Euro-Mediterranean calls for int’l action to stop Israel crimes in Gaza
GAZA, June 25 (YPA) – The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the United Nations and international relief organizations to take urgent and collective action to halt the escalating Israeli crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly those committed near so-called “aid distribution centers”.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Observatory called for an end to the practice of merely formal condemnations and the activation of legal and institutional tools to pressure Israel and end the deadly aid distribution mechanism.
“Israel” used Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a killing mechanism and humanitarian aid to escalate the ongoing genocide for more than 20 months,” the statement said. The occupation has imposed a reality that forces hungry civilians to risk their lives in exchange for limited amounts of food, resulting in killing more than 500 civilians since May 27, including 55 killed in a single day.”
It pointed out that the repeated targeting of starving people near distribution centers has become a daily, systematic practice Israeli forces openly carried out, amid international silence that reinforces impunity.
“The international community has been unable to take serious measures to hold “Israel” accountable or ensure the resumption of independent relief organizations’ humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip, it added.
The Observatory called on UN agencies, especially the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to fully implement their mandates by documenting violations, providing public and periodic briefings, holding the occupation legally accountable, and explicitly demanding the removal of restrictions on relief work.
It accused the Israeli occupation and the American organization overseeing the aid of directing civilians to distribution points and forcing them to wait at checkpoints before being shot by snipers, drones, and helicopters, alleging a “security threat”.
The statement revealed that it had documented the involvement of the Israeli army, local gangs, and American security companies in killings near aid distribution centers, despite the absence of an actual threat from the victims.
Since October 7, 2023, American-supported Israeli occupation has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide has been left almost 185,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Additionally, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and famine has claimed the lives of many, including children, as well as widespread destruction.
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