Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stated that international humanitarian law, which is intended to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure during armed conflict, has become a relic of the past. Its principles have been completely dismantled through widespread killing, forced displacement, starvation, and destruction in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as part of a systematic and ongoing genocide carried out by the Israeli occupation in full view of the international community.
AOHR UK added that the Israeli occupation, backed by the United States, continues to escalate its crimes on a daily basis, transforming the Gaza Strip into a scene of death and devastation. On the night before, Israeli forces targeted the emergency and reception building at Al-Ahli Arab Baptis Hospital, destroying it completely and rendering the hospital entirely out of service. This act has deprived thousands of people of the already limited services provided to the sick and wounded, especially amid a severe shortage of medical supplies and medicines caused by the occupation’s intensified blockade.
AOHR UK pointed out that the scenes of patients and wounded individuals fleeing on hospital beds with their relatives in a desperate attempt to survive reflect the bleak reality facing victims. This horrific scene has been repeated for 18 consecutive months, while the international community remains silent and paralysed. No single decision-maker has taken a firm and decisive position to say “enough” and bring an end to this massacre.
AOHR UK stressed that the destruction and decommissioning of Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital raises the number of hospitals destroyed by the occupation in the Gaza Strip to 36 – an unprecedented figure in any modern war. This, the organisation stressed, reflects the total disregard of Israeli leaders for calls to protect hospitals and civilian infrastructure, and confirms the urgent need for a global moral awakening to restore the authority of international law and protect what remains of the Gaza Strip.
AOHR UK emphasised that the ongoing state of impunity, the failure to take any practical measures to deter the Israeli government, and the insistence of some Arab countries – led by the United Arab Emirates – on deepening normalisation with the occupation and dealing with it as if it were a state that respects the United Nations Charter and the rules of international law, have all served as a green light for the continuation of the genocide that began on 7 October 2023.
AOHR UK called on the international community to revise its approach towards the occupation, starting with the expulsion of Israel from all United Nations institutions, and to take serious and immediate steps to halt the genocide. The ongoing killing of civilians constitutes a permanent stain on the conscience of humanity and can no longer be tolerated.
AOHR UK further called on the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act decisively to deter the Israeli government, and to implement practical measures to support the population, including sending aid convoys to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. The organisation further called for the criminalisation of member states that insist on maintaining normalised relations with the occupation, and for their memberships to be revoked.
