Geneva, July 05, 2023
Israel continues its military operation against the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank. The attacks against the besieged population have escalated and have resulted in the killing of ten civilians, the injury of dozens and the displacement of thousands, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Many properties and civilian facilities were also destroyed.
Since the beginning of this year, the Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 200 Palestinians across the West Bank, most of whom have been executed extrajudicially. The current aggression against Jenin is not an isolated event, but it is rather a part of a broader policy of human rights violations that have affected Palestinians for decades. Its brutality and violence in recent years have escalated with the rise to power of the religious and far- right extremist groups in Israel.
It should be recalled that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied Palestinian territories in 1967, which obliges Israel, as the occupying power, to abide by the principles of the international humanitarian law. The military operation in Jenin represents a clear violation of those principles, especially with the excessive and disproportionate use of force, which was evident through the use of warplanes in the bombing of houses inside Jenin camp which is densely populated with civilians.
The scale of the appalling Israeli military attack on the Jenin camp, which resulted in civilian casualties as well as the bombing of homes by warplanes, shows the international need to address this aggression. Therefore, the Human Rights Council currently convening in Geneva must allocate an emergency session to the Palestinian case. Given the seriousness of the violations, the Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights considers them major violations of human rights and international justice and calls for:
1- Imposing clear international mechanisms to stop the continuous Israeli violations against the Palestinians, from finding a solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees whose one of the largest camps in the West Bank is being attacked, based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 194, to putting an end to the decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories.
2- Expediting the creation of an international formula for the protection of civilians and ensuring the accountability of the Israeli leaders involved in violations against the Palestinians.
3- Call on the United Nations, the European Union and Switzerland, as the custodian of the Geneva Conventions, to exercise their role and oblige Israel to stop committing violations and respect the rules and provisions of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights
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