Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stated that history has recorded the passing of a whole year since the start of the most heinous genocide in modern history in the Gaza Strip. During this year, all types of lethal weapons were used in full view of the whole world, which stood weak and incapable in the face of the arrogance of the occupation government and failed to take any practical steps to stop its crimes.
During this year, the Israeli occupation killed 41,689 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including 11,458 women and 16,891 children, in addition to injuring 96,625 citizens. Among the dead were 986 medical workers, 174 media workers, 203 UNRWA employees, and 85 civil defence workers, in addition to those missing who numbered over 10,000 people.
The ongoing occupation attacks resulted in the destruction of more than 200,000 housing units, with more than 60% of these units completely destroyed, displacing more than 1.9 million people, and destroying 80% of commercial establishments. The road and transportation networks have also been destroyed by 68%. In the health sector, 19 out of 36 hospitals have become completely out of service, while the remaining hospitals operate with limited capabilities due to a severe shortage of medical equipment and medicines. 75 out of 131 medical centres became out of service as well, and 17 out of 27 UNRWA centres are no longer operating, in addition to the destruction of 130 ambulances and 190 UNRWA centres.
Moreover, the occupation has escalated its crimes in the West Bank, in conjunction with the crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.
Since October 7, 2023, 741 Palestinians have been killed, including 163 children, and 6,250 people have been injured. The occupation also demolished and confiscated 1,768 buildings across the West Bank, displacing 4,555 Palestinians, including 1,910 children.
The year of killing, destruction, displacement and starvation in Gaza had barely become complete when the occupation government turned its attention to Lebanon and launched horrific attacks on civilians, raising the death toll since October 8, 2023 to 2,036 people, and injuring 9,653 people. The displacement rates in Lebanon increased dramatically, with the number of displaced people reaching more than 1.2 million people.
Despite the ongoing documentation of the crimes committed by the occupation, and the issuance of many resolutions by the international community calling on the occupation government to stop the killing, starvation and displacement, these resolutions remained unimplemented, especially the resolutions of the General Assembly and the resolutions of the International Court of Justice, which were thwarted due to the support of the occupation’s allies led by the United States.
Since the start of the genocide, calls were made to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate the crimes and hold their perpetrators accountable. However, the Prosecutor of the ICC delayed his response for months before announcing the submission of requests to the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, yet the request is still pending in the Pre-Trial Chamber despite the passage of several months.
When South Africa decided to file a lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, only a few countries joined it, namely Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, the Maldives, Turkey, and Spain, compared to the large number of countries that joined Ukraine’s lawsuit against Russia.
AOHR UK denounced the attempts of countries supporting Israel to appear as if they are defending human rights in the occupied territories, as they created a sanctions list that included some secondary settlers, claiming that they practice violence against Palestinians, while the occupation government and its army are the ones protecting these settlers and practising systematic killing, torture, and arrest against Palestinians.
AOHR UK highlighted the fact that the governments of those countries, which support Israel, have imposed restriction on those standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people and reject the genocide, who have been subjected to campaigns of demonization and distortion on charges of anti-Semitism, and a number of academics, students and activists have also been arrested, while others have been dismissed from their universities or jobs in a manner that we only see in dictatorial regimes.
The normalizing countries, led by the UAE, have played a disgraceful and dangerous role in the continuation of the genocide, as they did not exert any pressure on the occupation government to stop the massacres, and continued to normalize it relations with it, while turning a blind eye to the ongoing Israeli genocide of the Palestinians.
In fact, when the Houthis attacked ships heading to Palestine, these countries established a land corridor to allow the transport of goods from the UAE through Saudi and Jordanian lands to the occupation.
AOHR UK stressed that the Palestinian people have paid a heavy price in one year, and a real danger has become a threat to their existence. Countries that support the rights of the Palestinian people need to unite their efforts and establish practical mechanisms to stop the genocide, and hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for their crimes by establishing a special court capable of prosecuting these crimes. These countries must also work to isolate Israel and strip it of its membership in the United Nations, turning it into a pariah entity.
