24 June 2021

Middle East

• On 23 June, three Palestinian NGOs – Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and The Palestinian Human Rights Organization (PHRO) – co-signed a letter with 44 other NGOs from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) to the new Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, highlighting ways to advance justice at the ICC.

• On 23 June, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued the press release “Israeli Offensive Remnants, Including Projectiles and Explosive Objects, Threaten Civilians’ Lives in Gaza Strip” in which the NGO highlights the dangers and requests the international community to act, e.g. through finding a mechanism for the transmission of technical information to the United Nations and its explosive device disposal units in order to facilitate the disposal of the remnants quickly and immediately to reduce the risk of inflicting more casualties.

• On 22 June, Peace Now published the article “The new outpost of Evyatar: Status and Implications” highlighting the background, legal status and current situation of the illegal settlement.

• On 22 June, Gisha – Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement provided an update on the situation at the crossings between Israel and Gaza, highlighting how ongoing restrictions imposed by Israel at the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings constitute prohibited collective punishment of Palestinians living under occupation in Gaza.

• On 21 June, Al-Haq informed that it had participated in the second open informal consultation on the Second Revised Draft Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate, in International Human Rights Law, the Activities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, held on 11 June by the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights (OEIGWG).

• On 17 June, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association issued a press release urging the intervention for the immediate release from Israeli detention of the Palestinian girl Amal Nakhleh, under extenuating medical circumstances.

• On 16 June, Al-Haq announced that its Center for Applied International Law had concluded its online summer school programme. The programme focuses on International Law applications to the Palestinian people, aiming at internationals experts and academics in the fields of International Law and human rights from around the world.

North America

• On 24 June, J Street welcomed a letter from 73 Democrat Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to President Biden urging his administration to reverse a number of damaging steps taken by the Trump administration with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to re-establish clear US support for a viable two-state solution.

United Nations

• 1 July, the UN Palestinian Rights Committee, with support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, will hold the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem “Forced demographic change in Jerusalem – grave breaches and a threat to peace”, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (New York Time), via WebEx. The event will also be livestreamed on UN Web TV. The speakers – Lara Friedman, Foundation for Middle East Peace; Michael Lynk, UN Special Rapporteur; Suma Qawasmi, Sheikh Jarrah community leader; Nivine Sandouka, Hoqoqna – Our Rights East Jerusalem; and Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man, Human Rights Attorney – will highlight evictions and demolitions and ongoing efforts to challenge these policies and practices; the role of non-State actors; the roles and responsibilities of Member States under international law to oppose ongoing violations and ensure accountability; and the question of Jerusalem as a final status issue.

• On 24 June, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland briefed the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. In his statement, Mr. Wennesland inter alia reiterated that the cessation of hostilities reached in May between Israel and Hamas remains very fragile and highlighted that in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian households still faced the imminent threat of eviction by the Israeli authorities from their homes. He also expressed concern over continued Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, and in particular the approval of a plan to expand the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem, and further informed about an alarming increase in the level of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, including hostilities between Israel and factions in Gaza at a scale and intensity not seen in years.

• On 21 June, UNRWA launched a US$164 million humanitarian and early recovery appeal following the hostilities in Gaza in May 2021. This updated appeal incorporates the immediate emergency response actions implemented by UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank between 10 and 31 May, as well as early recovery needs of Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, until 31 December 2021. It supersedes the initial US$38m Flash Appeal that was issued on 19 May 2021.

• On 21 June, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published the article “Palestinians strive to access water in the Jordan Valley” outlining the challenges posed by the Israeli occupation to Palestinian residents in accessing adequate water supplies for themselves, their animals and their fields, and informing about the UN’s plans for alleviation.

 

This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations affiliated with the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. 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.