombardments of civilian neighbourhoods in a manner that failed to discriminate between legitimate targets and protected populations and caused widespread destruction of homes and civilian property. Such indiscriminate attacks, by aircraft, drones, artillery, tanks and gunships, were unlikely to have been the result of decisions made by individual soldiers or commanders; they must have entailed approval from top-level decision-makers in the Israeli military and/or government.
- The initiators of the attacks, despite giving some prior warnings of these attacks, failed to take the requisite precautions that would effectively enable the safe evacuation of the civilian population, including provision of safe spaces and routes. As a result, there was no guaranteed safe space in the Gaza Strip, nor were there any safe escape routes from it.
- In numerous cases double or multiple consecutive strikes on a single location led to multiple civilian casualties and to injuries and deaths among rescuers.
- Coordination of medical evacuation was often denied and many attacks on medical teams and facilities were reported. It is not clear whether such contravention of medical neutrality was the result of a policy established by senior decision-makers, a general permissive atmosphere leading to the flouting of norms, or the result of individual choices made on the ground during armed clashes.
- In Khuza’a, the reported conduct of specific troops in the area is indicative of additional serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The FFM
- Calls upon the UN, the EU, the US and other international actors to take steps to ensure that the governments of Israel and Egypt permit and facilitate the entry of investigative teams into Gaza, including experts in international human rights law and arms experts. This has not yet been done, months after the offensive;
- Draws attention to the independence and credibility of the local Palestinian civil society groups (Al Mezan, PCHR and GCMHP), and encourages the international community to support and recognize their efforts to collate evidence in Gaza, in order to proceed with legal and/or other remedies as well as to seek justice and/or reparations;
- Believes that the prima facie evidence collected and presented in this Report should be used for the purposes of legal determination of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, whether through local or international justice mechanisms. It is willing to assist and provide evidence to any credible investigation established for this purpose, and;
- Recommends further urgent and rigorous investigation into the impact of this war, as well as the previous armed conflicts, on public health, mental health and the broader social determinants of health in Gaza. In this assessment, the implacable effects of the on-going occupation itself must be taken into account.
READ THE FULL REPORT!
The BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights has announced the release of "No Safe Place"; a report based upon BADIL’s formal submission to the International Criminal Court, delivered to the Office of the Prosecutor, in February of 2016.
No Safe Place provides a damning indictment of Israeli acts and policies employed during ‘Operation Protective Edge’; and concludes that high-level Israeli officials were culpable for both war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of this operation. Protective Edge -- a 50-day military assault directed by Israel against the Gaza Strip and its population -- left more than 2,250 Palestinians dead and almost 170,000 Palestinian homes destroyed or damaged, leaving 108,000 Palestinians homeless.
The Gaza Strip’s sole power plant ceased operation following Israeli airstrikes. 17 out of 32 hospitals were damaged, with six closed down as a result.
Out of 97 primary health centers monitored for damage and closures by UN bodies, four were completely destroyed, while 45 sustained damage. Palestinian agricultural infrastructure suffered damage to the tune of $550m.
This staggering level of death, injury and destruction naturally produced mass forced displacement of Palestinian civilians on a vast scale, and at the height of the violence roughly half a million Palestinians were internally displaced inside the Gaza Strip, accounting for 28% of the enclave’s total population.
With forewords from Professor Richard Falk and Dr Michael Kearney, No Safe Place draws upon 90 interviews conducted by BADIL with Palestinians displaced during Protective Edge, and locates this displacement within the appropriate frameworks of international humanitarian and criminal law.
As such, the report sets out in vivid detail the wide range of policies and practices deployed by Israel which, contrary to international law, forced Palestinians to flee their homes and communities en masse, including Israel’s active targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Moreover, according to the PNN, these displaced Palestinians were provided with no safe place to which to flee. To the contrary, humanitarian shelters and civilian escape routes were deliberately attacked by Israeli forces, whilst Israel’s continuing closure of the Gaza Strip has made it impossible to conduct adequate reconstruction, with the result that, for many tens of thousands of Palestinians inside this enclave, their displacement and suffering has no ending in sight.
The report thus concludes that there exists a reasonable basis to believe that high-level Israeli officials, within both military and political office, were culpable of, inter alia, the war crime and crime against humanity of forcible transfer, and the crime against humanity of persecution.
In addition, the report highlights a range of grievous structural failings in Israel’s internal investigative processes; failings which remove any possibility of these processes providing effective review of the conduct of Israeli forces and/or Israeli officials during Protective Edge.
