{"id":294064,"date":"2024-03-06T16:30:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=294064"},"modified":"2024-03-06T16:30:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:30:44","slug":"gaza-israels-dehumanisation-must-end-says-unohchr-6mar24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/gaza-israels-dehumanisation-must-end-says-unohchr-6mar24\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza: Israel\u2019s dehumanisation of displaced persons must end, says UN expert – UN Human Rights Office – Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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6 March 2024<\/p>\n

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GENEVA \u2013 Five months into the assault on Gaza, Israel has lost all credibility on its claims to protect civilians in the besieged strip, a UN expert said today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael\u2019s evacuation orders have not made the people of Gaza safer; on the contrary, they have been used to\u00a0forcibly transfer<\/a>\u00a0and confine the civilian population in unliveable conditions,\u201d said Paula Gaviria Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs).<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appalled to hear that Israel intends to extend these orders to Rafah, the only semblance of refuge for nearly 70 per cent of Gaza\u2019s surviving population and the only functional entry point for humanitarian aid, should Israel\u2019s demands in negotiations not be met by the unilaterally imposed deadline of 10 March,\u201d Gaviria Betancur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Rafah has already come under periodic attack by Israeli forces, a full-scale ground assault would lead to unimaginable suffering. Any evacuation order imposed on Rafah under the current conditions, with the rest of Gaza lying in ruins, would be in flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, forcing people to flee to conditions of certain death \u2013 deprived of food, water, healthcare, and shelter,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

Gaviria Betancur noted that few internal displacement crises in recent history could be characterised by such wholesale disregard for the rights of the displaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIDPs in Gaza have been arbitrarily driven from their homes multiple times with no regard for their rights to life, dignity, liberty and security. It is impossible to conceive of any durable solution to their displacement, given Israel\u2019s systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools, markets, and places of worship, atop the immense psychological toll the conflict has taken on the people of Gaza,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreventing arbitrary displacement, and providing protection, assistance, and durable solutions to displaced persons are neither optional nor acts of charity,\u201d said the expert. \u201cThey are Israel\u2019s obligations as an occupying power under international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Special Rapporteur condemned Israel\u2019s continued efforts to obstruct and weaponise humanitarian aid, including through attacks on civilians seeking aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanitarian assistance is desperately needed to alleviate the immense suffering of the people of Gaza as well as to prevent further displacement, including potential cross-border displacement. One month ago, the International Court of Justice issued a binding order on Israel to take immediate and effective measures to permit the delivery of basic services and humanitarian aid to Gaza, as part of measures required to prevent the commission of genocide,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, Israel immediately launched a campaign to discredit and defund UNRWA, the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, based on allegations for which Israel has yet to publicly provide any credible evidence,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael has also continued to attack aid convoys and health facilities, impose arbitrary movement restrictions on humanitarian actors, and done little to hold Israeli citizens accountable for blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid. As a result, starvation and disease are running rampant, and claiming lives alongside Israel\u2019s military actions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost disturbingly, Israel appears to have expanded its assault on humanitarian aid to systematically target aid-seekers themselves,\u201d said the Special Rapporteur. \u201cHundreds were reportedly massacred and injured during two\u00a0Israeli attacks on civilians queuing for food aid<\/a>\u00a0on 29 February and 1 March. This adds to a pattern of deliberately targeting civilians seeking healthcare, like the horrific killing in January of a six-year-old girl by Israeli forces while she was waiting for an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am horrified by the depravity of killing civilians while they are at their most vulnerable and seeking basic assistance. These constitute atrocity crimes of the highest order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Israel began its military campaign, a staggering five per cent of Gaza\u2019s population has been killed or injured, and more than 75 per cent displaced. Gaviria Betancur urged the international community to remember the humanity of these victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalestinian lives are not mere statistics. These are families struggling to make ends meet, loved ones torn apart, children trying to find joy amidst unimaginable trauma, people like anywhere else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community must abandon the fiction that Israel will respect the principles of international humanitarian and human rights law in its military operations,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn immediate and permanent ceasefire, coupled with meaningful measures to document and\u00a0ensure accountability<\/a>\u00a0for atrocities as well as secure the fundamental rights of Palestinians in Gaza, is the only path forward for the sake of our shared humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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*The expert: Paula Gaviria Betancur,<\/strong>Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons<\/a><\/p>\n

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what are known as the\u00a0Special Procedures<\/a>\u00a0of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council\u2019s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6 March 2024   GENEVA \u2013 Five months into the assault on Gaza, Israel has lost all credibility on its claims to protect civilians in the besieged strip, a UN expert said today. \u201cIsrael\u2019s evacuation orders have not made the people of Gaza safer; on the contrary, they have been used to\u00a0forcibly transfer\u00a0and confine the […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[6726],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-294064","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-human-rights-of-internally-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294066,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294064\/revisions\/294066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=294064"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=294064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}