In light of the Israeli occupation authorities’ continued attacks on Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, especially the violation of their right to freedom of movement and their right to life and physical safety, the Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat” strongly condemns the actions of the settlers and the occupation army that amount to war crimes, as the West Bank has witnessed a significant increase in killings, abuse and torture, since the beginning of the year.

Taking advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the military aggression against the Gaza Strip, Israeli settlers have been intensifying their attacks in the West Bank, making external roads and areas adjacent and close to the settlements traps for endangering and abusing Palestinians.

These attacks carried by settlers under the protection of the occupation army have greatly hindered the right to freedom of movement of Palestinian citizens. Since October 7th, Israel has imposed severe restrictions on freedom of movement to and from the West Bank, completely isolating it from the 1948 areas and from Eastern Jerusalem. Israel has closed the Karama crossing and reduced its working hours in several instances, completely preventing the movement of Palestinians. It has also imposed a curfew on residents of (H2) areas in the city of Hebron as collective punishment, and set up hundreds of permanent and flying military checkpoints with the aim of isolating and separating cities, villages and camps in the West Bank, separating the north of the West Bank from its south, and turning them into isolated population islands, with the aim of protecting the settlers and facilitating their movement on the main roads.

In the same context, the Bedouin and pastoral population groups have been displaced towards areas classified as “A”, and farmers have been from reaching their lands and agricultural fields, as citizens lost more than 50% of this year’s olive season harvest. In some areas, such as the village of Kafr Qaddum, citizens were unable to harvest olives from approximately (10,000) trees. In other areas, citizens were not completely able to reach the olive fields adjacent to the settlements or located behind the annexation and apartheid wall.

Through these policies, the occupying state is working to create a new demographic and geographic reality in favor of the settlers, aiming to impose forced displacement on the Palestinians in order to expel them from their lands, in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. (2334), which states that Israeli settlements constitute a “flagrant violation of international law.” “, and that all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, must “stop immediately and completely.”

​Israel continues its killing of Palestinians. Since the beginning of this year up until today, the number of martyrs in the West Bank has reached (506), including (262) after October 7th, and the last of them is the martyr Ahmed Assi, who was martyred by settlers’ bullets on December 2^nd, 2023 in Qarawat Bani Hassan. The occupation army has also intensified its daily incursions into villages, cities and camps and escalated the repressive arrest campaigns that have affected more than 3,500 citizens who are subjected to abuse and torture during detention and inside prisons.

Israel is working to impose and maintain its system of apartheid, and settlers are key players in achieving this. Israel has armed settlers heavily without restrictions, in full view of the world, providing them with the tools to commit crimes against Palestinian civilians and their properties, while also granting them support and protection. This is all done in an attempt to destroy the lives of Palestinians on all aspects, by deliberately subjecting them to inhumane living conditions that violate their rights. All of these practices constitute crimes that amount to forced displacement.

Violating and restricting the right to freedom of movement has a wide and significant negative impact on other rights of Palestinians, most notably the right to life, the right to health care, the right to education, the right to work, social communication, and living in dignity. Settler attacks also affect Palestinian civilians and their property. Cutting off roads has caused huge losses to the Palestinian economy, as many economic establishments were forced to close completely or partially, resulting in hundreds losing their sources of livelihood. The town of Huwwara is considered a shining example of these violations.

The continuation of these actions by the settlers and the occupation army, which have increased in frequency after the seventh of October, worsens the situation and threatens a widespread explosion in the West Bank. Therefore, the Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat” calls on the international community and countries that have condemned the crimes of the settlers, to intervene to stop these violations and by doing more than just denouncing them, but rather holding the occupying power fully responsible for its actions and the actions of its citizens (the settlers), which amount to war crimes. This requires immediately launching an international criminal investigation into the officials of the occupying state committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and taking concrete steps in this regard to confront the settlement policy and stop these attacks once and for all.

Call on international organizations, legal associations, and bar associations to take action and intervene to halt war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinian detainees and prisoners by the Israeli occupation authorities

In the context of the comprehensive aggression and the policy of reprisal against the Palestinian people, Israeli launched an unprecedented armed aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip. The crimes and effects of this aggression are becoming increasingly apparent, observed daily by the global humanitarian and civilized world. The Israeli occupier has spared no criminal actions under international humanitarian law, committing them on the levels of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even the crime of genocide. This has resulted in the loss of over 13,000 Palestinian civilians, including approximately 5,500 children. Still, 2,500 children remain missing, along with more than 3,500 women. Additionally, more than thirty thousand have been injured, and thousands are missing under the rubble, all due to the scorched-earth policy, widespread destruction of cities and residential areas, and attacks on all aspects of life, including infrastructure, communication networks, electricity, as well as preventing the entry of medical resources and food aid. This is in addition to the targeting of medical transportation and protected properties such as places of worship, universities, schools, and hospitals, with more than two-thirds of them taken out of service and transformed into military bases for the Israeli occupying army.

In a related context to the occupier’s crimes, Israeli occupation forces have escalated their continuous violations against Palestinian detainees in the occupation’s prisons. This is evident through the suspension and disregard of the rights and guarantees granted to them under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. As systematic arrest campaigns targeting all segments of Palestinian society intensified, the goal was to terrorize Palestinians and impact their peaceful and struggle voices, expressing their rejection of the war crimes committed against their people. This is also a response to their refusal and confrontation of the campaigns of terrorism, repression, and torture inflicted upon their cities in the West Bank, which have become enclaves, ghettos and barracks exposing the ugly reality of the occupation state and its systematic policy of apartheid.

In light of the ongoing monitoring by institutions concerned with prisoners and detainees[1], and in response to the current situation imposed by the aggression, including the accompanying arrest campaigns and measures targeting prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons, (3200) cases of arrest have been documented in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, from October 7th to mid-November. Among those arrested are more than (100) women, and the number of child cases recorded from the beginning of October until the end of the month is (145).

While accurate data on detainees from Gaza is not available, as the Israeli occupation refused to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with clear information on the numbers, identities, places of detention, and health conditions of detainees from Gaza, the most notable shift in prisoner data is the significant escalation in the crime of administrative detention. During the mentioned period, the Israeli occupation issued (1464) administrative detention orders. According to the data, the number of prisoners in occupation prisons reached more than (7000) by mid-November, including about (80) female prisoners. The number of detained children exceeded 250, and the number of administrative detainees (detainees without charges) reached (2200). The occupation also categorized (105) detainees from Gaza as (unlawful combatants).

Palestinian prisoners and detainees’ institutions have documented dozens of preliminary testimonies of detainees who were released after a short period of detention. Similarly, families of detainees targeted during arrest campaigns after October 7^th have provided evidence of the scale of the systematic policies of tormenting Palestinians, violating their dignity and humanity, and infringing upon their right to life. They have been subjected to torture and various forms of assaults, violations, and systematic crimes, reaching the point of direct threats to shoot them, brutal beatings, field interrogations, threats of rape, the use of police dogs, and the use of civilians as human shields. These atrocities also include forced nudity, as well as the deliberate withholding of medical treatment for sick detainees, leaving them without any healthcare.

As part of these crimes, Palestinian institutions have observed the deliberate actions of Israeli soldiers recording videos of citizens being arrested. These videos capture the humiliation, degradation, and physical assault on individuals after they are stripped of their clothes. Occupation authorities have also used families and women as hostages to pressure family members to surrender to the occupier. Multiple cases of arrest and detention of women and children have been documented.

The institutions concerned with detainees and prisoners have documented a significant escalation in systematic retaliatory measures against prisoners, especially after the International Committee of the Red Cross ceased its work in visiting Israeli detention facilities and prevented Palestinian families from visiting their imprisoned relatives. The administration of Israeli occupation prisons has initiated collective retaliatory measures against detainees, including extensive raids on prisoner sections and cells. Detainees have been placed in collective and intensified isolation, with all prisoner rooms converted into cells after being stripped of their belongings. The administration of Israeli occupation prisons has confiscated all simple electronics used by detainees to meet their basic needs. Additionally, widespread assaults on detainees have been carried out, involving brutal beatings using sticks and clubs, resulting in injuries to dozens of detainees who were then deliberately left without medical treatment.

These measures have also affected the essential elements of life (food, water, medication, and electricity). Electricity has been cut off from prisoner sections, and the quantity and availability of water have been reduced, particularly impacting sick prisoners. The policies of deprivation of necessary medical treatment have been intensified, including the suspension of prisoner transfers to prison clinics and hospitals. Additionally, a hunger process has been implemented following the closure of the canteen, the confiscation of remaining food supplies (such as canned goods), and the reduction of meals to two per day. Collective transfers of prisoners have been carried out, and many have been isolated individually after being subjected to brutal beatings.

Perhaps the most dangerous practices and violations have been manifested in the deliberate assassination operations targeting detainees with premeditation. Six detainees were martyred after October 7^th, within less than a month, as a result of torture in the occupation’s prisons. Dozens of detainees have also been injured with fractures and bruises all over their bodies due to brutal beatings, left without medical treatment. In addition, occupation authorities have killed dozens of released prisoners, some of whom were forcibly deported to Gaza in recent years, in extrajudicial executions as part of genocidal operations.

The Knesset issued a law allowing the prison administration not to adhere to the prescribed living space for each prisoner in order to generalize the systematic practices and violations against detainees. This is based on the conditions of the cells and their spaces, allowing for the detention of prisoners without a bed in cases where providing a bed is not feasible. This has resulted in significant overcrowding in the cells, with prisoners sleeping on the floor. Similarly, another military order, numbered (2148), extended the duration of issuing detention orders from 72 hours to 6 days. It also extended the period of postponement for the release of administrative detainees from 72 hours to 6 days. The judicial review of administrative detention orders was also extended from 8 days to 12 days. This arbitrary detention of Palestinian prisoners for extended periods without trial or charges provides the regional commander with a longer period to issue detention orders for a greater number of prisoners. These prolonged durations provide an opportunity for the prison administration to further oppress the prisoners and hinder their access to the minimum of their rights.

On October 8, 2023, an order for the imprisonment of ‘unlawful combatants’ (interim order) was issued by the Israeli authorities, specifying the detention location for prisoners from Gaza in the ‘Yemen Field’ camp near Beersheba, considering them ‘unlawful combatants’ based on the Israeli Unlawful Combatants Law issued in 2002. On October 13, 2023, an amendment to the Unlawful Combatants Law was issued under the title “Final Dates for Dealing with Unlawful Combatants During War or Military Operations for the Year 2023.” This amendment replaces the detention order issuance period from 7 days to 21 days, extends the judicial review period from 14 days to 30 days, allows lawyer visits within 21 days before the judicial review instead of 7 days, and prohibits meeting with a lawyer by the detainee for 28 days from the date of arrest instead of 10 days.

Israel continues to violate the guarantees of a fair trial and the right of prisoners to obtain legal consultation through new amendments to the Detention Law of 1996. This law applies to Palestinians in the occupied territories since 1948, including residents of the Gaza Strip. The amendments grant the investigating authority the right to postpone the lawyer’s meeting for up to 15 days. The head of the investigation unit can further extend the prohibition by an additional 15 days, not exceeding a total of 30 days. The Chief Justice or Deputy Chief Justice of the Central Court can extend the prohibition for up to 20 days in one instance, with a total prohibition period not exceeding 90 days. This means that detainees can be prevented from meeting their lawyers for a total of 90 days. Additionally, there are restrictions imposed on lawyers, compromising their safety and limiting their work in military courts. The procedures for prison visits have also been tightened to prevent lawyers from meeting with prisoners and documenting the abuses they endure.

Israel continues to issue arbitrary amendments that violate the rights and fundamental freedoms of Palestinian citizens regarding the ‘Intensification of Dealing with Incitement Violations and Support for Hostile Organizations (Interim Instructions).’ The amendment increased the penalty for ‘incitement’ and supporting ‘hostile organizations’ mentioned in the order to a minimum of two years imprisonment. While the occupying state’s adoption of a policy of condemnation on charges of incitement is not new, the tightening of penalties during a ‘state of war’ aims to intimidate Palestinians and suppress any expressions of support for the Palestinian factions mentioned in the order.

In light of the grave practices and violations against Palestinian detainees, the undersigned institutions believe that these practices, violations, and the suffering of the Palestinian people from the occupier’s crimes would not have occurred without some Western countries political and military support for Israel. In addition to the silence and complicity of the international community, including the Security Council and the parties to the Fourth Geneva Conventions, regarding their legal responsibilities in holding the occupier accountable and intervening to compel respect for the rights of civilian populations, including detainees, this has emboldened the occupier to persist in these violations, disregarding international norms and conventions.

We emphasize that international human rights law and international humanitarian law embody noble principles and values to enhance guarantees and human rights in armed conflicts and wars of liberation, ensuring the respect for human dignity and human rights, yet the dilemma is not in these laws that we respect, seek to reinforce, believe in, and apply. The dilemma lies in the politicization of the international community and the double standards it applies, where it remains silent and ignores its responsibility to enforce these laws for the benefit of the Palestinian people while rushing to impose respect for and utilize all available mechanisms in other conflicts that do not reach the level of atrocities faced by the Palestinians.