Israel shows no willingness to address these critical shortcomings, and intervention by the International Criminal Court therefore represents the only realistic means of holding to account Israeli perpetrators of these international crimes, and of delivering justice to Palestinian victims.
Accordingly, BADIL calls upon the Office of the Prosecutor, as a matter of priority, to initiate a formal investigation into the conduct of high-level Israeli officials in the context of Operation Protective Edge.
No Safe Place provides a damning indictment of Israeli acts and policies employed during ‘Operation Protective Edge’; and concludes that high-level Israeli officials were culpable for both war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of this operation. Protective Edge -- a 50-day military assault directed by Israel against the Gaza Strip and its population -- left more than 2,250 Palestinians dead and almost 170,000 Palestinian homes destroyed or damaged, leaving 108,000 Palestinians homeless.
The Gaza Strip’s sole power plant ceased operation following Israeli airstrikes. 17 out of 32 hospitals were damaged, with six closed down as a result.
Out of 97 primary health centers monitored for damage and closures by UN bodies, four were completely destroyed, while 45 sustained damage. Palestinian agricultural infrastructure suffered damage to the tune of $550m.
This staggering level of death, injury and destruction naturally produced mass forced displacement of Palestinian civilians on a vast scale, and at the height of the violence roughly half a million Palestinians were internally displaced inside the Gaza Strip, accounting for 28% of the enclave’s total population.
With forewords from Professor Richard Falk and Dr Michael Kearney, No Safe Place draws upon 90 interviews conducted by BADIL with Palestinians displaced during Protective Edge, and locates this displacement within the appropriate frameworks of international humanitarian and criminal law.
As such, the report sets out in vivid detail the wide range of policies and practices deployed by Israel which, contrary to international law, forced Palestinians to flee their homes and communities en masse, including Israel’s active targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Moreover, according to the PNN, these displaced Palestinians were provided with no safe place to which to flee. To the contrary, humanitarian shelters and civilian escape routes were deliberately attacked by Israeli forces, whilst Israel’s continuing closure of the Gaza Strip has made it impossible to conduct adequate reconstruction, with the result that, for many tens of thousands of Palestinians inside this enclave, their displacement and suffering has no ending in sight.
The report thus concludes that there exists a reasonable basis to believe that high-level Israeli officials, within both military and political office, were culpable of, inter alia, the war crime and crime against humanity of forcible transfer, and the crime against humanity of persecution.
In addition, the report highlights a range of grievous structural failings in Israel’s internal investigative processes; failings which remove any possibility of these processes providing effective review of the conduct of Israeli forces and/or Israeli officials during Protective Edge.
Israel shows no willingness to address these critical shortcomings, and intervention by the International Criminal Court therefore represents the only realistic means of holding to account Israeli perpetrators of these international crimes, and of delivering justice to Palestinian victims.
Accordingly, BADIL calls upon the Office of the Prosecutor, as a matter of priority, to initiate a formal investigation into the conduct of high-level Israeli officials in the context of Operation Protective Edge.
The UN's human rights monitor in the occupied Palestinian territory ended his two-year term Monday by slamming Israel for preventing him from fulfilling his duties, as well as the international community for failing to hold Israel accountable for its rights violations.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Special Rapporteur Makarim Wibisono said that since he took up his post in June 2014, Israel had not allowed him direct access to victims in parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, despite repeated requests.
The official said he sought access to the blockaded Gaza Strip four times in writing, in addition to during meetings with Israeli officials, but received no formal response to any written requests while meetings “proved fruitless.”
"This lack of cooperation regrettably seems to signal the continuation of a situation under which Palestinians suffer daily human rights violations under the Israeli occupation."
Wibisono said that while wanton acts of individual violence -- committed by both Palestinians and Israelis -- were unacceptable, the recent surge in violence was "arising in a pre-existing context."
"Tensions have risen against a backdrop of illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the blockade of Gaza, and a general lack of accountability," the UN official said.
"As frustration at the untenable situation created by the decades-long occupation grows, both parties resort to more desperate actions, often putting civilians in harm's way. Anyone seeking to quell the unrest would need to look to the root causes of the overall heightened tensions.
"To simply condemn individual attacks does not offer any viable way out of the violence rolling over the occupied Palestinian territory."
The human rights expert emphasized the "desperate need" for effective protection of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, and castigated Israel for its many failures as an occupying power and the international community for offering no protection.
