NGO Action News – 8 August 2024

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 5 August, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights published a report highlighting a number of monitored and documented alleged crimes and violations committed by Israeli security forces and settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including willful killings, destruction of public and private property, arrests and threats, among others.
• On 4 August, B’Tselem published the report “Welcome to Hell” documenting the alleged abuse of Palestinians held in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. The NGO collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians held during that time and released, almost all with no charges. According to the B’Tselem, the testimonies revealed the outcomes of the rushed transformation of more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities, military and civilian, into a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy.
• On 3 August, the Institute for Palestine Studies published an article on misrepresentations in Western coverage of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. According to the article, mainstream Western coverage of the advisory opinion misrepresented and ignored important facts about the opinion, including the fact that all states are “under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
• On 2 August, Yesh Din published the document “State of the Occupation – Year 57: A Joint Situation Report”, prepared by several human rights organisations in Israel. The report aims to present the overall picture of different elements of the occupation and of Israel’s policy, surveying the main trends of the past year. Physicians for Human Rights also published the report on its website.
• On 28 July, HaMoked sent a letter to the Israeli military demanding that Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank be allowed to harvest their olives groves in the “Seam Zone” – the areas of the West Bank between the Green Line and the Separation Wall. The letter motivated by the Israeli military’s ongoing decision, taken immediately following the outbreak of the Gaza War on 7 October 2023, to sweepingly ban the entry into the Seam Zone for Palestinians who own or work lands there, and who had previously been allowed entry pursuant to hard-to-receive entry permits.

Africa, Asia and Europe

• On 6 August, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) informed that Jerusalem municipality workers, accompanied by Israeli Security Forces, had demolished a Palestinian home in the Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. The demolition has displaced seven Palestinians, including two children, in breach of international law prohibitions on forcible transfer and the wanton destruction of property. The NGO added that the whole Palestinian community in Al-Bustan was at risk as all the structures in in this area were currently unprotected against further demolitions.
• On 5 August, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) issued a press release condemning the deadly attacks by Israeli forces on schools in Gaza that had been turned into shelters for displaced persons. The NGO expressed its deep concerns about the effect of these strikes on children and vulnerable people, adding that schools should be safe havens for education and refuge.
• On 5 August, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine published an article on the implication of the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion for the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The NGO informed that this opinion recalled responsibilities of all states, including EU members, to respect the right to self-determination, the obligations arising from the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force, and other obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as they EU may now have to review its trade with Israel.
• On 29 July, Diakonia published a summary of the ICJ Advisory Opinion with a view to explaining the reasoning that led the Court to formulate its conclusions. The note also examined some of the points raised in seven declarations made by judges on the panel, as well as in two joint opinions and five separate opinions they provided.

North America

• On 7 August, Americans for Peace Now held the webinar “Israel’s Annexation Revolution: with Shalom Achshav’s Lior Amihai”. The discussion examined Israel’s annexation effort since
  7 October including displacing Palestinians, expanding existing settlements, and doubling the resources available to settlement, with the legalization of more than 70 illegal outposts.
• On 31 July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on the pressure from some Israeli authorities’ representatives, including lawmakers, against the arrest of soldiers and their transfer for questioning about the alleged “severe abuse” of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman Israeli military base. The NGO called on Israel’s allies to increase pressure to end grave abuses against Palestinians in custody, stop detaining them without charge or trial, and allow independent monitors access to detention facilities.

United Nations

• On 6 August, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, denounced the killing of two more journalists in Gaza and demanded full accountability for the perpetrators. The Special Rapporteur expressed her dismay over attacks against Al Jazeera, including the deliberate killing of its journalists in Gaza, the total ban on the outlet in Israel and the vicious smear campaign against the broadcaster. Ms. Khan was also gravely concerned that none of the cases of journalists killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has ever been transparently investigated, nor suspected perpetrators brought to justice by Israeli authorities.
• On 5 August, independent UN human rights experts warned that reports of alleged torture and sexual violence in Israel’s Sde Teiman prison only represented the tip of the iceberg. The experts had received substantiated reports of widespread abuse, torture, sexual assault and rape, amid atrocious inhumane conditions, with at least 53 Palestinians apparently dying as a result in the last 10 months. The Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory had investigated Israel’s detention practices in 2023 and had called on UN Member States to intervene and the International Criminal Court to promptly investigate what appeared to be a consolidated crime against humanity. The experts expressed their regrets that this call was not heeded then.
• On 2 August, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, released a statement on the Situation in the Middle East, in which he highlighted the urgency of addressing the growing risk of a serious escalation, which posed a substantial threat to regional stability. Mr. Wennesland further briefed about his engagement with the relevant parties and member states in the region, including Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar, in support of regional de-escalation, and reaffirmed the necessity of urgent, coordinated action to prevent further deterioration of the situation.