A Year of Israeli Genocide and the Collapse of the World Order
8-October-2024
Enaya Nasser
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has issued a comprehensive report on the occasion of the first anniversary of “Israel” launching its genocidal campaign against civilians in the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, during which Israel committed serious war crimes, with the explicit complicity of the international community.
The report, entitled “Gaza: A Year of Israeli Genocide and the Collapse of the World Order”, includes the most prominent crimes committed during the past twelve months, which were carefully documented by Euro-Mediterranean field teams. The report traces the clear elements of genocide committed by the occupying entity’s forces, explores the legal frameworks that define the crime of genocide, and examines both the context and the current circumstances. The report also addresses the response of international justice and, most importantly, the complicit role of the international community in allowing the genocide to continue.
The report sheds light on the horrific conditions and systematic atrocities committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip. These long-standing crimes include the illegal blockade, the deliberate isolation of Gaza from the rest of the Palestinian territories and the world, the systematic denial of basic human rights to the population of the Strip, and the deliberate destruction of essential services. The report details that since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, including about 42,000 recorded by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the majority of whom were women and children. In addition, nearly 100,000 people have been injured, and thousands of bodies remain under the rubble and in the streets, inaccessible to rescue teams and medical teams. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the population of Gaza has been killed, injured, missing, or arrested as a result of Israeli military attacks. Of the 50,292 Palestinians killed – including those still buried under the rubble – 33% were women and 21% were children. Thousands more were forcibly detained, with 3,600 still languishing in various Israeli prisons and detention centers.
Some 3,500 families have suffered multiple losses since October 2023. Of these, 365 families lost more than ten members, while more than 2,750 families lost at least three members.
The report details the systematic genocidal acts committed in Gaza, such as the deliberate killing of civilians in homes, shelters, displacement camps and declared humanitarian areas. Civilians were also targeted by military vehicles and tanks, in field executions, through drone strikes, in crowded markets, and even while waiting for aid in relief trucks. The report pointed to the starvation tactics of the Israeli entity’s forces, the deliberate killing of prisoners and detainees, and the assassination of humanitarian workers, qualified professionals, and Palestinian elites. The report stated that the Israeli forces used explicit methods aimed at inflicting severe physical and psychological trauma on the population. These methods include launching thousands of systematic military attacks on civilians, significantly increasing deaths among people of reproductive age, separating families, targeting the health care system, and imposing brutal living conditions characterized by hunger and malnutrition. Obstructing humanitarian aid exacerbates these atrocities, creating situations that threaten the lives of thousands of people. The report pointed out that the main reason for this persecution is the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967, which created the conditions for ongoing genocide, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion issued on July 19, 2024, on the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories. The report referred to the international recognition of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip as Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. The report also indicated that until 2005, the Israeli army maintained internal and external control over Gaza by deploying military forces inside the Strip. And outside it, and the establishment of settlements on its lands, a situation that continues in the West Bank to this day. In 2005, Israel unilaterally declared “disengagement,” evacuating its settlers from Gaza and withdrawing its military forces. But despite this declaration, Israel continued to exercise control over Gaza, and retained real authority over crucial aspects of governance. This position was endorsed by the International Court of Justice in a recent advisory opinion, reflecting the near-universal international consensus on the continuation of the Israeli occupation. Even after its military withdrawal, Israel retained control over the basic elements of governance in Gaza, including the population registry, land, sea and air borders, and the regulation of the movement of people and goods. Israel also continued to collect taxes on imports and exports. Following Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa on October 7, 2023, Israel declared a state of war, with its president, prime minister, and other political and military leaders at the forefront of this war. The declared goal was to eliminate the Palestinian resistance and secure the release of the hostages. Thus began Operation Iron Swords, a brutal military attack that exacerbated the suffering of civilians in Gaza. The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory concluded its report with a set of recommendations one year after the genocide in Gaza, stressing that all states are still obligated to work to stop the ongoing genocide by all available means, and that preventing and punishing this crime is an international legal obligation that falls on all states without exception. Kashf Al-Haqiq Weekly Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jaafar Al-Khabouri
الرئيسية 