The undersigned institutions in this appeal, in the face of the escalating pace of crimes and violations by the occupier against Palestinian detainees and prisoners, warn of the consequences of international silence and avoiding effective and serious intervention to confront them. We call for:

1- The Human Rights Council shall form an international investigation committee into Israeli crimes against detainees, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and denial of their rights to humane treatment. The findings shall be referred to the UN Security Council and relevant international bodies to ensure that Israel is held accountable for these crimes and violations.

2- Calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross, as the guardian of international humanitarian law, to issue a clear and public stance on war crimes committed against Palestinian detainees and to pressure the Israeli authorities to respect the committee’s role and adhere to international conventions regarding prisoners.

3- Urging the International Committee of the Red Cross to convene an emergency conference with the states parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to discuss ways to ensure that these states implement and respect the provisions of the Convention regarding the guarantees and rights of Palestinian detainees. They shall also be held accountable for any violations or hindrance to its implementation by the Israeli occupation authorities.

4- Human rights organizations and bar associations worldwide shall bear legal responsibilities to confront Israeli violations and systematic practices against Palestinian detainees, including torture, degrading treatment, and denial of their guarantees for a fair trial. This shall be achieved by activating accountability, prosecution, and trial of the perpetrators of these crimes before their respective national courts.

5- Urging the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, along with the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to address the violations and crimes committed against Palestinian detainees and those arbitrarily detained. They shall use all available mechanisms and powers to halt the deliberate killing and torture inflicted upon the detainees.

6- Calling upon the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions to take action regarding extrajudicial execution cases or arbitrary summary procedures related to field executions committed by the occupation forces. These acts are considered a violation of the right to life and deliberate killing.

The undersigned associations:

• The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs
• Palestinian bar association
• Palestinian Prisoner’s Society
• Center for Defense of Liberties &Civil Rights “Hurryyat”
• Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Associations
• Al-Haq organization
• Defense for Children DCI
• The high Committee of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs
• The Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Al-Barghouti.

[1] The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Addameer, Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Jerusalem, and Palestinian Bar Association

Introduction

Since the beginning of the ongoing war on Gaza Strip, the lives of civilians have been clearly targeted by continued bombings and airstrikes launched by the Israeli war machine on Gaza Strip. The power of the bombs that have been thrown on Gaza are estimated to be stronger than the nuclear bomb that hit Hiroshima in WW2. The war on Gaza Strip has been accompanied by numerous assaults and violations against Gazan workers in the green line and considered them “illegal workers”, which has caused them great tragedy. To this day, there aren’t any accurate numbers or statistics on such attacks, as they were extorted by their Israeli employers and were subject to grave violations by the occupation authorities. Such violations included transferring them back to Gaza Strip without any guarantees of protection. Many workers remain to be at risk inside the green line and in the West Bank, particularly in light of the PA’s weak sense of legal and social responsibility towards them. Thousands of workers’ fate remains to be unknown, since many of them are missing or are still inside the green line with nowhere safe to go.

First: The Tragedy of Gazan Workers in Light of the so –called “Illegal Workers” Status

Around (17,000) Gazan workers who were in the green line when the Israeli government declared war on the Palestinian people are undergoing compound suffering, as they are disconnected from their families and deprived human rights. This situation was accompanied by a decision from the occupation’s Civil Administration Liaison to cancel all work permits granted to these workers. Accordingly, any of these workers that are in Israel or the West Bank now have an “illegal” status, subjecting them to arrest and abuse. At the same time, they are unable to return to their homes because all border crossings to Gaza have been closed by the Israeli authorities. These new circumstances have transformed the legal status of these workers into illegal residents in the West Bank and they remain at risk of being arrested by the occupation authorities. In fact, many of them have been arrested in Hebron and on the way between the governorates of Ramallah and Jericho, which exacerbates their suffering while their families are being displaced and killed on a daily basis. Some of these workers have in fact lost family members to the bombardment and war machine.

Second: Gazan Workers – Numbers and Statistics

According to official numbers, the number of Palestinian workers from Gaza Strip who have obtained work permits to work in the green line in 2023 is around (18500) workers[1], (1500) of whom are workers working in Gaza envelope who travel back and forth from Gaza Strip on a daily basis. According to the statement of some of their colleagues, these workers have not gone to work on 7 October because it was Sabbath[2]. The larger number of workers, which is estimated at (17,000) normally sleep at their work places due to the difficulty in moving back and forth through Beit Hanoun Crossing “Erez”. This large number of workers have found themselves subject to different acts of violence and revenge on the morning of 7 October by their employers, Israeli police and military. Based on unofficial information, around (4000) workers have been arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities from different areas in the green line.

The number of Gazan workers received in the West Bank reached (6200) workers as of 7/11/2023 based on official estimates[3]. These workers are distributed in different governorates in the West Bank, 1800 in Jericho, 970 in Qalqilia, 1162 in Ramallah, 550 in Nablus, 386 in Hebron, 282 in Toubas, 350 in Jenin, 260 in Jerusalem, 156 in Bethlehem, 147 in Tulkarm, and 67 in Salfit. They were received and registered in many centers throughout the West Bank.

Third: the Exploitation, Extortion and Murder Threats by Employers

Israeli employers have taken the events of the war declared by the Israeli occupation government against Gaza Strip as an incentive to intimidate and torment their Gazan workers. Some workers have reported that they have been subject to physical assault and murder threats by their employers. They have also been extorted, as their employers refused to pay their wages. This resulted in them seeking a safe haven, and many of them headed towards border crossings to the West Bank in the governorates of Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilia and Hebron. Others were arrested by the occupation authorities while attempting to enter the West Bank. CSOs CBOs and official bodies organized the reception of those who were able to enter the West Bank.

Fourth: Violations Faced by Gazan Workers from the Occupation Authorities

Workers have suffered different forms of torture, abuse and being photographed in humiliating circumstances. Videos have shown Palestinian workers stripped completely naked. These videos have been circulated on Israeli social media pages by Israeli soldiers in order to show off and feed the rapidly growing vindictive tendencies[4]. This information has also been documented through the statements of some workers who have later been released from Ofer detention center in Ramallah. The occupation authorities released around 3200 workers who were detained at Ofer and Anata detention centers and returned them to Gaza Strip on 4/11/2023[5]. One of these workers was martyred due to the beatings he received while crossing Karm Abu Salem border crossing. There is no information on the number of workers that the occupation authorities still detains to this date, particularly since it was reported that many workers were arrested, the latest of whom were 70 arrested from Barta’a town behind the wall on 12/11/2023. There is also no information on around 250 workers who were reported missing by their colleagues to Palestinian human rights organizations. Meanwhile, there are daily requests from the families of workers in Gaza Strip through the media and social media asking for information on the missing workers, however, the Israeli government refused to reveal any information on them to Israeli human rights organizations. The Israeli Center for the Defene of the Individual “Hamoked” submitted an appeal to the Israeli High Court on this matter.

Fifth: Transfer in the Line of Fire and Lack of Legal Guarantees for Protection

On 10/11/2023, 970 workers were transferred to Gaza Strip through coordination between the Palestinian Civil Affairs and the Israeli DCO. The Ministry of Labor covered the registration process of workers wishing to return to Gaza Strip. We (Bisan Center and Hurryyat Center) stressed at the time that as a humanitarian step, their transfer should not be approved in light of the harsh and unsafe circumstances in Gaza Strip due to the continued Israeli aggression, as well as due to the lack of any international body to ensure their safe transfer from the West Bank to their homes in Gaza Strip.

Based on the statements of some workers who were contacted after arriving to Gaza Strip, the busses that transferred them from Jericho entered an Israeli military post near Jericho. They were taken down from the busses and searched under humiliating circumstances. Then their hands were tied behind their backs using plastic bindings, and their legs were tied together using the same bindings. Their heads were covered using a black cover and each two workers were tied together from the legs. They were then taken to military transport vehicles that are used to transport detainees and fit 35 people with the company of five soldiers in each vehicle. They remained under these circumstances for seven hours until they arrived at Karm Abu Salem crossing without allowing them a drink of water or to relieve themselves. All their clothing and belongings were confiscated with the exception of their mobile phones. Workers lost all their clothes, personal belongings and any food they have purchased for their families. Some of them even stated that they lost some cash because of this prohibition, the confiscation of their belongings and purchased items or because they placed their cash in their clothes bags that were confiscated, which they were not allowed to access by the occupation authorities.

The number of workers transferred to Gaza strip increased, as a second batch of workers estimated at (1400) were transferred on 15/11/2023 through coordination between official Palestinian and Israeli bodies under the same circumstances of those transferred in the first batch. The workers who arrived to Gaza Strip affirmed that they have been subjected to the same humiliating procedures as those transferred on 5/11/2023[6]. Some added that the occupation authorities arrested 23 workers while they were at the military post near Jericho and took them to places unknown. Their fate is yet to be known. According to the statements of some women, a total of six women who were either receiving treatment or accompanying patients at West Bank and Jerusalem hospitals were also transferred, and were subjected to the same humiliating procedures in their return to Gaza Strip. As such, the total number of workers transferred back to Gaza Strip through coordination between the Palestinian and Israeli sides amounted to 2500 workers.

Sixth: Legal and Social Protection for Gazan Workers

The Palestinian Authority has a legal responsibility to provide all means of a dignified life to Palestinian workers from Gaza Strip, as they are citizens who enjoy full social and economic rights. It is the PA’s responsibility to ensure their safety and protect their lives, and to ensure they are not driven to return to Gaza Strip and face the risks that lie there or that they are temporarily hosted without legal and social protection. Although many workers have demanded to return to their families, and their concern and need to be with their families in the severely dangerous circumstances in Gaza Strip is understandable, this does not constitute an excuse to revoke their right to protection from danger and their right to legal protection. Accordingly, they must not be endangered by directly coordinating with the Israeli occupation authorities without the involvement of international bodies such as ICRC, who in turn refused to assume such a responsibility through an official announcement on their Facebook page on 9/11/2023. The ICRC have denied having any role in the transfer of workers from the West Bank to Gaza Strip.

Seventh: What the Future Holds

In light of the continued arrival of Gazan workers of the 1948 occupied territories to the West Bank, and the return of (5700) workers to Gaza Strip, including (3200) who were detained by the occupation authorities and later released and returned to Gaza Strip and the (2500) who were returned through coordination between the Palestinian Liaison Office and the Israeli DCO, there is no information on whether they have been reunited with their families or not, or if they have been subject to the danger that is overwhelming Gaza Strip. The number of workers remaining in the West Bank is 4000 in addition to 250 workers reported missing. As such, the total number of workers whose fate is known is around (10000) out of a total of (17000), whereas the fate of (7000) workers remains to be known which calls for collective efforts from all stakeholders to pressure the Israeli authorities to reveal their fate.

We urgently call on all official and relevant bodies to:

First: mobilize third parties in Geneva Conventions and hold them responsible, and put pressure on the occupation authorities to provide protection to Gazan workers who are still in their territories, as well as reveal the fate of the missing workers and ensure their safe return.

Second: the International Labor Organization must take urgent measures to ensure the provision of all necessities for a dignified life for workers who have lost their jobs, and pressure the Israeli side to ensure they received their due wages from their employers.

Third: ICRC must assume its responsibilities in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention and ensure the safe return of worker to Gaza Strip.

Fourth: the PA must provide suitable locations to host workers and provide all the required needs for a decent living, as well as provide medical services, treatment and basic care and relief until the attack on Gaza Strip is halted. Workers must have the right to personal self-determination in deciding when to return when circumstances are suitable, including ensuring their physical safety and dignity.

END

[1] The source, Minister of Labor, meeting with representatives from Hurryyat and Bisan on 7/11/2023, Ministry of Labor Headquarters.

[2] Statements of workers to the researchers of Bisan and Hurryyat.

[3] The source, Minister of Labor, meeting with representatives from Hurryyat and Bisan on 7/11/2023, Ministry of Labor Headquarters.

[4] https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2023/10/31/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%B9-%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%82

[5] According to media and unofficial sources in Gaza Strip.

[6] Statements of workers randomly contacted by the researchers of Bisan Center and Hurryyat

In a letter sent to many international civil and official bodies and organizations, the Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat” called on the international community to take urgent action to stop the war of genocide against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to assume his full responsibilities and play an effective role in stopping the aggression and implementing United Nations resolutions involving the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and establishing their independent state.

It stated: “Israel”, the occupying state, continues its large-scale aggression against the occupied Gaza Strip, systematically and deliberately targeting civilians by bombing buildings and residential neighborhoods without warning and not providing the necessary materials for human survival, with the aim of displacing hundreds of thousands of residents. This aggression comes in alignment with statements issued by Israel’s political and military leadership; most notably what was issued by the Israeli Minister of War (Yoav Gallant), who described Palestinians of the Gaza Strip as “human animals”, and threatened to destroy the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu imposed collective sanctions on the Gaza Strip by cutting off water, electricity, and fuel, in addition to direct targeting of ambulance crews and journalists. In a precedent not witnessed in modern history, the occupying state requests the complete evacuation of hospitals of their sick and injured residents, amidst bombardment and destruction, while preventing the entrance of humanitarian relief supplies to alleviate the suffering of the population. This organized aggression resulted in serious atrocities that fall within international law and the Statute of International Criminal Courts’ classifications of war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide.

Statistics issued by multiple authorities indicate that as of Monday morning October 16th, 2023, (2,726) Palestinians in Gaza were martyred and more than (10,800) were injured, a third of whom were children. Reports also point to the destruction of residential buildings and the displacement of more than a million people from their homes, forcing them to seek refuge in shelters in UNRWA schools and other public facilities or out on the streets in very harsh conditions that constitute a stark example of human suffering.

