Middle East - On 18 April, Gisha reported that 47 residents of Gaza holding Israeli citizenship or residency status are still stuck in the Strip due to delays by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) in coordinating their exit through Rafah. Gisha informed that it filed a letter notifying COGAT that it will take legal actions if the group's exit from Gaza, be it via Rafah or a direct crossing into Israel, is not arranged without further delay.
- On 18 April, Peace Now informed that Israel's Housing Ministry has published a tender for the construction of 1,047 housing units in the Lower Aqueduct neighbourhood, located in occupied East Jerusalem. Peace Now warned that the strategic plan will severely impact the possibility of a continuous urban Palestinian connection in East Jerusalem, as it blocks the last corridor remaining for connecting the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Beit Safafa and Sur Baher with other parts of East Jerusalem.
- On 17 April, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) sent an urgent appeal to save the lives of patients with blood diseases and genetic disorders in the Gaza Strip. PCHR warned of the chronic shortage of medicines, inflicting serious life-threatening implications to the health of this category of patients. It reiterated its call on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to end its military aggression and siege on Gaza, and called on the Occupying power fulfil its responsibility to ensure respect and protection of the right to health of Palestinians in Gaza to the full extent of its actual control.
- On 17 April, Addameer – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association issued an urgent appeal, highlighting Israeli crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and calling those in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners to address both the Israeli military central command, who issues and signs thousands of orders for arbitrary administrative detention, and the Head of Israeli Prison Service responsible for all crimes committed against prisoners.
- On 16 April, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) urged the international community, private actors and business to respond to the widespread violent attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. They called on Third States to prohibit the import of illegal settlement goods and services into their territories, on corporations and financial institutions to divest and disengage from Israel's illegal settlement enterprise and on States to suspend military assistance and apply a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
- On 13 April, Al-Haq issued a legal position paper on UN Security Council resolution 2728 demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, underlining how it is legally binding on all States. The requirement builds on the UN General Assembly resolution of December 2023, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Al-Haq called upon the Security Council to take more coercing measures to enforce the present resolution, including economic and individual sanctions and arms embargo to hold Israel accountable.
Asia and Europe - On 17 April, Association France Palestine Solidarité issued a press release on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners, to denounce the permanent and institutionalized violation of international law by Israel. The statement gives full support to the struggle of the Palestinian people for the respect of their rights. The association also demanded that France take necessary measures to put pressure on Israel to stop its illegal policies of repression against the Palestinian people.
- On 16 April, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) informed that it had sent two separate documents to UN bodies raising alarms over the dire condition of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centres and the inhumane treatment they have been increasingly subjected to since 7 October. One of the documents, entitled “Briefing on the Situation of Palestinian Administrative Detention Prisoners Post-October 7”, was handed over to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The briefing describes severe mistreatment of detainees, including torture, degrading treatment and denial of fundamental rights such as access to medical care and legal representation.
North America. - On 29 April, the Columbia University Center for Palestine Studies will hold the talk “Palestine, Denialism and the Question of Genocide”, featuring Ussama Makdisi of the University of California, Berkeley. The talk aims to draw attention to a long history of the denial of Palestinian history and humanity; it will chart how Palestinians were removed from the World’s serious ethical and political consideration, and the implication of this erasure.
- On 17 April, Human Rights Watch stated that the Israeli military either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least 7 communities since 7 October. It warmed that while the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank are soaring. Human Rights Watch investigated attacks that forcibly displaced all residents of a number of areas in the occupied West Bank, in October and November 2023.
- On 16 April, political analysist Khalil Sayegh joined Foundation for Middle East Peace Fellow Peter Beinart to look at the current situation on the ground in Gaza, where Sayegh’s family is located, including a discussion of the military and political dynamics of both Israel and Hamas. Sayegh discussed the ways in which Israel has made Gaza unliveable, thus creating the conditions for mass depopulation of Gaza and laying the groundwork for continued armed resistance.
- On 14 April, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) issued a press release calling for the United States administration to use the its leverage to enforce calls for regional ceasefire, including an immediate end to US military funding and weapons sales to the Israeli government, amid its unfolding genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. JVP reminded that the Jewish tradition is grounded in the imperative to save every life and this imperative drives them to demand that the current administration end the unconditional funding and arming of the Israeli military, and instead truly invest in the sanctity of all life.
United Nations - On 18 April, UN human rights experts expressed grave concern over the pattern of attacks on schools, universities, teachers and students in the Gaza Strip, raising serious alarm over the systemic destruction of the Palestinian education system. The experts reminded that attacks on education cannot be tolerated, and that the international community must send a clear message to Israel who targets schools and universities, adding that accountability for these violations includes an obligation to finance and rebuild the education system.
- On 14 April, UN Secretary-General Guterres delivered a statement to the Security Council for the quarterly briefing on the situation in the Middle East. He stated that there was a shared responsibility to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. There is also a shared responsibility to stop the violence in the Occupied West Bank and to actively engage all parties concerned to prevent further escalation.
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. Visit the Committee's Website: http://www.un.org/unispal Brian |
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