BRIEFING NOTES: (1) Ukraine, (2) Lebanon, (3) Occupied Palestinian Territory

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Jeremy Laurence joined by Ajith Sunghay, the Head of UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Location: Geneva / Amman
Date: 29 November 2024
Subject: (1) Ukraine, (2) Lebanon, (3) Occupied Palestinian Territory

(1) Ukraine

This week’s massive missile and drone attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine’s power network have heightened serious concerns about the plight of civilians, who are facing a winter of hardship and misery.

Thursday’s missile and long-range drone strikes reportedly caused damage in at least 13 regions, in addition to Kyiv City, and resulted in blackouts affecting more than one million consumers across the country. In some regions, essential services, including water and transportation, were disrupted.

Since March, Ukraine’s energy production capacity has been targeted in waves of attacks, causing foreseeable and wide-ranging harm to civilians. As ever, the most vulnerable - older people, low-income households, people with disabilities and those who are internally displaced – have been particularly put at risk.

As temperatures drop below freezing, and are likely to fall further, electricity and electricity-dependent services are even more critical for the survival of the civilian population.

While the full impact of the latest strikes will only become clearer in due course, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has consistently followed up in the wake of such attacks, documenting the effects on electricity production, water distribution, heating and hot water, public health and education. In essence, the basics of daily life for millions of civilians, across the entire country.

The High Commissioner reiterates that multiple aspects of the military campaign to damage or destroy Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure, including objects essential for civilian survival – such as heating facilities during the winter months – raise serious concerns regarding Russian forces’ respect of cardinal principles of international humanitarian law of distinction, precaution and proportionality in the conduct of hostilities. These recurring, systematic attacks must be investigated and anyone found responsible for serious violations should be held to account.

We call again on the Russian Federation to immediately cease all attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure critical to the civilian population, for accountability for all unlawful attacks, and for the international community to prioritize support to Ukraine to repair and restore its energy systems.

(2) Lebanon

The ceasefire in Lebanon comes as huge relief for the millions who have endured so much suffering over the past 13 months. The High Commissioner for Human Rights urges all parties to respect the ceasefire agreement in full for the benefit of all civilians, and to resolve any differences of implementation within the framework of the agreement and applicable law. The focus must now turn to facilitating all necessary help to those in need. Human rights must be at front and centre of this next phase.

Many will not have liveable homes to return to. Hospitals, schools, places of worship and other vital infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged. Ensuring protection to those in vulnerable situations must be a priority.

The High Commissioner urges all political actors in Lebanon to put aside their differences and act in solidarity for the well-being of the deeply traumatised population. The international community, now more than ever, must also provide support.

On both sides of the Israel/Lebanon border, the enormous numbers of people forced to flee their homes on account of the conflict must be able to return knowing that they will be safe and can get on with their lives.

Accountability is also essential. Violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be investigated -- independently and thoroughly.

Rule of law and accountability for human rights violations are critical for prevention of violations and renewed conflict and for the building and sustaining of peace and inclusive development.

The cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and northern Israel also renews focus on the continuing violence and loss of life in Gaza, where civilians have same claims to peace, security and ability to return home. The High Commissioner renews his urgent call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The killing must end. The hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. Those arbitrarily detained must be released. And every effort must be made to urgently provide the full quantities of food, medicine and other vital assistance desperately needed in Gaza.

This morning, we are joined from Amman by our colleague Ajith Sunghay, who leads the Protection Cluster, a network of actors including the UN, local and international non-governmental organisations working on protection, human rights and humanitarian issues. He returned from Gaza yesterday, having spent the past week there.

(3) Occupied Palestinian Territory

Every time I visit Gaza, the level of destruction just gets worse and worse. This time I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger. After 13 months of unrelenting violence, the threat of death by starvation, illness or bombardment is real. Local markets are now non-existent. The UN has been unable to take any humanitarian aid into the North Gaza where around 70,000 people are still believed to be present due to repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities.

Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival. I saw dozens of women and children scavenging in large landfills. It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen.

The breakdown of public order and safety is exacerbating the situation with rampant looting and fighting over scarce resources. As prices of the meagre commodities that are available have skyrocketed, people have been shot and killed by unknown armed men while trying to buy simple sustenance such as bread. These are not isolated incidents. The anarchy in Gaza we warned about months ago is here. Entirely predictable, entirely foreseeable. And as with all of the death and destruction I’ve seen during my past trips to Gaza, entirely preventable.

Palestinian people are angry, frustrated, disappointed and suffering on a scale that has to be seen to be truly grasped. Several young men and women expressed to me their feelings of despair and desire to leave the Gaza Strip, where they are left bereft of any safety, any security, and any hope. With the destruction of every layer of their community: the education system, the governance system, places of worship, their local support networks, they see no future here.

Young women, many displaced multiple times, stressed to me the lack of any safe space and privacy in the makeshift tents and accommodation they had been forced into. One young person told me she felt like a “beggar” and that she had lost all of her self-confidence. Others said that cases of gender-based violence and rape, abuse of children and other violence within the community has increased in shelters as a consequence of the war and the breakdown of law enforcement and public order. Protection needs are massive, but response still lags significantly.

Still, the community heart beats strong. There are people who step in to help. We are training -- and working with -- youth ’protection responders’. One told me: “I have lost everything, including family members, house and all belongings, but I continue to help others in need.”

Between the onset of winter and rain, there’s an ever-pressing need for proper shelters and winter clothes. The conditions in Gaza city are horrendous. Thousands of recently displaced people, predominately from Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, are sheltered in partially destroyed buildings or makeshift camps in inhumane conditions with severe food shortages and terrible sanitary conditions. The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick.

Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire.

I met with fishers in Khan Younis. Over 4,000 fishers and 14,000 others depend on this industry. Since the start of the war, trawlers, nets and other equipment have been destroyed and around 80 fishers have been killed by the Israeli military. Despite this, out of sheer desperation some of them enter the sea at the risk of being shot at by the Israeli Navy.

These daily struggles for survival are plaguing Gazans while bombardment continues unabated across the strip. Areas around Gaza city have faced unrelenting and heavy bombardment by the Israeli military. Forced displacement from North to Middle and South Gaza continues. As they move, the shelling and bombing continues.

The common plea by everyone I met was for this to stop. To bring this to an end. Enough. Please. Enough.

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