Israel continues to implement collective punishment against Palestinians and escalates its crimes, which constitutes a blatant violation of the principles and provisions of international humanitarian law, which imposes a series of obligations on the occupying state towards the residents of the occupied territory as “protected persons.” It does so with confidence in full impunity, in light of the international community’s inaction, and the political, diplomatic and military support it receives form powerful countries such as the United States, which adopt double standard, but also use reverse logic when considering the Israeli state which is practicing the aggression as exercising its right to legitimate self-defense, while describing the occupied Palestinians facing the aggression, as the aggressors. On the other hand, some countries have taken just stances for the Palestinian people based on International human rights law, International humanitarian law, and International Charter, but follow up and implementation of these statements is imperative to supporting the Palestinian cause.

Based on the above, the Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat” demands the following:

• Secretary-General of the United Nations’ condemnation of the Israeli aggression and an urgent response to stop the war of genocide and provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
• The call for an emergency meeting for States Parties to the Geneva Conventions to hold them accountable before their legal responsibilities stipulated in these Conventions and request that States not acting within these Conventions comply.
• International institutions and humanitarian bodies, including the World Health Organization and UNRWA, carry out their duties by operating relief convoys in compliance with their humanitarian missions, without waiting for permission from the occupation authorities or submitting to its threats.
• The prosecution of the perpetrators of serious crimes, whether political or military, before the International Criminal Court and all available judicial forums.
• Stopping the violations and attacks committed by occupation soldiers and settlers against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank.

Over the past 6 days, the Israeli Occupation Forces (“IOF”) have employed indiscriminate, excessive and disproportionate force in densely populated residential areas in the Gaza Strip, resulting in at least 1200 Palestinians killed and 5000 injured, as of 10:00 p.m., on 11 October 2023. Israel, the Occupying Power is continuing its 56-year illegal occupation and aggression on the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), imposing a settler colonial apartheid regime to both subjugate and force the transfer of the Palestinian population, having annexed Jerusalem and large swathes of the West Bank comprising ‘Area C’. In Gaza, Israel’s suffocating 16-year siege and closure of the territory, crippling the economy and infrastructure of the Gaza Strip has been condemned as collective punishment. Notwithstanding, on 9 October 2023, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Defense, declaring total warfare stated: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly”.

This decades long international armed conflict to colonise Palestine is clearly asymmetrical in that Israel’s military capabilities far exceed those of Hamas and other armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip. In particular, Israel is protected against Hamas’ rockets by the Iron Dome. The asymmetry is further exemplified in the alarming disparity in causalities over the decade between 2010 and 2019, where the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded 3,624 Palestinians and 203 Israelis killed, and 103,207 Palestinians and 4,642 Israelis injured.

The intention of Israel’s officials to continue to maximize the damage and casualties to Palestinians can be inferred from their statements: for instance, Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to reduce Gaza to “rubble”, while Maj. Gen. Ghassan, the Coordinator of the Government in the Territories (COGAT), announced Israel’s total blockade of the Gaza Strip stating “you wanted hell, you will get hell…no electricity, no water, just damage”.

Despite the gravity and enormity of the situation and Israel’s marked genocidal statements of intent, well implemented so far, as Israel turns back food trucks and cuts the water supply to Gaza, we  are alarmed at the one-sided rhetoric and double standard that we have seen among Western countries: supporting Israel and highlighting Israel’s casualties but omitting to mention the dire plight of Palestinian civilians, killed and maimed in Israel’s indiscriminate military reprisals.

Meanwhile on 9 October 2023, the US, Britain, Germany, Italy and France issued a Joint Statement publicly condemning the Hamas attacks and pledging to “ensure Israel is able to defend itself”, effectively granting Israel, the Occupying Power a carte blanche to use widescale aggressive force across the Gaza Strip, with half its 2.2 million population comprising of children.

Other alarming and unprecedented pledges followed. Denmark and Austria decided to suspend their aid to Palestine. Sweden and Germany are considering suspending their funding. In particular, the German Development Minister Svenja Schulze stated that these attacks on Israel mark a “terrible fracture” and that her government “will now review our entire engagement for the Palestinian territories”. Another German official asserted that the EU “must now say: we need a new start and we will no longer finance terrorists”. Similarly, the European Commission, a major donor for development aid, considered suspending its financial assistance for Palestine.

Astonishingly, almost none of these statements allude to Palestinians’ human rights and to norms of international law other than a far-reaching and preposterous extension of the right to self-defence beyond its legal boundaries. The aforementioned Joint Statement briefly indicates “the legitimate Palestinians’ aspirations” and the support for “equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike”. However, these considerations, from the perspective of these States, are clearly negated by deference to Israel, the Occupying power’s so-called security concerns, and complicity in maintaining and prolonging the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

This Joint Statement is flawed on two major levels. First, it completely ignores the root causes of the conflict. Hamas and other Palestinian resistance movements are the product of Israel’s aggressive occupation that started in 1967, in breach of the UN Charter, an unlawful use of force that continues today. These movements did not exist prior to that. All the more, Israel has de facto and de jure annexed the Palestinian territory, in violation of peremptory norms of international law, including the prohibition of the use of force and in denial of the right of the Palestinian people to exercise self-determination. Moreover, the Gaza Strip is densely populated by refugees who were in fact expelled from their homes by Israel forces in 1948 in what is commonly known as the Nakba (the catastrophe) and who have been denied their right of return as refugees ever since.

Second, presenting Israeli military attack as an exercise of its right to self-defence denies the reality: Israel is already occupying the Palestinian territory in the course of an ongoing international armed conflict. Israel is advancing its settler colonial apartheid regime in the OPT, attempting to forcibly transfer Palestinians from Gaza, including through coercive environments, in order to appropriate step by step more and more parts of historic Palestine. These acts breach jus cogens norms international law and may amount to war crimes of forcible transfer and the crimes against humanity of displacement, persecution and apartheid.

In light of the above, we urge Third States to cooperate towards ending the situation arising from Israel’s continued violation of peremptory norms of international law.^[1] The Third State’s obligations further include the obligation to refrain from assisting in maintaining such an illegal situation,^[2] which occurs at the moment when some of the States who took part in the joint statement are sending military equipment to Israel. States further have an obligation to cooperate to bring the illegal conduct to an end, rather than perpetuating and greenlighting protracted illegal occupation and aggressive force under the guise of “self-defence”.

Further, Third States may be providing military equipment for use in Israeli war crimes, including “wilful killings”,^[3] “wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body and health”,^[4] “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity, and carried out unlawfully and wantonly”^[5] and “intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival”.^[6] These crimes have already been established in some detail by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who opened an investigation on the basis of “significant evidence” of crimes committed by the Israeli forces and Israeli authorities therein.

Furthermore, the criminal acts committed by the IOF constitute prohibited collective punishment as they target Palestinian innocent civilians for prior acts attributed to Hamas. Wilful killings and collective punishment violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. By failing to stop the current attack against the Gaza Strip, Third States also violate their obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, and perpetuating an aggressive war, denying the Palestinian people their collective right to exercise external self-determination and independence from Israel’s occupation and settler colonial apartheid rule.

CS organizations:

^[1] Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, International Law Commission (2001), Article 41(1).

^[2] Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, International Law Commission (2001), Article 41(2).

^[3] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), Article 8(2)(a)(i).

^[4] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), Article 8(2)(a)(iii).

^[5] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), Article 8(2)(a)(iv).

^[6] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), Article 8(2)(b)(xxv).

Civil society organizations (CSOs) and different media and human rights associations followed, with great concern, the Council of Ministers’ move to ratify a bill to regulate the right of accessing information in a confidential manner, without allowing anyone other than ministers to review its provisions.

This draft law, whose copy was obtained by the civil society, violates the basic principles of the right to access information (which had been previously agreed upon socially and officially). The previous consensus included the establishment of a competent commission that is financially and administratively independent to monitor the government’s commitment to citizens’ right to access public information. However, the current draft of the said bill assigned the monitoring and follow-up authorities to a so-called ‘Information Department” falling under the Council of Ministers’ Secretary-General. Hence, this department’s powers came under the umbrella of the Secretary-General, who directly reports to the Council of Ministers, according to the organizational structure and Civil Service Law.

The provisions of the proposed bill contravene the basic principle of disclosing public information. Therefore, this bill violates international standards because it includes a number of “exceptions” to reject requests for accessing information. This is similar to what is seen in some non-democratic Arab regimes, which adopted Right to Obtain Information laws but were criticized by the international and local communities due to the “exceptions”. These exceptions are manipulated by governments to withhold some information that should not be hidden from the public.

The current version of this draft law, which was distributed to ministers prior to ratification, does not reflect a policy of governmental openness. This is seen despite the government’s pledge (on several local and international occasions) to follow the “Open Government” initiative. For example, the Council of Ministers had announced its willingness to implement that approach, which requires [properly] regulating public information and administrative records as a prerequisite for approving that initiative.  Therefore, civil society organizations (CSOs) are warning against approving that law in its current wording because it inherently violates the right to obtain information. Such bills should rather prevent the withholding of information and the spread of false and misleading news that threatens civil peace, along with promoting the freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the press/media by enabling the latter to access the real sources of information and deal with them professionally. CSOs are urging the government to hold consultations and community dialogues regarding the formulation of the draft law. Despite the Coalition’s concerns about the mechanism for issuing decree laws, which are meant to be promulgated only in emergency situations as stipulated in the Palestinian Basic Law, AMAN confirms that this approach can prevent the waste of numerous efforts spanning over 18 years in drafting legislation, in order to guarantee citizens’ right to access information and the freedom of opinion and expression.

Organizations that signed this statement:

Isolation and Control

Israel’s denial of foreign nationals to the oPt

By Rafaël Rutten, May 23, 2023.

In December 2022, Israel implemented a series of new guidelines for foreigners applying for a visa for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The 62 page document titled ‘Procedure for Entry and Residence of Foreigners in the Judea and Samaria Area’, published by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), outlines extensive requirements for obtaining a long term visa for the oPt.  These requirements severely limit the possibility for foreign nationals to visit, work or study in the oPt. The new procedure has been widely condemned by human rights organisations, educational institutes and Palestinian civil society, because it serves to cut off the oPt from the rest of the world and violates several universal human rights.[i] Through the complex and extensive visa procedures, the Israeli occupation targets specific groups, isolating the oPt by fragmenting families and obstructing foreigners from entering, while simultaneously monitoring Palestinian society and increasing control over Palestinian land. In doing so, Israel violates a plethora of human rights, most notably the right to family life, movement, education and privacy.

Procedure

Restrictions

The new requirements impose many obstacles and restrictions on foreigners, designed to prevent them from staying in the oPt long-term. For example, applications require foreign nationals to divulge extensive personal information, including names and addresses of relatives and acquaintances in the oPt, as well as any land they may own or are entitled to inherit in the future.[ii] Upon entry, they may be subjected to extensive and invasive questioning. These interrogations predominantly target Palestinians living abroad, as well as others with Arab names or backgrounds. They are structurally held and interrogated by border security for hours on end.[iii] Stories of aggressive, intimidating, humiliating and inhuman treatment at the hand of Israeli border security are painfully plentiful. Also, expensive bonds of up to 70.000 shekel (approximately €17.500) may be required, intended to ensure visitors leave the oPt when their visa expires.[iv] Furthermore, foreign nationals married to Palestinians have to apply, even when their home country has a visa exemption agreement with Israel. They are also banned from attempting long-term residence in the oPt and have to leave the country periodically for a temporary visa renewal.[v] Moreover, Israel has increased control over the amount, duration and type of work and study visas, especially for academics. The new procedure allows a maximum of 100 and 150 foreign lecturers and students respectively, limits their duration to five non-consecutive years and grants COGAT the authority to decide which fields of study are permissible.[vi] Finally, citizens of countries who do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, or citizens of Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrein or South Sudan, are not allowed to enter the oPt under this procedure.[vii] For the over 2 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, this means they are officially banned from returning to their homes or visiting their families.

Denial

Besides these restrictions, applications can be denied for any number of reasons. Volunteers of the Right to Enter campaign, a grassroots organisation working to help Palestinian families reunify, aid foreigners who are denied entry and advocate against Israel’s entry procedures, describe the many reasons for denial. According to them, the language of the procedure is explicit and strict, but simultaneously deliberately vague to facilitate wide discretion for the Israeli occupation. Among the reasons for denial provided by COGAT, ‘risk to security and public order’ is most common. This is applied for a wide range of reasons, but especially targets people involved in activism, advocacy or engaged in the Palestinian cause in any way. Also, risk of ‘entrenchment’ and ‘illegal immigration’ is often cited as the basis for denial and is widely used to prevent foreigners from long-term residency in the oPt.[viii] Furthermore, ‘wrong port of entry’ is claimed, even though this is not stated clearly in current regulations. In addition, people are denied when refusing to divulge sensitive personal information to the Israel authorities or are accused of lying in interrogations. Finally, many denied persons are not even given a reason. Arbitrary denial and opaque reasoning are pivotal characteristics of many Israeli policies towards Palestinians, and the visa procedure is no exception.

