Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) welcomed the decision to resume the 10th emergency session of the General Assembly in New York on Thursday, following an invitation of five UN member states, entitled: Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip began more than two weeks ago, accompanied by increased crimes against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank.
AOHR UK sent letters to several countries asking them to hold a General Assembly emergency session in accordance with the United for Peace resolution in light of the UN’s inability to take measures to maintain international peace and security.
The General Assembly, pursuant to its resolution entitled “United for Peace” issued on November 3, 1950, may hold an “emergency special session” within 24 hours, if it appears that there is a threat to the peace or a breach of it, or that there is an act of aggression, on which the Security Council was unable to act due to a negative vote (VETO) by a permanent member.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) has launched a brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip since the evening of Saturday, October 7, 2023, which has claimed the lives of 5078 civilians so far, including 2055 children and 1156 women, in addition to wounding 15273 people, including 4992 children and 3746 women. Most of those injured are threatened with worsening health condition due to the lack of health facilities, medical equipment and fuel in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continuous bombing of civilians and hospitals by the IOF.
The occupation also imposed a total siege, preventing the entry of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies, including medicines, and preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, which effectively turned the Gaza Strip into an open prison, against whose residents a genocide is being committed.
The General Assembly has to issue applicable resolutions that lead to stopping the war and allow the flow of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, sending medical teams and setting up field hospitals, and sending those injured for treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
Holding the General Assembly after 16 days of fierce war on the Gaza Strip is the only hope to save civilians in Gaza from a genocide that being committed against them on a daily basis with the support of a Western coalition led by the USA.
AOHR UK calls on the Emergency General Assembly to provide urgent protection for Palestinian prisoners as the IOF is launching an arrest campaign against Palestinians since the beginning of the war, in addition to thousands of prisoners who are still detained from before. The detainee Omar Hamza Daraghmeh, 58, was killed inside Megiddo prison after being arrested since October 07, 2023. His lawyer and family confirmed that he was in good health and did not suffer from any diseases prior to his arrest and accused the Israeli occupation of killing him.
AOHR UK also stressed on the need for including a clause in the agenda of the emergency session regarding the referral of the crime of genocide committed in the Gaza Strip and throughout the occupied Palestinian territories to the International Court of Justice, as Israeli officials are still escaping punishment after decades of occupation and massacres.
