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Rights Radar for Human Rights Condemns Genocidal War Committed by Israel Against Residents of Gaza Strip

Amsterdam, 10/21/2023

Rights Radar for Human Rights based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, strongly condemns the horrific massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces against civilians in the Arab National Hospital (Al-Mamdany) in Gaza Strip. This massacre resulted in the killing of nearly 500 civilians and the wounding of hundreds of others, including women and children, making it the bloodiest massacre in decades. The organization also condemns the targeting of the Pophilius Church, one of the oldest churches in the world, which is only a few meters away from Al-Mamdany Hospital. Dozens of civilians who sought refuge in the church were killed and injured as a result.

Rights Radar calls on the international community to urgently take action to stop the genocidal war committed by Israel against Palestinian people, which is happening in full view of the world. The organization also denounces the international silence regarding the crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli forces and their flagrant violations of the rules of war, international humanitarian law, and human rights law through continuous bombings of the residents of Gaza Strip. Since the seventh of this month until today, more than 3,780 civilians, including over 1,520 children, 1,000 women, and 120 elderly people, have lost their lives, and more than 12,300 civilians, including over 3,980 children, have been injured. Medical sources in Gaza report that 70% of the dead and injured due to Israeli bombings were women and children.

The current events confirm that the residents of Gaza Strip are subjected to a systematic war of extermination. Documented information indicates that over 110 families have been completely annihilated and are no longer registered as living in civil status records. Pictures circulating from the bombings reveal the total destruction of entire residential areas and neighborhoods.

Rights Radar also denounces the Israeli forces' issuance of direct warnings to evacuate approximately 23 hospitals, some of which were directly targeted or intentionally bombed their surroundings. The intense bombing has also impacted the flow of medical drugs to Gaza Strip, which already suffers from an acute shortage of medicine and medical supplies. Additionally, four hospitals and 11 primary health care centers are currently out of service due to the siege and bombings, threatening to render the health sector in Gaza Strip inoperative. This poses a real danger to the lives of thousands of wounded and sick people, especially those with serious and chronic diseases.

Rights Radar expresses surprise at the international community's disregard for the total, suffocating siege imposed by Tel Aviv government on the residents of Gaza Strip. Since the Israeli Defense Minister announced a complete cutoff of water, electricity, food and medicine to the Strip, the international community, including the Security Council, has failed to address this issue. Furthermore, the Defense Minister's dehumanizing description of the residents as “human animals” is deeply concerning.

 The daily Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip violate several international humanitarian laws, legislation and rules of engagement. These include Article 25 of Hague Convention, which prohibits attacking or bombing cities, villages, residential places or defenseless buildings, regardless of the means used. Additionally, the Statute of the International Criminal Court considers deliberate attacks against the civilian population or individual civilians not directly participating in hostilities as war crimes. The "Additional Protocol I" of Fourth Geneva Convention requires the allowing, protecting and facilitating the passage of humanitarian relief shipments. The "Second Additional Protocol" of the same agreement prohibits issuing orders for the forced displacement of the civilian population for conflict-related reasons, which is currently being imposed on the residents of Gaza Strip through American-Israeli pressure. The threat of targeting hospitals and UNRWA schools as a form of pressure and intimidation has already been implemented in Al-Mamdany Hospital massacre.

Rights Radar calls on the international community and people of conscience worldwide to make the massacre at the National Arab Hospital and the state of siege imposed on Gaza Strip a turning point in the international stance. It should serve as a real impetus for a serious humanitarian response that reduces the bloodshed in Gaza and ends the tragedy faced by two million people. This situation is a true test of the humanity of countries that claim to be biased toward humanity and committed to protecting human rights.

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