Effects

Diaspora and families

The procedure and denials isolate Palestinian society through fragmenting families and discouraging and obstructing foreigners from visiting, working and studying long-term in the oPt. Firstly, Palestinian families are separated and fractured. In the 75 years since the Nakba, displacement, dispossession and structural violence committed by the occupying regime, have forced many Palestinian to seek refuge and prospects for a better life in other countries. This has resulted in nearly 7 million Palestinians living abroad.[ix] This immense Palestinian diaspora is structurally denied their right to return to their ancestral homeland; the new procedure further cements this. As mentioned, Palestinians with Jordanian papers cannot apply for visas, except under “exceptional and humanitarian cases”[x] and the ones who can, are almost always denied for a number of reasons. Moreover, the new procedure does not make any provisions for long-term visas for children, parents, siblings or any relatives other than spouses.[xi] This means Palestinians who were driven from their homes or ventured abroad in search of a better life, cannot visit their family long-term or move back home.  Also, Palestinians in relationships with foreigners are prevented from being together long-term by the spousal restrictions. Furthermore, the expensive bonds provide another obstacle, meaning those who cannot afford them cannot visit family. On top of that, battling the almost inevitable denial of entry for Palestinians, is an exhausting and expensive endeavour. Appeals require a lawyer to be successful and thus require the financial means to hire one. Important to note, ‘successful’ in this sense merely means a visa(-extension), citizenship is out of the question.[xii] Lastly, the discouraging factor and psychological effects of the procedure must be taken into account. The sheer complexity and duration of the application process, the financial costs and the humiliating treatment that is to be expected upon entry, all work to discourage Palestinians abroad from even attempting to visit their homeland. The anxiety, stress and strain that separation and obstacles to unification put on Palestinians is understandably immense and detrimental to mental health and familial stability.[xiii] Evidently, Palestinian families spread over different countries are fragmented by the Israeli occupation’s control over their entry and ties between Palestinians in the oPt and the Palestinian diaspora are obstructed and severed. This further isolates the Palestinian population from the rest of the world, including from their own families.

Foreigners

Secondly, Israeli control over entry to the oPt isolates Palestinian society by discouraging and obstructing foreigners from staying long-term. One crucial effect of the procedure is the obstruction of foreign engagement in the Palestinian cause. Through targeting activists, journalists, humanitarian workers and other foreign advocates of the Palestinian plight, Israel prevents the spread of awareness and the international showcasing of Palestinian reality. By deciding who can enter the oPt and what work they can or cannot do, Israel tries to control the flow of information in and out of Palestine and obstructs foreign engagement in Palestinian civil society. Meanwhile, Israel vigorously strives to maintain and increase the flow of foreign visitors to Israeli territory. It actively attracts tourists, invites foreign professionals and diplomats on organised whitewashing trips and draws foreign Jews to Israel, sometimes even covering their expenses through Birthright.[xiv] Through this, Israel attempts to normalise its existence, construct a sense of legitimacy and stimulate international support. Thus, by isolating and suppressing the oPt and amplifying Israel internationally, it can attempt to exercise more control over what the world gets to see and push the Israeli narrative on the international and geopolitical stages. Furthermore, obstructing foreign academics provides Israel with a tool to shape Palestinian education and Palestinians’ access to information and international collaboration. With the new procedure, Israel determines whether a foreigner’s field is permissible and whether they will contribute “to the Area’s academic education or its economy.”[xv] If their field is deemed admissible, they have to periodically leave the country for a visa renewal and after 5 cumulative years, have to leave for at least 9 months to be allowed entry again.[xvi] Lastly, they also have to be lucky to be among the quota allowed that year. All this makes an endurable academic career in the oPt immensely difficult. The influx of foreign lecturers and students is crucial for any educational institute and international communication and academic freedom are cornerstones of academic learning. Through the new measures, the Israeli state exercises control over the curriculum of Palestinian students and their freedom to access information, infringing on academic freedom and the autonomy of universities.[xvii] Thus, Israel attempts to isolate Palestinian society from the rest of the world, both through preventing foreign engagement in the Palestinian cause and through restricting foreign academics.

Monitoring and surveillance

In addition to isolating the oPt, the entry procedure can also be seen as an effort to monitor and surveil Palestinian population, networks and land. Through the aforementioned thorough questioning about relatives and acquaintances as well as ownership and future inheritance of land, the Israeli occupation is able to gather extensive data on interpersonal Palestinian networks and property in the oPt.[xviii] This sweeping collection of data on Palestinian civilians is part of a broader effort to monitor and surveil the population of the oPt. Policies of questioning, photographing and documenting Palestinians and their movement, and advanced technology like artificial intelligence, facial recognition software and large-scale camera surveillance, all work to subject Palestinians to constant surveillance.[xix] Not only does this invasive practice allow Israel to map the interconnections of Palestinians, it also expands Israel’s control by using gathered data to blackmail Palestinians into cooperation.[xx] The interrogations could also facilitate further dispossession. The Israeli occupation continually steals Palestinian land through forcibly evicting civilians and demolishing Palestinian buildings, to claim space for illegal settlements. This raises fears that information shared about land owned by Palestinians living abroad, might lead to denial of their applications in order to pave the way for the expropriation of those lands.[xxi] Thus, the interrogations at the borders are part of the occupation’s broader policies of surveillance and possible dispossession.

Extending sovereignty

The entry procedure and the wider policies it is part of, serve to extend and reinforce Israeli sovereignty over the oPt, specifically the West Bank. Many components of the procedure were already practiced in reality. However, this new document makes these practices explicit and official.[xxii] Controlling the flow of people into the oPt, expands Israeli control and bolsters its proclaimed sovereignty over the area. This is further amplified by referring to the West Bank exclusively using the Israeli names (Judea and Samaria) or the ‘Area’, erasing Palestinians’ identity, sovereignty and strong connection to the land. Moreover, the procedure formalises the separation between Palestinians and Israeli settlers living in the oPt. Foreigners wishing to visit, work or study in internationally condemned illegal Israeli settlements, are exempted from the visa requirements. The segregated procedures for civilians living in the same area and the deprivation of rights of one of those groups, constitute an apartheid regime.[xxiii] Ergo, the procedure officially enforces Israel’s proclaimed sovereignty over the oPt and cements the position of Palestinians as a separated, inferior group in society.

Violations of universal human rights

Israel’s procedure undoubtedly isolates Palestinian society and increases its control over the oPt. In doing so, the occupier infringes upon a multitude of universal human rights, in flagrant violation of several international treaties it is party to. Firstly, its restrictions on Palestinians living abroad attempting to visit or reunify with their relatives and spouses, is an infringement of the Right to Family Life. Expanding on the right as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) dictates:

1. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
2. The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family shall be recognized.

Additionally, article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) states:

1. The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children. Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending spouses.

Israel’s obstruction of family reunification and severance of familial and spousal ties is far-removed from protecting and assisting the family as fundamental group unit and facilitating marriage and the founding of families. Hence, it is a blatant violation of the Right to Family Life.

Secondly, the procedure violates the Right to Freedom of Movement. Article 13 of the UDHR dictates:

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Further stressing the right of return, article 12, paragraph 4 of the ICCPR states:

1. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.

Israel’s refusal of entry and denial of the right of return for the Palestinian diaspora, and the prevention of foreigners trying to enter and remain in the oPt, is thus a glaring violation of the Right to Freedom of Movement.

Thirdly, Israel impedes on the Right to Education. Building on article 26 of the UDHR, article 13 of the ICESCR articulates:

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the full realization of this right:
3. Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education
4. No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I of this article and to the requirement that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.

The protection of institutional autonomy and academic freedom is further emphasised in the General Comment on article 13 of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.[xxiv] Through denying foreign students and lecturers, exercising control over the curriculum of students and their freedom to access information, Israel restricts access to education and impedes on academic autonomy and freedom, thus overtly violating the Right to Education.

Lastly, Israel’s procedure is in breach with the Right to Privacy, as set forth in article 12 of the UDHR:

1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Humiliating and invasive questioning of people, without clear, founded or reasonable motivation, amounts to arbitrary interference with privacy, making the procedure a brazen breach of the Right to Privacy.

Demands

Hurryyat calls on the international community to take an active stance in order to stop the constant violations of universal human rights committed by Israel’s occupation regime. Concretely, Hurryyat proposes the following steps:

1. Pressure Israel into abiding by the international agreements they are party to, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Consequently, hold Israel accountable for its continuous violations of these international agreements through sanctions and legal prosecution.

2. Enforce the legal principle of reciprocity regarding visa and entry requirements for Israeli citizens. Pressure Israel into amending its procedures through imposing equal requirements on Israeli citizens when they try to travel abroad.

3. Educate on the restrictions Israel imposes on foreign nationals and the effects of this policy. Awareness of Israel’s active attempts to isolate the Palestinian population is an important step towards understanding the Palestinian plight and subsequently working to change it.

4. Raise awareness of Israel’s attempts to push its narrative and conceal its oppression of Palestinians, through its organised and funded trips for tourists, diplomats, religious visitors and others. Whitewashing (as well as pink- and greenwashing) tourism works to silence Palestinian voices, erase Palestinian identity and push Israeli legitimacy on an international level.

5. Call on universities to pressure Israel about their restricting policies, through raising awareness of the procedures’ goals and effects, giving Palestinian voices a platform, severing ties with Israeli universities and study programs involved in whitewashing, and stimulating collaboration with Palestinian universities.

Special thanks to the volunteers of the Right to Enter Campaign. Find out more about their work on their website: https://www.righttoenter.ps/.

About Hurryyat

The Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat”, through its Right to Movement and Travel Project, works to aid Palestinians who have been banned from travel, research the ways in which the Right to Movement is violated and advise international bodies on the subject. For more information on its mission and activities, as well as other important projects, please take a look at our website.

For more information:

• Applied Research Institute Jerusalem, ‘The Israeli Government’s New Restrictions of Entry for Foreigners into the West Bank- This is Apartheid’, September 2022. https://www.arij.org/latest/the-israeli-governments-new-restrictions-of-entry-for-foreigners-into-the-west-bank/.
• Campaign for the Right to Enter the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), ‘Briefing note: New COGAT “Procedure for entry and residence of foreigners in the Judea and Samaria area”’, April 2022.
• Human Rights Watch, ‘West Bank: New Entry Rules Further Isolate Palestinians’, January, 23, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/23/west-bank-new-entry-rules-further-isolate-palestinians.

About the author

Rafaël Rutten is a Dutch intern working with Hurryyat on the Right to Movement and Travel Project, based in Ramallah. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in History & International Relations and is currently following a Master’s program in Conflict Studies & Human Rights, both at Utrecht University. He has a broad interest in history, international relations, violent conflict and media, with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa, specifically the Israel-Palestine Conflict.

[i] See for example: HaMoked, ‘HaMoked to the Minister of Defense: The revised procedure for the entry of foreigners to the oPt is still fundamentally flawed and must be frozen until it is amended’, September 14, 2022. https://hamoked.org/document.php?dID=Updates2327. And Birzeit University, ‘Call to Action Birzeit University Rejects Israeli Measures Against Academic Freedom’, March 12, 2022. https://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/call-action-birzeit-university-rejects-israeli-measures-against-academic-freedom.

[ii] Alice Speri, ‘Israel tightens restrictions on travel to the occupied territories’, The Intercept, May 13, 2022. https://theintercept.com/2022/05/13/israel-palestine-west-bank-travel-restrictions/.

^[iii] Amira Hass, ‘What Happens at Israel’s Border Crossings Is Calculated Humiliation’, Haaretz, August 27, 2018. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2018-08-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/what-happens-at-israels-border-crossings-is-calculated-humiliation/0000017f-f7e7-d460-afff-ffe70a900000?v=1684218835221.

[iv] Al Jazeera, ‘Breaking down Israel’s regulations on foreigners in the West Bank’, September 5, 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/5/israels-permit-rules-restricting-palestinian-life-explainer.

[v] Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), ‘The Israeli Government’s New Restrictions of Entry for Foreigners  into the West Bank- This is Apartheid’, September 2022, 3-4. https://www.arij.org/latest/the-israeli-governments-new-restrictions-of-entry-for-foreigners-into-the-west-bank/.

[vi] Birzeit University, ‘Call to Action’.

[vii] Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Operations Department, ‘Procedure for Entry and Residence of Foreigners in the Judea and Samaria Area’, August 2022, 5. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/policies/judeaentry2022.

[viii] Human Rights Watch, ‘West Bank: New Entry Rules Further Isolate Palestinians’, January, 23, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/23/west-bank-new-entry-rules-further-isolate-palestinians.

^[ix] Ola Awad, ‘Brief Report on the Population of Palestine at the End of 2021’, Arab Center Washington DC,  January 3, 2022. https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/brief-report-on-the-population-of-palestine-at-the-end-of-2021/.

[x] HaMoked, ‘HaMoked to the Minister of Defense’.

[xi] Campaign for the Right to Enter the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), ‘Briefing note: New COGAT “Procedure for entry and residence of foreigners in the Judea and Samaria area”’, April 2022.

[xii] Interview conducted with volunteers from the Right to Enter campaign on May 11, 2023.

[xiii] Idem.

^[xiv] For information on Israel’s whitewashing through tourism, see for example: US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, ‘Ethical Travel to Palestine & Challenging Apartheid Tourism’, https://uscpr.org/activist-resource/ethical-travel-to-palestine-challenging-apartheid-tourism/.

