NGO Action News – 20 February 2025

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This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations working on the question of Palestine. The Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat provide the information “as is” without warranty of any kind, and do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in the websites linked in the newsletter.

Middle East

• On 20 February, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued the study “Israeli Violations and International Action: Women in Gaza Shattered by Compound Violence”. The study aims to document the impact of Israeli violations against women during the Gaza War alongside the different forms of violence they have experienced, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of raising women’s awareness of available support services and facilitating their access through awareness campaigns by ensuring safe transportation and full confidentiality.
• On 18 February, Al-Haq published their submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967. The document focuses on the illegal activities of nonprofit organizations, which directly enable and facilitate the spread of illegal settlement activity throughout the OPT. To this end, Al-Haq urged the Special Rapporteur and third states to recognize the “pervasive nature of nonprofit enterprise activity in entrenching Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT”; to hold States accountable for granting tax benefits and allowing these organizations to operate in their jurisdictions; and to urge their inclusion in the annual update to the UN database.
• On 18 February, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights joined over 230 global organisations demanding governments producing F-35 military aircraft stop arming Israel. The NGOs wrote that the failure by all F-35 partner nations to apply their domestic, regional or international legal obligations by halting the supply of F-35 parts and components to Israel has led to devastating and irreparable harm to Palestinians in Gaza. This failure indicates that partner nations were effectively either unable or unwilling to implement their purported arms export control regimes, or that they had chosen to apply it selectively. The NGOs called on the F-35 partner nations to immediately halt the direct and indirect transfer of F-35 parts and components to Israel.
• On 16 February, Addameer – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association informed that the Israeli authorities had released 369 Palestinian prisoners in the preceding week, as part of the sixth batch of Phase 1 of the Ceasefire Agreement. The NGO reported that the Palestinian prisoners had been subjected to deliberate medical neglect and continuous torture for over 16 months.
• On 16 February, Adalah- The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel filed a petition on behalf of Palestinian refugees, jointly with partner human rights organization Gisha, calling for the immediate cancellation of two laws enacted by the Israeli parliament against UNRWA operations in the OPT. The petition argues that implementing the laws, which aimed to unilaterally strip Palestinians of their refugee status, would gravely undermine the rights of many refugees to dignity, education, health and freedom of occupation. The petition further stresses that the implementation of the laws may constitute a violation of the Genocide Convention and could amount to a war crime under the Rome Statute of the ICC, which criminalizes the intentional starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.
• On 4 February, Yesh Din published a data sheet focusing on the Israeli military law enforcement system’s response to soldier offenses against Palestinians committed in the West Bank from 2018 to 2022. The document shows that military law enforcement authorities consistently avoid investigating and prosecuting soldiers who commit offenses against Palestinians. The NGO further argued that this systematic failure paved the way for intervention by international tribunals.

Africa, Asia and Europe

• On 20 February, Amnesty International issued a statement ahead of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting with Israeli FM Sa’ar in Brussels during the EU-Israel Association Council. They warned that this would be the first time in the EU’s history that its leaders welcome the foreign representative of a state whose prime minister and former defense minister are subject to arrest warrants by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The NGO stated that EU leaders should be deciding what measures to take to prevent the EU from aiding Israel’s war on Gaza and unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory.
• On 10 February, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine issued a joint civil society letter ahead of the EU-Israel Association Council meeting. The signatories expressed their concern over the planned meeting, set to take place amid Israel’s grave breaches of international law, and urged the EU officials, including the Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, to use this opportunity to address these Israeli violations and bring them to an end. They urged the EU to request its Commission to draft a proposal for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and to review all trade and other relations between the EU and Israel to ensure that they are compliant with the ICJ Advisory Opinion and UN General Assembly resolution E-10/24.
• On 4 February, Human Rights Watch, along with over 160 civil society organizations and trade unions, called on the European Union to ban trade and business with Israeli settlements in the OPT, including East Jerusalem. The call comes as international attention shifts to “day after” scenarios amid a fragile Gaza ceasefire and continued suffering of Palestinians there, while in the occupied West Bank Israeli authorities expanded their illegal settlements and intensified their repression of Palestinians. The NGOs called on the EU to “be coherent with its own statements, and live up to its obligations under international law, by banning trade and business with settlements […]”.

North America

• On 15 February, FMEP’s Lara Friedman shared the essay she had contributed to the collection “For Gaza’s Children: progressive Black, Brown and Jewish Writers and Poets Speak Out”, published by Third World Press, and edited by Marc Lamont Hill, Haki Madhubuti and Keith Gilyard.

United Nations

• On 18 February, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini denounced the denial of the right to education of children and young people in East Jerusalem in UNRWA schools. Israeli security forces and personnel from the Jerusalem Municipality have forcefully entered the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation. At least 350 students and 30 staff were present while tear gas and sound bombs were fired. UNRWA stated that children’s access to education must be preserved and UN facilities must be protected and respected at all times wherever they are.
• On 18 February, UN Human rights experts denounced the degrading public display by Hamas of Israeli hostages released in Gaza on 8 and 15 February 2025. They have also repeatedly condemned Israel’s mistreatment and abuses of Palestinian detainees, including starvation, beatings and sexual violence, which may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and war crimes. The experts called on all parties to respect the three stages of the ceasefire agreement, ensure the continuing release of all hostages and Palestinians arbitrarily detained, reveal the fate and whereabouts of all forcibly disappeared persons, respectfully return the deceased to their families, ensure the entry of humanitarian aid, and permit the return of displaced Palestinians.