NGO Action News – 11 April 2024

Middle East

• On 11 April, Gisha – Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement criticised the announcement by the Israeli authorities that there was a supposed increase in the number of aid trucks entering Gaza. Quoting the UN, Gisha said that this claim was wrong and misleading, and that no such increase occurred in practice, explaining that many of the trucks enter Gaza half-empty. The Israeli NGO said that Israel has disavowed its legal obligations towards Palestinian civilians, including the obligation to conduct effective deconfliction and ensure safe conditions for aid distribution.
• On 9 April, the Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC) issued a press release warning that Palestinians in Gaza are currently experiencing catastrophic hunger, and are on the verge of a completely avoidable man-induced famine. PHROC called on third States to immediately and urgently continue funding UNRWA and to take concrete steps to prevent genocide. The organisations reminded of Article VIII of the 1948 Genocide Convention, calling on Member States to resort to the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide.
• On 9 April, BADIL – Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights called to “escalate” actions of Palestine solidarity movements to force governments to stop their complicity with Israel’s war on Gaza. BADIL said the goal should be to ensure that governments will no longer have an option to disregard public will and the requirement for practical actions to bring about an immediate and unconditional ceasefire on the Gaza Strip, the protection of Palestinian civilians and the provision of unrestricted humanitarian aid and withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
• On 8 April, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and Al-Haq issued a joint press release to condemn Israel’s deliberate targeting of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) team through airstrikes, despite prior coordination of the convoy’s movement in the central Gaza Strip. They called upon the international community to exert genuine and effective efforts to ensure delivery of food, medicines and potable water for the population in a way that guarantees protection of their lives and dignity. They also reiterated that all States must take concrete measures to deter Israel and halt the transfer of weapons to both sides, including the halt of weapons transits through third countries to Israel.
• On 8 April, DCI-Palestine issued a press release denouncing the systematic destruction of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure by the Israeli forces, including in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank. DCI-Palestine stated that the destruction of Palestinian homes during Israeli military operations not only represents a violation of property rights, but extends to many basic human rights, including obtaining safe shelter far from all dangers, and also causes severe and long-lasting suffering for children. The emotional and psychological toll on these young lives extends far beyond the immediate loss of shelter, affecting their development and determining their course in life.
• On 4 April, Addameer – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association issued a press release on Palestinian Children’s Day, denouncing the killing of more than 12,000 Palestinian children from Gaza in the past 6 months. Addameer called upon the international community and concerned international organisations to fulfil their responsibilities and take serious and genuine actions to ensure the full protection of the rights of Palestinian children. It also urged pressure on the Israeli authorities to immediately release the children detained in their prisons.
• On 29 March, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights welcome the modified provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in the Application of the Genocide Convention. The Court unanimously ordered that Israel must “take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the UN, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies to Palestinians throughout Gaza.” The three NGOs also thanked South Africa for its continuous commitment to ending acts of genocide against the Palestinian people and seeking Israel’s accountability.