[xv] COGAT, ‘Procedure’, 21.

[xvi] Ibidem, 19.

[xvii] Birzeit University, ‘Call to Action’.

[xviii] Speri, ‘Israel tightens restrictions’.

^[xix] Mona Shayta, ‘Nowhere to hide: The impact of Israel’s digital surveillance regime on the Palestinians’, Middle East Institute, April 27, 2022. https://www.mei.edu/publications/nowhere-hide-impact-israels-digital-surveillance-regime-palestinians.

^[xx] See for example: Al Jazeera, ‘Israel’s Automated Occupation: Jerusalem’, May 13, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-listening-post/2023/5/13/israels-automated-occupation-jerusalem.

[xxi] Speri, ‘Israel tightens restrictions’.

[xxii] RTE interview.

[xxiii] ARIJ, ‘The Israeli Government’s New Restrictions’, 2022. 3.

[xxiv] Michael Mason, ‘The Right to Education is also Palestinian’, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, March 23, 2022. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2022/03/23/the-right-to-education-is-also-palestinian/.

Urgent Intervention

Immediate Release of Palestinian Political Prisoner Walid Daqqa Diagnosed with Bone Marrow Cancer and Facing Imminent Deteriorating Health Conditions due to Israeli Prison Services Policy of Deliberate Medical Neglect

Date: 22 May 2023

Walid Daqqa, a 61-year-old Palestinian writer, activist, intellectual, and political prisoner from the Palestinian city of Baqa Al-Gharbiya, colonized in 1948, was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer in 2022 and has been in dire need of urgent medical attention since then. Walid is one of 19 Palestinians who have spent more than 30 years in Israeli occupation prisons and one of 23 Palestinians who have been incarcerated since before the Oslo Accords came into effect in 1991. Doctors, including Israeli physicians, have insinuated that his worsening health is a result of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS)’s systematic practice of deliberate medical neglect, including a recent denial of emergency hospital transfer after Walid suffered from a blood-clot-induced stroke in Askalan prison in February 2023. He was finally moved to Barzilai Medical Center, 11 days after surviving the stroke, following the recommendation of the Askalan prison doctor.

Amidst deteriorating healthcare conditions for Palestinian political prisoners and the IPS’s increasing weaponization of medical neglect to wage a psychological war on Palestinians in prison—tantamount to torture under international law—we call for the immediate release of Walid Daqqa and demand that he be provided the prescribed treatment that Israel has denied him so far.

Facts of the Case

On 25 March 1986, Walid Daqqa, a Palestinian thinker, political activist, and writer, was arrested by the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) and sentenced to life imprisonment, capped at a maximum term of 37 years. Walid was detained for allegedly partaking in armed resistance against the Israeli settler-colonial and apartheid regime in 1985. Today, 37 years later, Walid continues to be held captive by Israel, as he battles the malignant stage of a rare form of bone marrow cancer—myelofibrosis.

In 2020, after Walid’s health began to deteriorate as he experienced blood-related health issues. Despite being advised by the prison doctor to undergo periodic blood tests, the IPS deliberately denied him access to these tests. On 7 December 2022, Walid was admitted to Barzilai Medical Centre following a sudden deterioration in his health, where he was subsequently diagnosed with leukemia. Further tests revealed that he was suffering from a rare form of bone marrow cancer, which has disrupted the normal production of blood cells, necessitating an urgent bone marrow transplant.

In January 2023, at the behest of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Dr. Moshe Gatt, an Israeli hematologist based at the Medical Centre of Hadassah Hospital University in occupied and illegally annexed Jerusalem, conducted an evaluation of Walid’s medical condition. Dr. Gatt observed that Walid has multiple cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, increased blood pressure, and dyslipidemia, and has developed severe anemia after taking a preventative chemotherapy drug. Dr. Gatt concluded that Walid is currently in the malignant stage of cancer. In his medical report, Dr. Gatt prognoses that without definitive treatment, as has been the case so far, Walid has an “average survival of about a year and a half.”

Dr. Gatt further noted that the drug prescribed to Walid by his own physician, who is assigned by the IPS, while providing temporary relief, severely compromised his immunity and increased his risk of contracting infections. The drug also decreased Walid’s total blood count, worsening the underlying cause of the cancer. The only curative treatment for Walid at present is a bone marrow transplant—one of the most difficult and dangerous medical procedures known. Dr. Gatt also recommended that Walid be relocated to a clean and hygienic environment where exposure to infections can be minimized, which is not possible inside the miserable conditions offered by Israeli occupation prisons.

In mid-February 2023, Walid suffered from a severe cardiovascular stroke that led to a physical injury on his chest. Despite requiring emergency treatment, the IPS at Askalan prison refused to transfer him to a hospital, and the in-house prison clinic declined to provide him with a necessary blood transfusion, despite diagnosing a blood clot as the cause of the stroke. Consequently, Walid lost a significant amount of blood through a minor tongue wound in the days following the stroke.

Further, Walid’s medical records indicated that he lost over 10 kilos (22 pounds) in a month and a half. Only after his hematologist visited Askalan for a routine appointment, nearly two weeks after the stroke, was Walid finally transferred to Barzilai Medical Center. Similarly, as Walid developed symptoms of severe pneumonia over the past couple of weeks, the IPS once again ignored his health and evaded hospital admission until his lawyers and doctors intervened. Walid was held in a private room at Barzilai, suffering from pneumonia, kidney failure, and a life-threatening drop in blood cell count. Consequently, on 12 April 2023, Walid underwent lobectomy surgery to remove a large portion of his right lung, and after 37 days, on 30 April 20230, the IPS transferred Walid back to Ramleh prison clinic. Three days later, Walid was transferred to Asaf Harofeh Israeli Hospital, and then on 4 May 2023, he was transferred to Barzilai Medical Center for a medical examination and check-up following his lobectomy.

Since 7 May 2023, Walid is held in Ramleh prison clinic, only provided with antibiotics, and undergoing a series of physical therapy to regain his ability to talk and stand on his feet again. Notably, Walid is put on oxygen to assist him in breathing and receives respiratory exercises and treatments in order to reach the stage of absolute self-breathing and to get rid of the acute pain that forces him to take sedatives that affect his breathing and causes him to emaciate.

It is undeniable that the IPS played a direct role, if not an exclusive role, for the life-threatening condition of Walid. The IPS deliberately denied him access to his periodic blood tests, which were prescribed as early as 2018, as a form of punishment for a minor violation of proscribed prison conduct – smuggling cell phones into his cell. As an indictment of this behavior, Walid’s life sentence was summarily extended by two years, and he was prevented from being released in 2023, further exacerbating his already dire situation.

Further, the IPS has deprived him of a timely bone marrow transplant—the only known treatment course that can save his life, despite the recommendation of every consulting physician. In flagrant disregard of the medical advice offered by Israeli hematologist Dr. Gatt, the IPS has continued to expose Walid to high-risk environments; and refused to transfer him to the hospital promptly, when he has succumbed to such risks. In each of these ways, the IPS has used the cruel and inhumane practice of medical negligence as a means of “slow killing”—wearing down Walid physically and psychologically, crumbling his resolve and resilience.

Israel has long been wary of Walid’s political reach and his prominence as a prison activist. In prison, Walid obtained a master’s degree in political science, wrote extensively on political theory, and published several works of fiction that discuss his ideas, aspirations and experiences around the movement for a liberated and free Palestine. In the past, therefore, the Israeli occupying forces have reneged on a prisoner exchange deal, set up in accordance with the Oslo Accords, that would have released him in 2014. Notably, according to the Oslo II Accords of 1994, all Palestinian prisoners taken into captivity prior to the agreement are required to have been released by now.

Walid, who has been subjected to several documented instances of psychological and physical torture during his four decades of incarceration, was placed in solitary confinement after publishing a children’s book on the occupation of Palestine, titled The Oil’s Secret Tale. In 1999, Israel submitted to pressure by prisoner’s rights’ activists and allowed Walid to marry his now wife, Sana’ Salama, in Askalan prison. The couple celebrated their nuptials while in confinement, as Israel denies Palestinian prisoners the right to conjugal visits, which is permitted for Israeli prisoners. In 2020, the couple had a daughter named Milad, who was conceived through smuggled sperm. Walid wrote another book, Parallel Time, based on his experiences, of a child of a Palestinian prisoner who was similarly born through smuggled sperm.

In February 2023, the Israeli occupying forces raided the home of Sana’ and Milad Daqqa in Baqa Al-Gharbiya and confiscated books, pictures, and personal belongings on the allegation of “inciting terrorism. In other words, Israel has launched a sustained campaign of collective punishment targeting the Daqqa family to retaliate against Walid’s unfettered and powerful voice and resilience while opposing Israel’s settler-colonial and apartheid regime.

The Illegal and Arbitrary Policy of Medical Negligence in Israeli Occupation Prisons

The instrumentalization of medical negligence as a tool to denigrate, demoralize, and punish Palestinian prisoners is emblematic of Israel’s illegal and inhumane prison system. In December 2022, 50-year-old Palestinian political prisoner Nasser Abu-Hamid passed away due to cancer that had prematurely accelerated to malignancy because of gross medical negligence in Askalan prison. Despite repeated calls by Palestinian civil society and the international human rights community, including a submission by Special Rapporteurs Francesca Albanese and Tlaleng Mofokeng to Israel, the Occupying Power denied Nasser an early release on humanitarian grounds and a dignified end to his life. After his death in custody, Israel refused to hand over his body to his family, withholding Nasser’s right to a proper burial. This constitutes a form of psychological punishment employed to degrade and humiliate the families of killed and deceased Palestinians.

At present, the Israeli occupying authorities continue to hold the bodies of now thirteen Palestinian prisoners who passed away during their incarceration including, Anis Doula (deceased in 1980), Aziz Owaisat (deceased in 2018), Fares Baroud, Nassar Taqatqa, and Bassam Al-Sayeh (deceased in 2019), Saadi Al-Garabli and Kamal Abu Wa’ar (deceased in 2020) Sami Al-Amour (deceased in 2021), Daoud Zubeidi and Nasser Abu-Hamid (deceased in 2022), and Wade’ Abu Rmooz and Khader Adnan (deceased 2023). Since 1967, the total number of Palestinian prisoners who have passed away in Israeli occupation prisons has reached 237. Of these, 75 prisoners (32%) passed away as a result of Israeli medical negligence. This phenomenon is perpetuated by the denial of access to specialized healthcare and periodic check-ups, in addition to the ill-treatment of ailing prisoners, including the inhumane practice of shackling them to their hospital beds. Furthermore, the detention of Palestinian prisoners’ bodies in freezers is an additional form of psychological punishment and collective punishment.

Additionally, many Palestinian prisoners, such as Hussein Maslama, have passed away shortly after their release from diseases they contracted inside Israeli prisons. As seen in the case of Walid Daqqa, who contracted pneumonia while in Askalan, Israeli prisons are breeding grounds for infectious diseases, evidenced by the mass, uncontrolled outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons, two years ago. Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid, who served most of his sentence in Askalan and succumbed to lung cancer in December 2022, spent his last days in an overcrowded prison cell that lacked natural light and ventilation, and retained excess humidity, violating the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

In sum, the Israeli occupying authorities persist in their brazen violation of international norms and conventions that seek to protect prisoners, especially those who are weak and ailing. For instance, Israel continually violates international humanitarian law that guarantees the provision of necessary medical care to those who are sick. Furthermore, the collective and retaliatory penalties that are targeted directly at Palestinian prisoners, but punish Palestinian people at large, can be perceived as collective punishment and a means to control the Palestinian people. In addition to the specific clauses of the international human rights law and international humanitarian law that Israel has violated through its inhumane incarceration policies, incriminating itself in the eyes of international law, the very premise of Israel’s imprisonment of Palestinians exposes and is reflective of its settler-colonial and apartheid regime.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Considering Walid Daqqa’s rapidly deteriorating health, the grave threat to his life posed by his incarceration in a disease-ridden hospital and prison, the summary extension of his life sentence by two years on spurious charges, the enforced physical separation between Walid and his family during a life-threatening medical emergency, and the larger structures of illegality within which these inhumane aspects of Walid’s incarceration operate, the Palestinian prisoners organizations call your respective mandates to:

1. Urge Israel to immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqa and guarantee his right to life, health, and dignity; and to abide by its legal obligations, under international human rights law, in this regard;
2. Urge the Israeli Prison Services to ensure prompt access to advanced and timely treatments prescribed by medical specialists to Walid Daqqa, including a clean and infection-free environment, and access to donors and facilities for a bone marrow transplant;

• Pressure for the immediate extension of prison and hospital visitation rights to Walid Daqqa’s family, including wife, Sana’ and daughter Milad, so they can visit Walid.

1. Urge the International Committee of the Red Cross to raise compliance to the legal humanitarian obligations and guaranteed under the Fourth Geneva Convention that enlist the rights of prisoners in occupied territories; and
2. Call on the international community and all High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their legal obligations towards upholding Palestinian human rights and enforcing the implementation of international humanitarian law.

END

By Rafaël Rutten, May 10, 2023.

