The Doha-based Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRI) Wednesday held an emergency meeting virtually to highlight the events transpiring in Palestine and put the member institutions in the spotlight, co-ordinate efforts for the joint human rights action to halt the violations perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against the international humanitarian law, as well as hold it to account for its crimes.
HE the Secretary-General of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), Sultan bin Hassan al-Jamali, said the emergency meeting comes due to the circumstances Palestine is currently going through, which include a dangerous attack and a new level of Israeli criminal acts, underscoring the significance of cooperation among ANNHRI members in countering the Israeli violations and hold the occupation accountable for its perpetrated crimes and shattering its plans for settling the Palestinian cause.
In remarks before the meeting, al-Jamali added that ANNHRI has, so far, warned in a statement issued concerning the current circumstances, from a humanitarian disaster in Gaza Strip and denounced the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian civilians in Gaza strip, that ranged from shelling and killing operations to destruction of homes, residential towers and civic institutions, as well as preventing access of fuel and commodities and cutting off power from Gaza in light of the continuation of the siege imposed on the strip for more than 17 years.
ANNHRI also warned against the Israeli occupation's exploiting some pro-Israeli statements to commit further massacres against civilians in Gaza Strip, in addition to carrying out large-scale forced evictions of population.
Commissioner-General of the Independent Human Rights Commission in Palestine, Issam al-Arouri, underlined that the Israeli military aggression on Palestinians, along with the unprecedented incitement statements indicate that the Israeli occupation is intended to commit war crimes and forced evictions of Palestinian people in Gaza Strip with the objective of altering the landmarks of Gaza, West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem, as per remarks of Israeli officials.
Speaking to the meeting, Al-Arouri said the occupation government had distributed over 27,000 weapons to settlers during the past three days, portending further escalation of the occupation's crimes against Palestinian people, outlining that what is happening in the Palestinian territories precipitates an urgent international action to stop the Israeli aggression and exercise pressure on the occupation state to halt the military assault.
Among those who spoke before the meeting was Deputy Commissioner-General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine in Gaza, Amjad Al Shawa, who highlighted the unabated massacres perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in Gaza strip, along with shelling that primarily targets mosques, universities, schools, and other facilities, outlining that the situation in the strip reached advanced phases of disaster.
He confirmed that there are no secure places in Gaza since all residential buildings were entirely wiped out with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians, adding that power generation plants have been decommissioned with numerous medical institutions being off-grid and shortage of medical essentials, as these facilities have already been facing shortage of medical essential before the war.
Al Shawa indicated that the Palestinian people are braced for new setback, considering the increasing number of martyrs, and wounded considering support from some international parties. He called for stopping the Israeli aggression and providing protection for the Palestinian people, opening urgent humanitarian corridors to bring food and medicines, as well as exposing the Israeli practices and crimes globally.
The meeting brought together all national human rights institutions, members of ANNHRI in 17 Arab nations. The conferees recommended for directing a message to the Arab League requesting it to lay out political positions in pursuit of stopping the eviction of Palestinians outside Palestine and imposing humanitarian and relief efforts through the Arab Republic of Egypt for Gaza strip, as well as supporting Egypt to provide aid at the political and physical levels to ensure non-deterioration of the situation in Gaza.
They also recommended for sending urgent messages to the European countries concerning the humanitarian situation in Palestine to convene a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss the situation and issue a statement that includes calls for the occupation authorities to uphold rights of Palestinians within the International humanitarian law (IHL).
