Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) sent letters to a number of states parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention, calling on them to join the case filed by the State of South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Preventing and imposing punishment for the crime of genocide is a collective responsibility on all countries of the world, especially since Israel continues, for the ninety-fifth day, to kill, displace, and starve civilians, destroy their homes, destroy hospitals, and leave thousands of sick and wounded to suffer a slow death, without ever being deterred.
AOHR UK pointed out in its messages that the genocide in the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for the ninety-fifth consecutive day, has brought the death toll to more than 23,100 citizens, including more than 10,000 children and more than 7,000 women, in addition to wounding at least 59,000 people, and the displacing more than 1,900,000 Palestinians, that is about 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip, which in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
The systematic targeting of the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, schools, residential areas, places of worship, markets, and camps, in addition to prohibiting the entry of humanitarian aid, and cutting off all basic means of life for the population, such as electricity, water, and medical supplies, clearly demonstrates a deliberate strategy to exterminate the whole population of the Gaza Strip.
The public hearings, which will take place on January 11 and 12, 2024, in the Grand Hall of the International Court of Justice, is a great opportunity for the international community to prove its commitment to the Genocide Convention.
AOHR UK called on all the countries of the world for their active participation and support, which could contribute significantly to the restoration of respect for the international humanitarian law, whose provisions have been completely violated and people have lost their belief in human rights conventions or the UN agencies’ abilities to implement them.
AOHR UK praised the courage of the State of South Africa, which took this long-awaited step that was supposed to be taken at the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, where the intentions of the occupation leaders and their determination to commit the crime of genocide were very clear.
It is worth noting that some Arab and Islamic countries, namely the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia prevented this step, which became clearly evident at the Riyadh summit held on November 11.