Asia and Europe

• On 6 April, Law for Palestine released “Genocide Perpetration in Gaza by Israeli War Cabinet Members”, its submission to the International Criminal Court,. The communication, prepared with the support of the Independent Commission for Human Rights – Palestine and the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, includes a comprehensive legal analysis of the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The communication was submitted in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, in response to the Prosecutor’s call urging parties, stakeholders with relevant information to assist the investigation team’s ongoing probe into violations of the Rome Statute in Palestine, including the ongoing war in Gaza. The submission explores, among others, the criteria for genocide under international law, considering jurisprudence from various tribunals and the ICC.
• On 5 April, UK Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) issued a press release, following an alarming UN-backed report where experts warned that famine was immediately imminent for 300,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza. LPHR warned that the cascading human-made catastrophe has been gravely foreseeable since day three of the intensified hostilities, when Israel’s defence minister announced on 9 October the imposition of a total siege on Gaza. LPHR urged the UK government and the international community to take immediate decisive action to address the imminent risk of famine in Gaza by starting to refer to specific violations of international law in its public statements, use all available leverage with Israel to ensure that food and other life-sustaining aid is allowed immediate access to all civilians in Gaza.
• On 5 April, Amnesty International stated that Israel’s announcement that it has approved the opening of two humanitarian routes into the occupied Gaza Strip, including the temporary re-opening of Erez crossing in northern Gaza and Ashdod port, is a welcome move but is insufficient to tackle the scale of the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Amnesty is calling for these measures to be accompanied by an immediate sustained ceasefire by all parties and a complete lifting of Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza to truly alleviate mass suffering. The organisation is also calling for armed groups to release hostages held in Gaza and for Israeli authorities to release arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
• On 3 April, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) addressed the UN Human Rights Council over Israeli aggressions on humanitarian convoys and aid seekers. PRC said that the systematic targeting of humanitarian convoys and queues is a grave violation of international law, which unequivocally protects civilians in times of conflict and under occupation. PRC also urged the Human Rights Council to speak out against these egregious violations and hold Israel accountable.

North America

• On 12 April, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) organized the webinar “The Former Biden Admin Officials Who Left their Jobs Over Gaza”, featuring former officials of the US Departments of Education and State. The webinar also examined the possibilities for changing course, as well as the personal stakes, choices, and costs of public protest against the US close embrace of Israel and its brutal war on Gaza.
• On 5 April, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) issued the post “Stop Arming Israel: 5 Ways to Take Action for Tax Day”. USCPR urged the public to pressure for the end of US military funding to Israel’s massive violence, once and for all. It called for a coordinated economic blockade in cities around the world on 15 April 15, to take part in the #NotMyTaxDollars social media campaign and to fundraise for Palestinian-led organizing.
• On 5 April, J Street welcomed “long-overdue” decisions by Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and better protect aid workers. Changes announced by the Israeli government include opening the Ashdod port and Erez crossing and increasing aid deliveries from Jordan.
• On 4 April, Americans for Peace Now (APN) issued the press release “What the killing of World Central Kitchen Workers Should Mean for US Aid to Israel”. It states that the Israeli government has consistently restricted and severely limited the number of humanitarian aid trucks, imposed arbitrary and contradictory criteria for Israel’s inspection mechanisms, and interfered with or created obstacles to the delivery of aid, including the failure to protect humanitarian staff from bombardment and other dangers. It reminded that Members of Congress from both the House and the Senate have called for the administration to acknowledge that the Netanyahu government is not in fact in compliance with NSM-20 and cease the delivery of non-defensive weapons systems to Israel.

United Nations

• On 7 April, UNRWA General-Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini issued a post to mark the sixth month of the war in Gaza. “This war broke all the superlatives with the highest number of children killed, aid workers, journalists and medical teams + unprecedented attacks & destruction of hospitals and UN buildings in blatant disregard of international humanitarian law,” he stated. He reiterated the calls for the protection of civilians, for all hostages to be released, for a ceasefire to be implemented now and for Israel to open more land crossing and lift all restrictions on the work of UNRWA without further delay.
• On 5 April, the UN Human Rights Council adopted five resolutions, including a text in which it demanded that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The Council called upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza, and to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel. The five resolutions concerned the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, realizing the rights of the child and inclusive social protection, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.
• On 3 and 4 April in Geneva, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) held a conference with civil society organizations working on the question of Palestine titled “Building bridges with international civil society to address the ongoing Nakba.” During the two-day event, participants underlined the response to the war on Gaza as the litmus test for the international justice system and called for Israel’s “live-streamed genocide” to no got unpunished. Speakers from different regions called on Member States to isolate Israel and its enablers, to impose arms embargoes through the bilateral diplomatic as well as the UN bodies channels, and to ensure that “never again” becomes a true appeal to prevent genocide everywhere and that UN resolutions call for a permanent ceasefire.