"I have been struck by the abundance of information documenting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and the seeming inability of the international community to match what is known of the situation with more effective protection of Palestinians."
The Special Rapporteur in particular highlighted the excessive use of force by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians, demanding that Israel comply with international legal standards for the use of force and firearms.
Wibisono also slammed Israel's detention of hundreds of Palestinian children -- the number of which has tripled since last summer, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
"I am astounded at the openly discriminatory approach signaled by Israel's rejection of the recommendation to take all steps necessary to ensure that Palestinian children in military custody receive the same level of care and have the same rights as those provided under Israeli criminal law to youth offenders," he said.
Wibisono's remarks come two months after he tendered his resignation from his position because Israel reneged on promises to allow him full access to the occupied Palestinian territory. His resignation comes into full effect at the end of this month.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Special Rapporteur Makarim Wibisono said that since he took up his post in June 2014, Israel had not allowed him direct access to victims in parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, despite repeated requests.
The official said he sought access to the blockaded Gaza Strip four times in writing, in addition to during meetings with Israeli officials, but received no formal response to any written requests while meetings “proved fruitless.”
"This lack of cooperation regrettably seems to signal the continuation of a situation under which Palestinians suffer daily human rights violations under the Israeli occupation."
Wibisono said that while wanton acts of individual violence -- committed by both Palestinians and Israelis -- were unacceptable, the recent surge in violence was "arising in a pre-existing context."
"Tensions have risen against a backdrop of illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the blockade of Gaza, and a general lack of accountability," the UN official said.
"As frustration at the untenable situation created by the decades-long occupation grows, both parties resort to more desperate actions, often putting civilians in harm's way. Anyone seeking to quell the unrest would need to look to the root causes of the overall heightened tensions.
"To simply condemn individual attacks does not offer any viable way out of the violence rolling over the occupied Palestinian territory."
The human rights expert emphasized the "desperate need" for effective protection of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, and castigated Israel for its many failures as an occupying power and the international community for offering no protection.
"I have been struck by the abundance of information documenting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and the seeming inability of the international community to match what is known of the situation with more effective protection of Palestinians."
The Special Rapporteur in particular highlighted the excessive use of force by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians, demanding that Israel comply with international legal standards for the use of force and firearms.
Wibisono also slammed Israel's detention of hundreds of Palestinian children -- the number of which has tripled since last summer, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
"I am astounded at the openly discriminatory approach signaled by Israel's rejection of the recommendation to take all steps necessary to ensure that Palestinian children in military custody receive the same level of care and have the same rights as those provided under Israeli criminal law to youth offenders," he said.
Wibisono's remarks come two months after he tendered his resignation from his position because Israel reneged on promises to allow him full access to the occupied Palestinian territory. His resignation comes into full effect at the end of this month.
21 mar 2016
A Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs committee met with officials from the International Criminal Court on Sunday in Jordan to discuss “illegal Israeli policies and practices,” the Palestinian foreign minister said.
In a statement released on Monday, Riyad al-Maliki said the meetings in the Jordanian capital Amman were part of efforts by the ICC prosecutor’s office to determine if there were enough elements to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The issues to be addressed in the meetings, al-Maliki said, included the expansion of illegal settlements, crimes committed by Israeli settlers, the mass incarceration of Palestinians by Israel, and the ongoing “aggression against our people and our land, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
“We are determined to go ahead until the occupation authorities are held accountable for the ongoing crimes against our people.”
The Palestinian government formally joined the ICC last year, as part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering and appeals to international bodies, and an attempt to move away from the stalled US-led peace process.
Palestinian leadership has since submitted a number of reports to the ICC regarding Israeli violations of international law.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions in 2015 after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution paving the way to full Palestinian statehood.
In a statement released on Monday, Riyad al-Maliki said the meetings in the Jordanian capital Amman were part of efforts by the ICC prosecutor’s office to determine if there were enough elements to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The issues to be addressed in the meetings, al-Maliki said, included the expansion of illegal settlements, crimes committed by Israeli settlers, the mass incarceration of Palestinians by Israel, and the ongoing “aggression against our people and our land, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
“We are determined to go ahead until the occupation authorities are held accountable for the ongoing crimes against our people.”
The Palestinian government formally joined the ICC last year, as part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering and appeals to international bodies, and an attempt to move away from the stalled US-led peace process.
Palestinian leadership has since submitted a number of reports to the ICC regarding Israeli violations of international law.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions in 2015 after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution paving the way to full Palestinian statehood.