In a worrying recurring trend, the holy month of Ramadan and its coincidence with the Jewish holiday of Passover has once again been characterised by violent Israeli domination over the Al-Aqsa compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. Over the course of Ramadan, Israeli security forces have restricted and denied Palestinians access to the holy site, violently evicted worshippers from the mosques and escorted Jewish civilians into the compound. Israeli police and military routinely restrict Palestinians’ access to Al-Aqsa, preventing them from exercising their right to practise their religion in one of the holiest places of Islam. Besides denying access, Israeli forces also regularly use excessive force to clear the compound of Palestinian worshippers. Recently, on the 5^th of April, shocking videos showed Israeli police forcefully entering the mosque with the use of tear gas and stun grenades, violently beating worshippers with batons and the butts of guns and arresting over 400 Palestinians.[i] Attacks like these are frequent and are often used to pave the way for Jewish Israelis to enter Al-Aqsa, known to them as Temple Mount, where they perform religious rituals under the protection of Israeli police. These escorted intrusions are widely considered to be deliberately provocative actions, illegal under international law and the agreed status quo of Al-Aqsa, and have been condemned by the international community.[ii] Consequently, Israeli transgressions on Al-Aqsa have led to outbursts of retaliatory violence, as recently seen in the rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon. To understand what is happening, it is important to see the recent events in a broader context, for closure, attacks and incursions of Al-Aqsa are not unique or isolated. Rather, they have a long and significant history and are part of discriminatory structures of the Israeli occupation, including the ID-system, movement bans and the claiming of holy sites. Through these systematic practices, Israel violates Palestinians’ universal human rights to freedom of movement and freedom of religion.

Context

Religious significance

Attacks on Al-Aqsa should be understood in the context of religious significance, Israeli occupation, the established status quo and a history of violence. The Al-Aqsa compound is the commonly used name for a plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem, formally named Al-Haram al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary), located in occupied East Jerusalem.[iii] It contains the Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa or Al-Qibli Mosque and the Western Wall, as well several other mosques, spaces with religious significance and places for prayer. The compound is considered the third holiest site in Islam, as it is believed to be the site of several important events in the history of Islam.[iv] Most notably, Muslims believe it is the place to which Muhammad was transported from Mecca, where he led other prophets in prayer and ascended to heaven for an encounter with God.[v] This makes the Al-Aqsa an important site to pilgrims and worshippers, especially during Ramadan. Al-Haram al-Sharif, known to Jews as Temple Mount, is also the holiest site in Judaism. It is believed to be the location of the two ancient Temples of Jerusalem, the ‘Foundation Stone’ from which creation of the world began and Abraham’s binding of Isaac for sacrifice.[vi] The Western Wall is considered to be the only remnant of the wall surrounding Temple Mount and is therefore a sacred site for prayer and pilgrimage.

Illegal occupation

The violence at Al-Aqsa is often attributed to the immense significance for both Islam and Judaism, but it has to be seen in light of the Israeli occupation. In the 1967 Six Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City and Al-Aqsa. This occupation is illegal under international law and most states do not recognise Israel’s proclaimed sovereignty over these occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). Under this illegal occupation and subsequent annexing of East Jerusalem, the Israeli government began increasing its control over Al-Aqsa. This began with the destruction of the Moroccan Quarter, to create space for an open square in front of the Western Wall. The new plaza served as the first symbolic Israeli space in East Jerusalem and increasingly became a central religious destination intertwined with political symbolism.[vii] The Israeli occupation further increased its control by confiscating the gate connecting the Western Wall to the Temple Mount and setting up permanent police headquarters within the compound. Moreover, Israel closed some of the gates into Al-Aqsa to restrict access to the compound. Ergo, Israel is illegally exercising control over this occupied space.

Status quo

Despite increased Israeli presence surrounding the compound, control over Al-Aqsa officially remained in the hands of the Jordanian Waqf. Following centuries-old tradition, non-Muslims could visit the compound but not pray there. This became known as the Status Quo, in which the Waqf manages the compound and Israel provides security and facilitates visits for non-Muslims.[viii] This also includes banning Jewish hard-line groups who call for the destruction of the compound and the construction of a Third Temple.[ix] Opposing these extremist ideas, the international community, the Israeli Supreme Court and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel have supported the agreement.

Violent past

However, as occupying power, Israel has de facto control over the site and has continually defied the status quo.[x] It frequently denies Palestinians entrance to the Al-Aqsa compound, allows, often extremist and ultranationalist, Jewish civilians to pray and perform religious rituals in the site, and attacks Palestinian worshippers. These continual violations intensify every year around Ramadan. In the past, this has repeatedly led to increased violence. Most notably, a provocative visit to Temple Mount by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and over a thousand armed soldiers and police in 2000, sparked the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada).[xi] The four years that followed were marked by overwhelming Israeli military violence which led to the deaths of close to 5000 Palestinians, countless more wounded and thousands of demolished and damaged houses.[xii] Since then, yearly incursions have led to violence against Palestinians, mass arrests and full-fledged military operations.[xiii]

Patterns of Occupation

The control Israel exercises over Palestinian’s access to Al-Aqsa, in breach with international agreements, is symbolic of the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and holy sites. Through the use of the ID-system and movement bans, Israel limits Palestinian’s right to movement and freedom of religion and lays claim to sacred sites.

ID-system

First, the complex discriminatory array of Identity Documents (hawiyyah) given to Palestinians limits their mobility and effectively orders society into different classes. Simply put, IDs are differentiated by the colour of the mandatory cardholder and information on the card itself. Without going into the intricate details, Israeli citizens and Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem are issued a blue ID, Palestinians living in the West Bank have green IDs and Palestinians in Gaza have orange IDs. This complex and utterly confusing system has far-reaching consequences for Palestinian mobility and identity. The variety of IDs determines Palestinian’s mobility, as they allow access to different spaces. Green and orange ID holders cannot exit the West Bank and Gaza respectively, meaning they are not allowed to visit Al-Aqsa to practise their religion. ‘Blue’ Israeli citizens however, can freely traverse occupied East Jerusalem and its holy sites. This disparity orders society into hierarchical classes, by not only granting ‘first-class’ Israeli citizens more rights and freedom than ‘second-class’ Palestinians, but also further fragmenting Palestinians by granting different groups different privileges.[xiv]

Movement bans

Second, the Israeli occupation uses movement bans to prevent Palestinians from visiting Al-Aqsa. Green ID holders need Israeli permits to leave the West Bank, whether for visiting holy sites, seeking medical care, working or travelling. These permits are incredibly hard to obtain and, once obtained, may be taken away again without explanation. Usually quoting ‘security threats’, movement bans are imposed by Israeli police and Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service. These bans are often arbitrary, unfounded or the result of illegal collective punishment. For example, if a Palestinian is arrested or incarcerated, their family members are often automatically banned from leaving the oPt. Moreover, people who are politically active, involved in activism or engaged in the Palestinian struggle in any way, sometimes through as little as social media posts, are targeted with bans. In the case of Jerusalemites, this can take the form of house arrest or bans on entering the Old City or Al-Aqsa specifically.[xv]

Appealing movement bans is a bureaucratic nightmare. Involving countless government agencies, the process is complicated and obscure, shaped by administrative flexibility, wide discretion, conflicting decisions and changing decrees.[xvi] This ‘effective inefficiency’ creates constant insecurity and uncertainty and makes any attempt at getting a ban lifted an expensive, time consuming and utterly exhausting endeavour. Therefore many Palestinians do not even attempt to get it lifted. Consequently, a large portion of the Palestinian population cannot visit Al-Aqsa due to movement bans and a lack of permits. This draconian permit regime is deemed illegal under international law, as concluded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.[xvii]

The Israeli occupation also prevents access to Al-Aqsa through discriminatory collective punishment based on, inter alia, demographic categories. Often, people between the ages of 12 and 50 are banned from entering the compound. Young Palestinians (men especially) are barred, while children and seniors are granted access. Israel attempts to justify this policy under the pretence of security, based on unfounded claims of threats posed by Palestinian young people. As a result, the whole demographic group is collectively punished through this ban. Moreover, the Palestinian population is very young, with people between the age of 15 and 40 making up 42.3% of the population, while the elderly (60+) only account for 5,7%.[xviii] Banning this demographic, is therefore seen as an effective tool for the Israeli occupation in preventing the bulk of the population from entering Occupied East Jerusalem. This distinction is disproportionate and discriminatory and it amounts to collective punishment, therefore deemed illegal under international (humanitarian) law.[xix]

Claiming holy sites

Through these measures, Palestinians’ access to Al-Aqsa is restricted, while Jewish Israelis are increasingly allowed to enter the compound. This amounts to claiming the holy site. Throughout Ramadan, Israeli civilians have entered the compound under the protection of security forces, allowing them to perform religious rituals. Extreme Israeli groups have also called on civilians to ritually sacrifice animals at Al-Aqsa, even offering prize money, in an attempt to provocatively desecrate the Islamic holy site.[xx] Again, this is not unique or isolated. The Israeli occupation continually lays claim to holy sites throughout the oPt. For example, similar to annually recurring restricted access to Al-Aqsa for Muslims, Israel has repeatedly obstructed Christians from praying and celebrating religious holidays at holy sites. This year for example, only a relatively small number of people were allowed to visit the Easter ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and soldiers violently obstructed and beat Christians in the Old City.[xxi]

Many Palestinians also fear the structural violent incursions in Al-Aqsa might lead to the permanent seizing of the site by Jewish Israelis, similar to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims. In 1994, an American-Israeli settler opened fire in the mosque, murdering 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 150 others.[xxii] After the massacre, Israel imposed several ‘security measures’, penalising the Palestinian victims. It divided the mosque into a Muslim and a Jewish section, claiming the majority of the space for Jews, closed the bustling city centre and access roads off to Palestinians and erected strict military checkpoints limiting Palestinians’ movement.[xxiii] The only remaining entrance to the mosque is heavily guarded and features an intimidating AI-controlled machine gun.[xxiv] Moreover, the mosque is often closed to Palestinians to accommodate Jewish settlers in their worship and celebration of religious holidays. This leads Palestinians to fear the same fate for Al-Aqsa and is thus part of a worrying trend of controlling and claiming holy sites.

Violations of universal human rights

Israel’s continued imposed restrictions on access to Al-Aqsa through the tools described and its claiming of holy sites directly violate several universal human rights. Most notably, the Right to Freedom of Movement and the Right to Freedom of Religion, as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in article 13 and 18 respectively, are violated:

Article 13:

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 18:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Denying Palestinians the possibility to move freely within and across the borders of the oPt is in breach with Article 13. Preventing Palestinians from manifesting their religion by practicing, worshipping and observing at Al-Aqsa is in flagrant violation of Article 18.

Moreover, the fact that the de jure annexation of East Jerusalem is deemed illegal under international law is of paramount importance. [xxv] As occupying and annexing power, exercising control over the oPt, Israel is therefore bound by International Humanitarian Law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV). Following this agreement, Palestinians are considered protected persons. Therefore, they:

• are entitled to respect for their religious convictions and practices and shall be treated without prejudice to their health, age and sex (Article 27).
• shall not be punished with collective penalties (Article 33).
• shall not be deprived of the benefits of the Convention upon occupation and/or annexation of the occupied territory (Article 47).

Discrimination based on religion and age, collective punishment and deprivation of Palestinians’ right to religious practice in the oPt are thus blatant violations of GCVI.

Demands

Hurryyat calls on the international community to take an active stance in order to stop the constant violations of universal human rights committed by Israel’s occupation regime. Concretely, Hurryyat proposes the following steps:

1. Condemn Israel’s policies and practices of discrimination and collective punishment in its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, particularly the Fourth.
2. Pressure Israel into abiding by the international agreements they are party to, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Geneva Conventions, and hold it accountable for its continuous violations of these agreements.
3. Stop the violations of human dignity and the suffering of Palestinians attempting to practice their religion. People trying to exercise their right to freedom of religion should not be faced with constant subjugation through humiliating, invasive and dehumanising treatment at the hands of illegal Israeli occupying forces.
4. Visit the oPt to see how Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement and freedom of religion are continuously violated by the Israeli occupation. Come see how Palestinian civilians, including women, children and the elderly are victimised by Israel’s inhumane treatment at border crossings, checkpoints and within Occupied East Jerusalem, especially on their religious holidays.
5. Educate and engage in the Palestinian cause. Independently visiting the oPt is the only way to truly grasp the reality of life under occupation and the obstacles Palestinians face in their daily lives. Understand Israeli occupation’s continuous infringement on Palestinians’ fundamental rights and freedoms through illegal and discriminatory policies and practices; and subsequently work to dismantle the occupation. Whether through pressuring governments, engaging in activism or humanitarian work or making meaningful change on a policy level, involvement is incredibly useful. Awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and active engagement in the Palestinian cause, can help shape the future of the oPt.
   

   For more information:

   • On Al Aqsa:
     • Hillel Cohen, ‘The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness’, Israel Studies Review 32, no. 1 (2017): 1–19.
     • Nadda Osman, ‘Al-Aqsa Mosque: The significance of one of Islam’s holiest sites’, Middle East Eye, April 15, 2022. https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palestine-al-aqsa-islam-one-of-islam-holiest-significiance.
     • Namzi Jubeh, ‘Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif: Crucible of Conflict and Control’, Journal of Palestine Studies 45, no. 2 (178) (2016): 23-37.

