NGO Action News – 16 May 2024

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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. Translations of the NGO Action News in other languages will be available in due course.

You may find previous issues of the NGO Action News in Spanish here.

You may find issues of the NGO Action News in French here.

You may find issues of the NGO Action News in Arabic here.

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

NGO Action News

16 May 2024

Middle East

• On 15 May, the Institute for Palestine Studies published the article “A Price on Palestinian Life: The Struggle to Evacuate Families from Gaza”. This article describes how thousands of Palestinians from Gaza are trying to leave the Strip for other countries to find shelter from the destruction and constant threats against the lives of their families caused by the ongoing Israeli military campaign. 
• On 15 May, Al Mezan published the article “Testimonies from Gaza: A 1948 Nakba Survivor Re-lives Past Trauma Amid Today’s Forced Displacement in Gaza”. To mark the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, Al Mezan had compiled a collection of testimonies from survivors of the 1948 Nakba who continue to face an ongoing Nakba in Gaza. Badil marked this anniversary as well by publishing a statement from 123 civil society organisations calling for the realisation of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights to self-determination and return. 
• On 12 May, Addameer published a statement calling on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct a special investigation into alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces against prisoners in Gaza and to take the necessary measures to hold accountable all those responsible for these crimes. Addameer asserts that there is a reasonable basis to the claim that the Israeli forces are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against prisoners from the Gaza Strip. 
• On 10 May, Peace Now informed that the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the prosecutor’s office and the police to open a criminal investigation into the construction of an illegal residential neighbourhood in the “Hayovel” outpost near the Eli settlement, in the occupied West Bank. The NGO further reported that after six years of court hearings and repeated postponement requests by the state, which sought to avoid investigating the funding, initiation, and construction of illegal outposts and neighbourhoods in the West Bank, the judges of the High Court took a precedent-setting decision to oblige the Israeli authorities to investigate the issue. 

Asia and Europe 

• On 15 May, Amnesty International accused world leaders of failing to act as the Israeli military operation in Rafah worsened a humanitarian catastrophe, and disrupted the humanitarian response, in breach of UN Security Council resolutions as well as the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures. The organisation stated that Third States have the responsibility to urgently act in bringing to an end, and pursue accountability for, the grave breaches of International Humanitarian Law taking place in Gaza. 
• On 14 May, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) commemorated Nakba Day recalling the cataclysmic events of 1948, which forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, leading to a persistent legacy of dispossession, suffering, and injustice. PRC stated that seventy-six years on, the Nakba continues to reverberate throughout Palestine, nowhere more acutely felt than in the Gaza Strip. Many other organizations, including Diakonia and Agence Média Palestine, also published articles on this commemoration. 

North America 

• On 19 May, The Jerusalem Fund will be celebrating its 47th Anniversary Gala in Chicago, Illinois. The keynote speaker, Lara Elborno, is a Palestinian-American international lawyer and activist. This year, the gala is devoted to supporting The Jerusalem Fund’s Gaza Emergency Appeal. 
• On 14 May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that Israeli forces had carried out at least eight strikes on aid workers’ convoys and premises in Gaza since October 2023, even though aid groups had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities to ensure their protection. HRW also called on Israel to make public the findings of investigations into attacks that have killed and injured aid workers, and into all other attacks that caused civilian casualties. 
• On 14 May, Americans for Peace Now (APN) issued a statement to express disagreement with the U.S. administration’s report on Israel’s compliance with international and U.S. law in its conduct of the Gaza war. APN stated that the report denies the clear and unambiguous evidence that Israel is not in compliance. J Street also reported on this issue. 

United Nations 

• On 17 May, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) will organize the commemorative event “1948 – 2024: The Ongoing Palestinian Nakba”, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event, organized as a panel discussion will examine the historical context of the 1948 events and the ongoing process of the Nakba over the past 76 years, culminating in the current war on Gaza. It will also present testimony on the current conflict and highlight international obligations and responsibilities. The event will take place in person at the UN ECOSOC Chamber in New York and will also be broadcasted live on UN Web TV.  
• On 14 May, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General issued a statement informing that the Secretary-General was appalled by the escalation of military activity in and around Rafah by the Israel Defence Forces. Secretary-General Guterres reiterated his urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages. He also called for the Rafah crossing to be re-opened immediately and for the UN to be given unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza.
• On 14 May, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, issued a statement raising alarm about the intensifying hostilities in Rafah and North Gaza. She stated that the escalation of hostilities in Rafah and throughout the Gaza Strip had deepened the suffering of hundreds of thousands of children, who have endured an unrelenting nightmare. Khodr added that she was also concerned about water infrastructure and access to clean water and sanitation across the Gaza Strip.