NGO Action News – 04 July 2024

Middle East

• On 30 June, Peace Now informed that the Israeli cabinet has decided to legalise five illegal outposts in isolated areas deep in the West Bank. All five outposts are located in isolated areas far from any contiguous settlements, and close to Palestinian communities in the Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron areas. According to Peace Now, in almost all cases, the land is either privately owned by Palestinians, or with challenging ownership issues.
• On 27 June, Gisha released a TV documentary on the NGO’s petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice to increase humanitarian access to Gaza. Gisha stated that since 7 May, Rafah Crossing has been closed while aid delivery and movement of people through the crossing halted. For several weeks, entry of goods via Egypt, which served as a central conduit for the flow of humanitarian aid to the entire Strip, was also stopped through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. This hampered the international community’s efforts to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
• On 26 June, Al Mezan published a report from Forensic Architecture documenting the mass displacement of Palestinian civilians being carried out by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. The report claimed that the Israeli military has repeatedly failed to comply with the laws governing the application of evacuation orders, ‘safe routes’, and ‘safe zones in war time.

Asia and Europe

• On 2 July, Agence Média Palestine informed that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) published a press release announcing that Spain would join the case relating to the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). The Agency claimed that a growing number of countries is supporting this proceeding, invoking Articles 62 and 63 of the Statute of the Court to file an application for permission to intervene.
• On 1 July, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) published a briefing sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food entitled “Israeli genocide causing environmental disaster, aggravating drought and protracted famine”. According to this briefing, half of Gaza water sites have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli forces. PRC has also warned that the lack of clean water and flows of untreated sewage posed a serious threat to health. Accumulating garbage and sewage across the Gaza Strip, combined with hot temperatures and a lack of clean water were accelerating the spread of diseases.
• On 27 June, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released a media update on the situation in Gaza. The document included updates from NRC staff in Gaza highlighting the dire situation faced by Palestinians in the Strip. NRC added that the humanitarian response south of Wadi Gaza had nearly come to a halt due to escalating security concerns, supply shortages, and coordination challenges for humanitarian organisations. As needs continue to grow, the capacity of humanitarians to respond was diminishing.

North America

• On 1 July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published an article stating that all victims of gross human rights violations in Palestine and Israel were owed reparations. The organisation stressed that, under international law, governments responsible for abuses were obliged to provide effective remedies for human rights violations, including through truth, justice, compensation, memorialization, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Non-state armed groups also have responsibilities to provide reparations.

United Nations

• On 2 July, the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, briefed the Security Council, alerting that over 1 million people in Gaza have been displaced once again since 6 May, following the Israeli offensive against Rafah. She added that while humanitarian aid delivery was the current priority, Palestinians should not be expected to depend on it forever. Highlighting the goal of creating a modern local economy in Gaza, she added that the international community needed to consider traditional development financing, the establishment of new trust funds, and innovative financing instruments. Ms. Kaag also emphasised that UNRWA must be allowed to implement its mandated role.
• On 1 July, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened the 2024 Symposium on the Question of Jerusalem “Jerusalem and the Gaza War: Palestinian Identity and Existence Under Threat of Erasure” at OIC Headquarters, Jeddah. The joint event highlighted Israel’s policies of forced displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people in the City, in the context of similar efforts elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and particularly in light of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and onslaught and massive forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population. The recording of the proceedings is available on the OIC YouTube Channel. On the following day, on 2 July, a Committee delegation visited Riyadh for bilateral meetings with the Government of Saudi Arabia.
• On 28 June, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) published a quarterly newsletter on its activities during the period April-June 2024. This report provided updates on the latest CEIRPP advocacy efforts, country visits and events including forums, conferences and panel discussions with civil society organisations and Member State representatives.
• On 26 June, OCHA published a “Reported impact snapshot” on the situation in Gaza. OCHA provided data on several humanitarian clusters and services, including health, education and the truckloads entering the Strip. OCHA also informed that over 37,000 Palestinians fatalities and more than 85,000 Palestinian injuries have been reported since the beginning of the war.