    

   • On Right to Movement and Right to Religion:
     • Helga Tawil-Souri, (2012) ‘Uneven Borders, Coloured (Im)mobilities: ID Cards in Palestine/Israel’, Geopolitics, 17, no. 1 (2012): 153-176.
     • United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Freedom of Movement Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.’ (A/HRC/31/44), January 20, 2016.
     • Yael Berda, ‘Living Emergency : Israel’s Permit Regime in the Occupied West Bank.’ (Redwood City: Stanford University Press) 2017, 35.

About Hurryyat

The Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat”, through its Right to Movement and Travel Project, works to aid Palestinians who have been banned from travel, research the ways in which the Right to Movement is violated and advise international bodies on the subject. For more information on its mission and activities, as well as other important projects, please take a look at our website.

About the author

Rafaël Rutten is a Dutch intern working with Hurryyat on the Right to Movement and Travel Project, based in Ramallah. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in History & International Relations and is currently following a Master’s program in Conflict Studies & Human Rights, both at Utrecht University. He has a broad interest in history, international relations, violent conflict and media, with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa, specifically the Israel-Palestine Conflict.

^[i] ‘Israeli forces attack worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque raid’, Al Jazeera, April 6, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/5/israeli-police-attack-worshippers-in-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque.

^[ii] See for example: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Israel: UN expert condemns brutal attacks on Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque’, April 6, 2023. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/israel-un-expert-condemns-brutal-attacks-palestinians-al-aqsa-mosque. and: ‘Israel/OPT:  Second night of horror at al-Aqsa mosque’, Amnesty International, April 6, 2023. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/04/israel-opt-second-night-of-horror-at-al-aqsa-mosque/.

[iii] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Al-Aqṣā Mosque.” Encyclopedia Britannica, April 7, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Al-Aqsa-Mosque.

^[iv] Nadda Osman, ‘Al-Aqsa Mosque: The significance of one of Islam’s holiest sites’, Middle East Eye, April 15, 2022. https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palestine-al-aqsa-islam-one-of-islam-holiest-significiance

[v] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Al-Aqṣā Mosque.” Encyclopedia Britannica, April 7, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Al-Aqsa-Mosque.

[vi] Hillel Cohen, ‘The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness’, Israel Studies Review 32, no. 1 (2017): 9.

[vii] Namzi Jubeh, ‘Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif: Crucible of Conflict and Control’, Journal of Palestine Studies 45, no. 2 (178) (2016): 23-25.

^[viii] Adam Sella, ‘What does the ‘status quo’ mean at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque?’, Al Jazeera, April 11, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/11/hldwhat-does-the-status-quo-mean-at-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque?traffic_source=KeepReading.

^[ix] Zena al Tahnan, ‘Who are the Jewish groups who enter Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa compound?’, Al Jazeera, April 12, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/12/who-are-jewish-groups-entering-al-aqsa-mosque.

[x] Motassem A Dalloul, ‘Is Jordan really the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites?’, Middle East Monitor, January 19, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230119-is-jordan-really-the-custodian-of-jerusalems-holy-sites/.

^[xi] Richard Kreitner, ‘September 28, 2000: Ariel Sharon Visits the Temple Mount, Sparking the Second Intifada’, The Nation, September 28, 2015. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/september-28-2000-ariel-sharon-visits-the-temple-mount-sparking-the-second-intifada/.

^[xii] Ali Adam, ‘Palestinian Intifada: How Israel orchestrated a bloody takeover’, Al Jazeera, September 28, 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/28/palestinian-intifada-20-years-later-israeli-occupation-continues.

[xiii] For a comprehensive overview of raids, closures and restrictions at Al-Aqsa between 2014 and 2022, see: Dalia Hatuqa and Alia Chughtai, ‘Timeline: Al-Aqsa raids, closures and restrictions’, Al Jazeera, April 20, 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/20/timeline-raids-closures-and-restrictions-on-al-aqsa.

[xiv] Helga Tawil-Souri, (2012) ‘Uneven Borders, Coloured (Im)mobilities: ID Cards in Palestine/Israel’, Geopolitics, 17, no. 1 (2012): 159.

[xv] See for example: Hanady Halawani, ‘I am a daughter of Jerusalem – and yet I cannot enter Al-Aqsa Mosque’, Middle East Eye, April 11, 2023. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/aqsa-mosque-how-israel-punishes-me-devotion.

[xvi] Yael Berda, ‘Living Emergency : Israel’s Permit Regime in the Occupied West Bank.’ (Redwood City: Stanford University Press) 2017, 35.

[xvii] United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Freedom of Movement Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.’ (A/HRC/31/44), January 20, 2016, 4.

[xviii] Upon request, the data was obtained from Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023.

[xix] UNHRC, ‘Freedom of Movement’, 2.

^[xx] ‘Temple Mount groups pledge prizes for animal sacrifice at Al-Aqsa Mosque’, Middle East Monitor, April 1, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230401-temple-mount-groups-pledge-prizes-for-animal-sacrifice-at-al-aqsa-mosque/.

^[xxi] See: ‘Jerusalem church leaders decry Israel’s ‘heavy-handed’ Easter restrictions’, Middle East Eye, April 12, 2023. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-jerusalem-easter-church-leaders-decry-heavy-handed-restrictions. and Maram Humaid, ‘Despite Israeli restrictions, Christians celebrate Holy Flame’, Al Jazeera, April 16, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/16/despite-israeli-bans-holy-flame-celebrated-in-jerusalem-gaza.

^[xxii] ‘The Ibrahimi Mosque massacre 29 years later: The victims are still paying the price’, Wafa Palestine News & Info Agency, February 25, 2023. https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/133561.

[xxiii] Nigel Wilson, ‘Remembering the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre’, Al Jazeera, February 26, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/2/26/remembering-the-ibrahimi-mosque-massacre.

[xxiv] ‘Israel sets up AI-controlled machine gun in occupied Hebron’, Middle East Monitor, September 27, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220927-israel-sets-up-ai-controlled-machine-gun-in-occupied-hebron/.

^[xxv] United Nations General Assembly, ‘Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel’, A/77/328, September 14, 2022.

Closure of Huwara

By Rafaël Rutten, April 11, 2023.

Amidst continued escalation of violence against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt), the West Bank village of Huwara has become an epicentre of attacks on Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers and military personnel. Part of the occupying power’s systematic violence and sparked by attacks on Israeli settlers, violent incidents have become frequent, most notably in the devastating rampage of Israeli settlers resulting in the death of one Palestinian man, hundreds of injuries and dozens of burned cars and houses. The attack was carried out in the presence of Israeli soldiers, who stood idly by and even protected the settlers during their hours-long destruction of the town.[i] This was no spontaneous attack, but an organized effort following a period of increasingly hateful rhetoric by far-right Israeli figures. Continuing in the rampage’s wake, the Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich stated Huwara “needs to be wiped out” and other prominent politicians called for increased control over Huwara and the movement of its citizens.[ii] Now, a month after the ravaging in Huwara, entrances to the village have increasingly been obstructed by newly erected checkpoints, barriers and other physical obstructions. This development is part of a larger trend of closure, separation and fragmentation deeply ingrained in Israel’s policy in the oPt.

Huwara, just south of Nablus, has a long history of settler violence against Palestinians, as Israelis pass through the town frequently to access nearby settlements. These colonies, illegal under international law, are mostly connected by an intricate web of segregated bypass roads designed to facilitate easy travel between them and Israel, adding to the complex territorial patchwork of control and separation that the West Bank has become.[iii] The village is also in close proximity to the city of Nablus, which has long been a bastion of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. Over the last months, the city has been the site of multiple violent raids by the Israeli military and has seen a growing influence of a Palestinian armed group called the Lion’s Den, which is dedicated to resistance against the occupation and the defence of Nablus.[iv] This adds to the tensions in Huwara, as it serves as an important thoroughfare connecting Nablus to cities further south, such as Ramallah, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Thus, the frequent contact of settlers and Palestinians and its strategic importance, make Huwara simultaneously unique as well as exemplary for the discriminatory policies and systematic violence in the oPt.

In an attempt to reinforce Israeli control over the occupied space in Huwara, the movement of Palestinians is limited through the use of physical obstacles placed at the entrances of the village. By erecting military checkpoints, barriers, gates and earth mounds, the Israeli occupiers effectively close off the town and restrict free movement of Palestinian citizens. Contrarily, settlers are free to move through the town, unencumbered by military searches and traffic jams. This selective closure, deemed a form of collective punishment under international law, is a fundamental tool in the arsenal of the Israeli occupation. Especially after attacks on Israeli soldiers or settlers, whole towns are effectively sealed off, using temporary as well as permanent measures. Under the pretence of a preventive security procedure, it is widely used to demonstrate Israeli power, bolster an unequal status quo between the two populations, foster a climate of uncertainty and fragment Palestinian society. The figurative flexing of military muscle serves as a constant reminder of the power imbalance in the oPt, continuously subjugating Palestinian citizens to intrusive and dehumanising measures of control over their movement, livelihood and freedom. Moreover, the ease with which settlers traverse the same space illustrates the stark contrast between the two populations of the oPt. The segregated areas the respective civilians can access, the imbalance in human rights they possess and the disproportionate freedoms they enjoy, all cement the inherent discriminatory disparity between Israeli settlers and Palestinians living under occupation. Furthermore, the seemingly random and unexpected nature of physical closure disrupts daily life and routines. A commute to work or a trip to family may suddenly take four times as long or be prohibited all together. Effectively increasing spatial and temporal distance and sowing uncertainty and unpredictability, this conduct can be described as ‘calibrated chaos’.[v] Finally, closure aims to separate Palestinian spaces, creating enclaves divided by Israeli control, resulting in a fragmented Palestinian archipelago. Separation and fragmentation shape all aspects of Palestinian life. Individually, it hinders or completely prevents visiting family, finding work or seeking adequate medical care. Collectively, it restricts the formation and preservation of national identity, Palestinian culture and political state-building.

Physical closure of contested spaces is only one way in which the mobility of Palestinians is continuously restricted. The Israeli occupation employs a multitude of tools aimed to immobilise the Palestinian population, ranging from physical barriers such as fences, gates and the separation wall, to administrative measures like identity cards and permits, to monitoring devices such as checkpoints and surveillance technology. This crippling apparatus directly violates the Human Right to Freedom of Movement, as outlined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which dictates that:

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Israel controls the movement of Palestinians within the borders of the oPt, prevents Palestinians from leaving the oPt and denies Palestinians the right to return to their own country, thus violating a universal human right. Furthermore, the Right to Freedom of Movement is a fundamental platform right, which has far-reaching implications for a plethora of other rights, including the right to self-determination, the right to health, the right to work and the right to family life. Therefore, Israel continuously violates a wide array of universal human rights in flagrant defiance of international law.

Hurryyat calls on the international community to take an active stance in order to stop the constant violations of universal human rights committed by Israel’s occupation regime. Concretely, Hurryyat proposes the following steps:

1. Ensure international protection for Palestinian civilians in accordance with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 904 Articles 2 and 3. This requires the implementation of measures with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, including the confiscation of arms and measures to guarantee the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians, including a temporary international presence.[vi]
2. Hold Israeli settlers accountable for crimes of war under International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions. Israeli military and Israeli government institutions should cease protecting settlers and perpetrators of crimes of war should be tried in accordance with International Law, as outlined in UNSC Resolution 2334 (specifically Article 6).[vii]
3. Hold settlers with dual citizenship accountable for their involvement in illegal occupation and crimes of war by stripping their citizenship. Many settlers hold both an Israeli passport and a European or American passport, which grants them the luxury position of being free to move back to their home countries in case they face trouble in their illegal settlements in Israel.[viii] This leads to many perpetrators of settler violence to leave Israel after committing illegal violent acts and thus escaping justice. Western governments thus hold a considerable power over a portion of the settler population, by stripping perpetrators of their citizenship. Governments should utilise this tool to hold perpetrators accountable for their violent actions.
4. Educate and engage in the Palestinian cause. Students specifically, being the future of our society, should actively inform themselves through reading, listening and most importantly, visiting. Independently visiting the oPt is the only way to truly grasp the reality of life under occupation and the obstacles Palestinians face in their daily lives. Understanding the systematic atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation and subsequently working to stop these practices, whether through pressuring governments, engaging in activism or humanitarian work or making meaningful change on a policy level, is incredibly useful. Awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and active engagement in the Palestinian cause, can help shape the future of the oPt.

The Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat”, through its Right to Movement and Travel Project, works to aid Palestinians who have been banned from travel, research the ways in which the Right to Movement is violated and advise international bodies on the subject. For more information on its mission and activities, as well as other important projects, please take a look at our website.

For more information:

• On Huwara:
  • ‘Israel besieges Nablus, MK calls for Huwara to be ‘tightly closed’,’ Middle East Monitor, March 27, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230327-israel-besieges-nablus-mk-calls-for-huwara-to-be-tightly-closed/
  • ‘Israel closes Palestinian stores in Huwara,’ Middle East Monitor, March 20, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230320-israel-closes-palestinian-stores-in-huwara/
  • ‘Palestine’s Huwara should be wiped out: Top Israeli minister,’ Al Jazeera, March 1, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/1/israel-arrests-settlers-after-anti-palestinian-pogrom
  • Fatima AbdulKarim, ‘“A Closed, Burnt Huwara”: How Israeli Settlers Launched A Pogrom,’ The Nation, March 16, 2023. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/palestine-israel-huwara-pogrom/
  • Rula Salameh, “I Witnessed a Shocking Attack on Palestinian Civilians. What I Saw May Be a Sign of What’s to Come,’ TIME, March 18, 2023. https://time.com/6264116/west-bank-attack-palestinian-civilians/
• On Movement and Mobility:
  • B’tselem: provides information, updates and an interactive map illustrating restrictions of movement. https://www.btselem.org/topic/freedom_of_movement
  • Julie Peteet, ‘Space and Mobility in Palestine.’ Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2017.
  • Nadia Abu-Zahra and Adah Kay, ‘Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction.’ London, Pluto Press, 2012.
  • United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Freedom of Movement Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.’ (A/HRC/31/44), January 20, 2016.

