“The international legal order is breaking down in the face of these atrocities.”
Marking one year since the start of Israel’s genocidal offensive in Gaza, a group of UN experts have said the world is facing the most profound crisis since the end of World War II.
“The world faces the most profound crisis since the end of World War II. The atrocities which the world witnessed in World War II resulted in a collective determination to say ‘Never Again’ and to create the United Nations to achieve that goal,” the group said in a statement on Friday.
‘The international order is breaking down in Gaza’:
UN experts mark one year of #Israel's genocidal attacks and ethnic cleansing on Palestinians, calling on all leaders to redouble their efforts to demand & achieve #CeasefireNOW.https://t.co/16K6ufZW06 pic.twitter.com/gWx9wztubw
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) October 11, 2024
Since October 7, the experts said, “the world has seen a brutal escalation of violence, resulting in genocidal attacks, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of Palestinians, which risks breaking down the international multilateral system.”
‘Genocidal Statements’
The group emphasized that the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza was accompanied by “genocidal statements” by Israeli leaders, such as Israeli Defense Minister Gallant having ordered a “complete siege, no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel” and a full-on assault against ‘the biggest open-air prison of our time.”
🚨Netanyahu is now going fully genocidal; calling Palestinians "Amalek" & citing the bible to justify their destruction!
The bible called to "utterly destroy all that Amalek have, & spare them not; but slay both man & WOMAN, INFANT & suckling, ox & sheep, camel & donkey"! (1/2) pic.twitter.com/VqmZ9XcX5w
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) October 28, 2023
They also highlighted the command issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 28: “Remember what Amalek has done to you, we have been commanded. And we do remember.”
In so doing, the group said, he invoked the Biblical reference: “Now go, attack Amalek, and destroy all that they have, and spare no one; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
“One year later, the promise by Israeli leaders to destroy Gaza has been fulfilled,” they emphasized.
“The Strip is now a wasteland of rubble and human remains, where survivors – men and women, children and the elderly – struggle to hold on to life amid deprivation and disease,” the group added.
‘No One is Spared’
“Israeli bombs have spared no one – not journalists, students, scholars, doctors, nurses, babies, pregnant women, persons with disabilities, civil servants, people seeking food and safety or humanitarian workers, including UN staff. Entire families have been exterminated and generations erased, with millions of lives torn apart.”
Damning UN Report – Israel Crossed ‘Threshold’ of Genocide in Gaza
The group also highlighted the displaced who were “trapped in ever-shrinking parts of the tiny territory, corralled into crowded camps and shelters with nowhere to flee,” adding that the “constant bombing has turned humanitarian zones into killing fields.”
“Nothing can justify these acts,” they said, adding that for a year, they have “implored States to intervene, in line with their moral and legal obligations to prevent these atrocities and preserve the international legal system, human rights and humanity.”
ICC and ICJ Cases
“Our calls have gone largely unheeded, together with those of millions of people worldwide who have used their platforms to advocate for an end to the violence, and who continue to face repressive tactics to silence and punish their voices, in several countries,” the group added.
‘Acts of Genocide Committed’ After ICJ Ruling – Euro-Med Monitor Report
“The international legal order is breaking down in the face of these atrocities,” they said, pointing out that the International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants “remains outstanding without a timely decision by the Court while a genocidal campaign rages.”
Provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “to prevent genocidal acts and preserve evidence of crimes committed in Gaza remain unfulfilled,” the experts emphasized.
The ICJ Advisory Opinion “declaring Israel’s occupation unlawful, and amounting to racial segregation and apartheid, followed by a widely-supported General Assembly resolution, remains to be implemented. “
“Defiant in the face of overwhelming public sentiment across the international community, Israel continues to act with brazen disregard for international law and order,” they stated.
Global Community’s Failure
The experts added that the international community’s failure to secure a ceasefire and hold accountable “all those responsible for or complicit in heinous crimes, has not only enabled the continuation of unprecedented brutality but widened it to the broader region, setting Lebanon ablaze with violence and destruction.”
‘Israel is Committing Genocide, US is Complicit’ – Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
“This spiral of destruction must end. The international community must act with utmost urgency to change the trajectory of violence if we are to avert a full-scale conflagration with unthinkable consequences – most egregiously for the children,” they added.
The UN experts called on all leaders “to move beyond dehumanising and polarising narratives, and actively work for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and crimes in Palestine/Israel and the region, for the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained, both Israelis held in Gaza and Palestinians held by Israel.”
Calling for the immediate provision of humanitarian aid to all those affected in Gaza, they demanded “that everyone, state actors and individuals alike, prioritise respect for international law and human rights without discrimination and double standards.”
Over 42,000 Killed
Israel continues to defy a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,126 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 98,117 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Massive Displacement
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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