NGO Action News – 11 July 2024

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United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

NGO Action News

11 July 2024

Middle East

• On 11 July, the Institute for Palestine Studies inaugurated the art exhibition “Gaza” in partnership with Dar El-Nimer Foundation for Arts and Culture in Beirut and in collaboration with the Palestinian Museum at IPS headquarters in Beirut. This exhibition features over 40 artists from Gaza, as well as artists who have depicted Gaza in their works.
• On 8 July, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights published the article “Report on Israel’s Crimes and Violations of Palestinians’ Rights in the West Bank in June 2024”. The document highlights a number of monitored and documented crimes and violations allegedly committed by Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers against Palestinians, including killings, demolition of private properties, land confiscation and detention of civilians.
• On 8 July, Al Mezan issued a press release to mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the 2014 Israeli military offensive against Gaza, also known by the code name ‘Operation Protective Edge’. The NGO stated that there has been a notable absence of accountability despite an abundance of reports from Palestinian and other local and international human rights organizations, alongside the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry, which have extensively documented clear violations of international law by Israeli forces during the operation.
• On 7 July, Yesh Din and ACRI informed that the two organizations had sent legal correspondence to the Israeli Minister of Defense demanding that it cancels the order to appoint a civilian as deputy head of the Civil Administration, and to cancel the powers delegated to him. According to the NGOs, the order and letter of appointment make it possible to transfer administrative powers, held by the head of the Civil Administration, to the civilian deputy, who is subordinate to the Settlement Administration and not to the military echelon. The correspondence stated that the decree and letter of appointment of the deputy for civil affairs amounted in legal terms to annexation of occupied territory.
• On 7 July, Peace Now informed that less than two weeks after the Israeli cabinet’s decision to establish five new settlements in the OPT, the Commander of the Central Command signed an order designating the jurisdictional area of the new settlement “Nahal Heletz,” planned in the Bethlehem area. According to the NGO, the establishment of the settlement aimed to sever the connection to Bethlehem for approximately 25,000 Palestinians, who reside in the villages west of the Palestinian city, turning them into an enclave within Israeli-controlled territory and thereby preventing the possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state.
• On 7 July, Addameer published the report “Enforced Disappearance in the Palestinian Context”. The NGO argued that 7 October 2023 marked a turning point in the type of the arrests carried out by the Israeli army against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Addameer informed that some of the Gazan detainees spoke upon their release to Palestinian media about the conditions of the Israeli military detention camps and the circumstances they endured, which, they argued, amounted to torture.
• On 2 July, Physicians for Human Rights hosted the webinar “Sde Teiman and Beyond – a Dive into Israel’s Detention of Palestinians in the Shadow of War”. As dozens of incarcerated Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank have died in Israeli detention centers, speakers discussed how hundreds more have suffered medical neglect, and many have been subjected to abuse and torture at the Sde Teiman Israeli military base and other facilities.

Asia and Europe

• On 8 July, Diakonia published the report “Responsibility Under International Law for Settler Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. The publication concluded that Israel was bearing international responsibility for the breach of several of its positive and negative obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law in relation to acts of settler violence. The publication also considers a potential individual liability under international criminal law for persons implicated in incidents of settler violence.
• On 8 July, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) published an update on the situation in Gaza, including testimonies from NRC’s field staff. The report highlighted that, following the Israeli military’s relocation orders on 1 July, around 250,000 civilians were reported to have fled Khan Younis, mainly to overcrowded western areas and Deir al-Balah. These orders lacked assurances of safety, adequate accommodation, or return once hostilities end for those forced to relocate.
• On 3 July, the Palestinian Return Centre held the panel discussion “Recognising Palestine: What’s Next for Ireland, Spain, and Norway”. Experts and activists from various backgrounds discussed the recent decisions by these countries to recognize Palestine as a State, the implications of these recognitions, the responsibilities they entail, and the urgent need for further action from these governments.

North America

• On 7 July, Friends Of Sabeel North America published a discussion between Jonathan Kuttab, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of Al Haq, and Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist and media activist. The two speakers discussed the current situation faced by Palestinians in the OPT and beyond, amid a war in Gaza, escalating violence by Israeli settlers, home demolitions and land confiscation.

United Nations

• On 10 July, OCHA published a “Gaza Humanitarian Response Update” covering the period 24 June-7 July 2024. The report highlighted the humanitarian partners’ response and challenges for each Cluster and select Technical Working Groups operating in the OPT, including on health, protection and food security.
• On 9 July, a group of UN human rights experts, including several UN Special Rapporteurs, issued a press statement to declare that famine had spread throughout the Gaza Strip. They stated that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people was a form of genocidal violence and had resulted in famine across all of Gaza. They called upon the international community to prioritise the delivery of humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel’s siege, and establish a ceasefire.
• On 3-5 July, the Bureau of the UN Committee for Palestinian Rights visited Indonesia to hold consultations on the Palestinian question with the Government, parliament, civil society, think tanks, and business community. Among other meetings, the delegation met Indonesia’s Vice President Ma’ruf Amin and commended Indonesia’s commitment and dedication to the Palestinian people’s quest for sovereignty and consistent support for the Committee’s mandate.