Rafaël Rutten is a Dutch intern working with Hurryyat on the Right to Movement and Travel Project, based in Ramallah. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in History & International Relations and is currently following a Master’s program in Conflict Studies & Human Rights, both at Utrecht University. He has a broad interest in history, international relations, violent conflict and media, with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa, specifically the Israel-Palestine Conflict.

[i] Oren Ziv, “Huwara reels after night of settler terror under army’s watch.” +972 Magazine, February 27, 2023. https://www.972mag.com/huwara-settler-violence-army/

[ii] See for example: ‘Palestine’s Huwara should be wiped out: Top Israeli minister’, Al Jazeera, March 1, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/1/israel-arrests-settlers-after-anti-palestinian-pogrom; ‘Israel besieges Nablus, MK calls for Huwara to be ‘tightly closed’’, Middle East Monitor, March 27, 2023. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230327-israel-besieges-nablus-mk-calls-for-huwara-to-be-tightly-closed/

[iii] See the website of B’tselem for an interactive map, providing a comprehensive overview of the complex patchwork of territorial control.

^[iv] Kingsley, Patrick and Hiba Yazbek, “In West Bank, New Armed Groups Emerge, and Dormant Ones Stir.” The New York Times, March 4, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/world/middleeast/west-bank-lions-den.html

[v] Peteet, Julie, ‘Space and Mobility in Palestine.’ (Bloomington: Indiana University Press) 2017, 38.

[vi] United Nations Security Council, Resolution 904 (S/RES/904), March 18, 1994.

[vii] United Nations Security Council, Resolution 2334 (S/RES/2334), December 23, 2016.

[viii] As of 2018, an estimated 10% of the Israeli population holds dual citizenship, according to: Yossi Herpaz and Ben Hertzog, “Report on Citizenship Law: Israel.” l RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2018/2 (Fiesole, European University Institute) 2018.

The Center of Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat” documents an increase in the number of sick detainees with cancerous tumors and diseases, as the number rose to 23 detainees, many of which are serious cases, such as that of the prisoner Nasser Abu Hmaid.

Hurryyat holds the Israeli prison administration responsible for those sick detainees and the increase in their number, as it continues its practice of medical negligence against male and female detainees, and refuses to conduct regular examinations on them as stipulated by Article 92 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This practice leads to delays in the discovery of disease, and hence a deterioration in prisoners’ health, prior to discovery. An evident case of that is the death of the ex-prisoner Ehab Zaid Al-Kilani in mid-May of this year, as a result of the sudden spread of cancer in his body, and the discovery of the disease after his release.

Hurryyat points to the drastic health state of the detainee Nasser Abu Hmaid who has lung cancer and has received three chemotherapy sessions and is awaiting the fourth.  Abu Hamid’s health condition is deteriorating and he suffers from severe pain in the chest. He currently can’t breathe without an oxygen tube, and has to use a wheelchair to move. Hurryyat considers the medical negligence toward Abu Hamid a death sentence.

Concerning the detainee Iyad Natheer Omar, reports show that he suffers from a tumor behind one of his ears, and a weakness in his left lung. In August 2021, he underwent a surgery to remove a benign tumor from his brain. His health condition continues to deteriorate.

Hurryyat emphasizes the importance of putting pressure on the Occupation authorities to identify the medical condition of Yacoub Qadri, one of the freedom tunnel heroes, detained in Ohalay Kedar, especially after news came out that he suffers from a tumor. Qadri was assaulted seven months ago by “Nahshon’ unit inside the central court in Nazareth, and as a result he suffered from severe pains in his right hand and shoulder. Moreover, according to the X-ray examination he underwent recently, he has developed thyroid tumor, where the left side is ten times larger than the right side. This has caused him to live in constant concern and worry because of the prison administration’s procrastination in informing him of his real health condition. Now a biopsy is required, to be examined as soon as possible.

As for the detainee Fawaz Bara, he was diagnosed with cancer in the lymph nodes, and underwent a surgery, after which he started having trouble breathing. He is in need of another surgery to remove what was left from the tumor, and it’s a dangerous surgery that might cause him paralysis according to the doctors who have not carried out enough examinations to obtain the success rate of this surgery.

Hurryyat warns of the occupation authorities’ attempts to pass a law in Knesset that was put forward in the first reading; one that aims to charge the detainees’ families for the cost of their treatment, in the case that the prison administration allows detainees’ the receipt of treatment. By passing and applying such law, the Israeli authorities is violating the Fourth Geneva Convention and all human rights standards and conventions. Hurryyat also emphasizes that the arrests, interrogation, torture of detainees, and the harsh conditions they live under and are subjected to inside Israeli prisons, starting from solitary confinement, repression, and abuse of prisoners, to the crime of medical negligence in diagnosis and treatment, are all the main factors behind the development of diseases, their symptoms and the difficulty to treat them.

Hurryyat views the deterioration of the health situation in Israeli occupation prisons and the increase in the numbers of sick detainees especially those who suffer from cancerous tumors, as a serious danger that requires immediate action from all human rights and international organizations, particularly the United Nations, International Red Cross and World Health Organization. Hurryyat also demands the formation of an international medical committee responsible for visiting the Israeli prisons and reporting all forms of violations of detainees’ rights, in order to expose the Israeli occupation and its oppressive policies, as well as to hold it accountable and pressure it to put an end to the policy of medical negligence and release sick detainees before it’s too late.

In light of the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Ms. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, (“U.S. Ambassador”), current visit to Israel, Palestine and Jordan, and following statements reporting that the Ambassador will not meet with representatives of the six targeted Palestinian Civil Society organizations (“CSOs”), and the pledged normalization by the U.S. Ambassador, the undersigned organizations issue the following statement.

London-based “Alquds Alarabi” newspaper, reported a State Department official, whose name and title were kept anonymous, stated that: “Ms. Thomas-Greenfield will not meet any of the representatives of the Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations which Israel had recently designated as ‘terrorist’ organizations.” The official resumed “we will announce the other civil society organizations that the Ambassador will meet with during her visit, but meeting civil society organizations in general is important for us.”

On 15 November 2021, the U.S. Ambassador provided her remarks to the Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, before their meeting in Jerusalem, confirming US support for the “Abraham Accords” and for Israel’s normalization agreements with countries in the region. In the light of the abovementioned, and the stated purpose of Ms. Greenfield’s visit, we, the undersigned Palestinian civil society organizations, declare the following:

1-  We highly value the position of all States, as well as international, regional, national and multilateral organizations, who have condemned the Israeli designation of the six Palestinian CSOs as “terrorist organizations”. We refer in particular to the positions of Ireland in rejecting these designations, and Norway in calling for a reversal of these unlawful actions. The designations disregard the basic human rights to freedom of expression, and are tantamount to inhumane acts of apartheid intended to erase and silence Palestinian civil society.

2-  In addition, our organizations stress and share the position declared by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet: “Claiming rights before a UN or other international body is not an act of terrorism, advocating for the rights of women in the occupied Palestinian territory is not terrorism, and providing legal aid to detained Palestinians is not terrorism.”

3-  Further, we recall the joint position of the UN Special Rapporteurs who condemned the designations stating: “This designation is a frontal attack on the Palestinian human rights movement, and on human rights everywhere… Silencing their voices is not what a democracy adhering to well-accepted human rights and humanitarian standards would do. We call upon the international community to defend the defenders.” Further the UN special rapporteurs explained that “anti-terrorism legislation is designed for a specific and restricted purpose, and must not be used to unjustifiably undermine civil liberties or to curtail the legitimate work of human rights organizations”.

4-  Israel’s defamation of Palestinian CSOs is not new. Attacks against Palestinians CSOs have been on the rise for more than 15 years, since the Durban Conference against Racism, and intensified following increasing demands to sanction Israel. Israeli attacks against Palestinian civil society especially heightened following the accession of the State of Palestine to the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. They further escalated with the Office of the Prosecutor’s subsequent decision to open an investigation into the Situation in Palestine, into war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed by the Israeli authorities and Israeli Occupying Forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

5-  Critically, Israel’s settler colonial policies and practices alongside it’s institutionalized and discriminatory apartheid regime continue to threaten the Palestinian people’s enjoyment of their basic human rights, including their inalienable right to self-determination, permanent sovereignty over natural and national resources, and collective right of return to their homes, which together form the primary obstacle to a viable contiguous independent Palestinian State. Further, the prolonged nature of the military occupation, now in its 54th year, has been maintained through the orchestration of grave violations of international law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed by Israeli individuals with impunity.

6-  The main task of our institutions and of Palestinian human rights defenders is to work towards an end to the occupation, the dismantling of the apartheid regime and towards the realization of our collective human rights to self-determination and the right of return.

7-  The purpose of the visit, has been to reportedly, “explore ways of strengthening normalization agreements such as the “Abraham Accords. Our organizations stress that economic benefit and “peace in the region” are merely a fig leaf. “Peace” which does not include the realization of the rights of all Palestinians will be one without justice, and so will be no peace at all. Our organizations restate the words of Al-Haq General Director Shawan Jabarin that, “It is now time, for the international community and the Palestinian people to collectively rise up and resist this egregious regional normalization, to ensure the realization of our people to self-determination and permanent sovereignty, and to prevent Israeli and regional measures towards the erasure of our people, culture, lands and home.”

8-  The undersigned organizations therefore declare that they will not meet with the U.S. Ambassador. We further call upon all other Palestinian organizations to adopt a similar position and demonstrate their clear and principled refusal to refuse the normalization of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

9-  Let this be a clear- the Israeli attack on the six Palestinian civil society organizations is an attack on Palestinian civil society as a whole.  The U.S. Ambassador’s unwillingness to meet with the representatives of the six CSOs on her visit only reinforces Israel’s attack which aims to undermine and delegitimize the human rights work of Palestinian civil society. We further call on diplomatic missions, parliamentary representatives, and international organizations to reject and condemn the unlawful designation of the six Palestinian CSOs, to pressure the United States to condemn Israel’s designation and call for its rescission.

The undersigned:

1. Al Haq Organization – Law in the Service of Mankind
2. ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
3. DCI – Defense for Children International – Palestine
4. Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
5. Aldameer Association for Human Rights
6. Hurryyat – Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights
7. Treatment & Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (TRC)
8. The Civil Institute for Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law – ISTIQLAL
9. Women’s Studies Centre
10. Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
11. MA’AN Development Center
12. The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD)
13. Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association
14. Rural Women’s Development Society
15. W.C.A
16. Arab Agronomists Association
17. Afkar for Educational and Cultural Development
18. Land Research Center
19. Palestinian Counseling Center
20. Arab Center for Agricultural Development
21. Marsad Arabi for Democracy and Elections (Al Marsad)
22. Sharek Youth Forum
23. Filastiniyat
24. Miftah – The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
25. Teacher Creativity Center
26. The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession
27. Aman-Transparency Palestine
28. The Palestinian Association for Empowerment and local Development – REFORM
29. Burj Al-Luqluq Social Center
30. Palestinian Medical Relief Society
31. The Community Action Center-Al Quds University
32. Mothers School Society
33. Union of Agriculture Work Committees
34. Al-Awda Childhood and Youth Rehabilitation Center
35. Sareyyet Ramallah
36. GENERAL UNION OF CULTURAL CENTERS
37. Abdel ـ Shafi Community Health Association ( ACHA)
38. Al Najda Social Association
39. Al Sattar Garbee Association for Developing Countryside and Farmer
40. Al Tawasol Forum Society (TFS)
41. Al-Dar Rural Association
42. ALFoukhary Association For Development and Culture
43. AL-Karmel Cultural and Social Development Association
44. Almanal Society for Developing the Rural Women
45. Basma Society for Culture and Arts
46. Deir El Balah Social & Cultural Center
47. Deir El-Balah Rehabilitation Society
48. El Wafaa Charitable Society
49. Gaza Culture & Development Group
50. Gaza Urban Agriculture Platform
51. General Union of Workers of Agriculture and Food Processing
52. Ghassan Kanafani Development
53. Jabalia Rehabilitation Society
54. Labor Resources Center
55. National Society for Rehabilitation
56. Palestinian Center of Organic Agriculture
57. Palestinian Farmers Union
58. Palestinian Woman’s Union
59. Rural Women’s Development Society
60. The Assembly Benevolent of Operation
61. The Eastern Association for Agriculture
62. The National Society for Democracy and Law
63. The Palestinian Hydrology Group /Gaza
64. The Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development
65. Union of Health Care Committees
66. Union of Health Work Committees
67. Union of Palestinians Women’s Committees
68. Wefaq Society for Woman & Child Care
69. Women’s Affairs Center /Gaza
70. Youth Development Foundation