Jeremy Laurence Joined By Ajith Sunghay, The Head Of UN Human Rights Office For The Occupied Palestinian Territory

Location: Geneva / Amman
Date: 19 July 2024
 Subject: Occupied Palestinian Territory

Over the past week, the people of Gaza have been subjected to a renewed wave of deadly Israeli air strikes and ordered to move yet again to supposed ‘safe places’ that are anything but safe.

Since 12 July, 503 Palestinians have been killed, mostly in central Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Three mass casualty incidents on 13 and 14 July in the Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis, the Ash Shati' (Beach) Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City, and an UNRWA school at An Nuseirat killed over 124 people and left hundreds more injured. These attacks have been followed by further strikes on 15 and 16 July which struck an UNRWA school in Al Rimal, Gaza City; another UNRWA school in Nuseirat Camp, Middle Gaza; and a street in Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis, killing 59 Palestinians and injuring at least 76 others.

Israel’s evacuation order on 9 July – one of the largest since October 7 – has forced families into an impossible choice yet again: Stay amid active hostilities or risk fleeing to areas still subject to attack and with hardly any space or services. Nowhere is safe for people in Gaza – not the roads, not shelters, not hospitals, not the unilaterally declared so-called humanitarian zones.

We are also seeing the outcome of Israel’s dismantling of local capacity to maintain public order and safety. There is looting, mob justice, extortion of money, family disputes, random shootings, fighting for space and resources, and we see youths armed with sticks manning barricades.

The creation of these conditions has led to the predictable and entirely foreseeable unravelling of the fabric of society in Gaza, setting people against one another in a fight for survival and tearing communities apart.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights stresses once again that the violence must end. There must be a ceasefire, and the hostages must be released. Reconstruction of Gaza must begin. And the occupation must end, accountability must be served and the internationally agreed two-State solution must become a reality.

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