NGO Action News – 10 October 2024

Middle East

• During the reporting period, many NGOs published articles and statements to mark the first anniversary of the 7 October attack on southern Israel and the ongoing war on Gaza which followed. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies recalled that over 1,200 people, many of them civilians, were killed in Israel on that day, while Israel’s military campaign cost the lives of at least 41,802 Palestinians in Gaza and injured 96,844, while displacing 90 percent of Gaza’s population. Al Shabaka, Institute for Palestine Studies, Gisha, Amnesty International, Norwegian Refugee Council, Jewish Voice for Peace, Friends of Sabeel North America, among other organisations, published similar statements.
• On 8 October, Addameer published the report “The Illegality of Arresting and Prosecuting Palestinians in Light of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion”. The NGO stated that even though the recent ICJ ruling did not directly address the illegality of the arrest of Palestinians by the Occupying Power or their trial, the Israeli military judicial system constituted a system of apartheid, as it used its powers imposed by the Israeli occupation to suppress and deter the Palestinian people. Addameer also published data on arrest campaigns in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, informing that more than 9,000 orders of administrative detention have been issued during this period, ranging between new orders and renewals, including orders against children and women.
• On 7 October, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a press release condemning the Israel Defence Forces’ targeting and killing of journalists during the current war on the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for a year. The NGO stated that the latest of these intentional crimes was the killing of 19-year-old journalist Hasan ‘Abdel Rahim Hamad during his coverage of the Israeli bombardment of the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza. In addition, PCHR also condemned the killing of 18 Palestinians, including children, in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Tulkarem refugee camp on 3 October.

Africa, Asia and Europe

• On 9 October, several international civil society organisations published a statement after Israeli authorities issued new mass displacement orders targeting the remaining Palestinians of the northern Gaza Strip, ordering them to move to the south. This move will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the north of the Strip and has prevented international and national humanitarian organisations from carrying out already very limited life-saving aid operations. The undersigned aid organisations demanded the protection of all civilians in line with international humanitarian law and expressed particular concern about children, pregnant women with complications or at advanced stages of pregnancy and other people who are sick, older people, persons with disabilities, or are otherwise unable to leave.
• On 7 October, Agence Média Palestine published an article warning that Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more journalists in the past year than any other conflict in the past three decades, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S.-based group that tracks human rights abuses against journalists around the world. The NGO reported that at least 128 media workers have been killed in the conflict since 7 October 2023.
• On 6 October, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) informed that it had convened a side event during the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, titled “The Dehumanisation of Palestinians in Gaza.” The event explored the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with a particular focus on the profound impact on women, children, and other vulnerable groups. Critical issues raised included the failure of international bodies to fulfil their mandates, the urgent need for accountability for human rights violations, and the necessity of addressing the often-overlooked plight of disabled individuals in Gaza, who face unique and compounded challenges.

North America

• On 2 October, Human Rights Watch published a letter from three NGOs addressed to FIFA, the football world’s governing body, to encourage FIFA’s compliance with international law by ending its de facto recognition of and support for Israeli settlement football clubs operating illegally in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, by immediately barring FIFA’s affiliate, the Israel Football Association, from organizing football activities in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The letter argues that FIFA-sanctioned football in settlements is inherently discriminatory, because Palestinian residents of the West Bank cannot access the pitches, which are reserved for Israeli settlers.
• On 1 October, Americans for Peace Now issued a statement welcoming the new sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department on violent Israeli settlers and organizations in the occupied West Bank. The NGO stated that sanctioning violent nationalist settlers is only the tip of the iceberg, adding that the U.S. Government must overhaul its approach to aid to ensure that it is not being used in ways that are contrary to its policies and values.

United Nations

• On 31 October, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will organize the briefing “International legal responsibilities for preventing genocide, holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable, and for ending the unlawful occupation of Palestine”. The briefing will feature presentations from the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967, Francesca Albanese; and on the Right to Health, Tlaleng Mofokeng; as well as a Commissioner of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, Chris Sidoti. These briefings will address their recent reports to the UN General Assembly and recent developments, including the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in July.  The Committee will also hear from representatives of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine and the NGO “Law For Palestine”. The event will take place at 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., at the UN Headquarters (ECOSOC Chamber), New York, and be broadcast via UN Web TV.
• On 9 October, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People released its 2024 Annual Report in the official languages of the UN. The report covers the period from 2 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 and is for submission to the General Assembly in accordance with para. 2 and 10 of GA resolution 77/22 of 30 November 2022.
• On 9 October, the Security Council is holding a briefing and consultations under the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”. Algeria and Slovenia, supported by France, requested the meeting. Director of the Financing and Partnerships Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Lisa Doughten and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini are expected to brief.
• On 7 October, the Chair of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ambassador Cheikh Niang, released a tweet calling for an urgent ceasefire one year after the tragic events that claimed over 1,200 lives in Israel, and the devastating consequences of the disproportionate response in Gaza, where over 41,000—primarily women and children—have perished. He went on to say that the situation in Gaza and the West Bank was dangerously destabilizing the region. Ambassador Niang urged an immediate halt of all hostilities, the release of all hostages, unrestricted humanitarian access, and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, including Gaza.
• On 7 October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres released a message to mark one year since the 7 October 2023 attacks and stated that it was time for the release of the hostages, time to silence the guns, and time to stop the suffering that has engulfed the region. OCHA issued a statement to mark one year since Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, an event that foreshadowed the devastation brought on by the Israeli response. Joyce Msuya, the Acting Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator, stated that Member States must wield their influence to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, among many other UN representatives, issued a statement as well.