The Situation in Gaza: One of the most devastating case of Human Rights deprivation the world has ever seen:
- Justice Society Durham
- Nov 8, 2024
- 5 min read
WARNING: This post contains some information that is extremely upsetting.
Following an attack by Palestinian gunmen in southern Israel on 7th October 2023, there has been ongoing disaster within the Gaza strip. The situation in Gaza has seen one of the most unprecedented military bombardments in history, calling for protection of civilians following ongoing grave human rights and humanitarian crises. As of 30th January 2024, the UN HR Office of the High Commissioner documented that an estimated 25,000 people have been killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and more than 65,000 wounded. 1.9 out of 2.3 million people have been displaced, and there is no longer anywhere safe for refuge within Gaza. The call for humanitarian aid is immense, with extreme scarcity of food, water, medicines, tents and other necessities. The lack of safe water and hygiene, with reports of sewage flowing through Rafah and Khan Younis is a ticking time bomb for an epidemic, with outbreaks of Hepatitis A.
Within international law, in times of crisis there is a clear precedent of the parameters of which states can operate within. One key piece of legislation is the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of war 1949. The aim of this Convention concerns protecting civilians in occupied territories, prohibiting states from intentionally targeting civilian operations in the outbreak of war. This looks to minimise the damage to the state itself, but most importantly it protects the innate Art 2 human right provision for the right to life. Israel signed and ratified this convention in 1952 and is thus bound by international law to act within cooperation of its international duties. However, the Human Rights Watch have found that Israel has conducted grave violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and thus customary international humanitarian law.
Under Art 21, “convoys of vehicles… on land… conveying wounded and sick civilians… shall be respected and protected…”, outlining that one particular protected element of protection is ambulances. However, on November 3rd 2023rd, it is reported that Israeli forces intentionally conducted a strike on a marked ambulance outside of Shifa Hospital, reportedly killing 15 and injuring 60.
Under Art 18, “civilian hospitals organised to give care to the wounded and sick… may in no circumstances be the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict”. However, between October 7th and November 7th, 2023, there were numerous reported strikes on or near several major hospitals. There are some conditions in which hospitals can lose their protection from attack, for example when the building is being used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy” though warnings, proportionality and distinction are still required. With regard to this, Israel contended that the hospitals were in fact being used by Palestinian fighters, although during investigation of this there was no founding evidence to justify depriving the hospitals of their protected status.
Most distressingly, there are reports of clear cases where the Israeli military has targeted civilian areas with no regard for human life. Under Art 15(b), “civilian persons who take no part in hostilities” are protected, highlighting that where “fighting is taking place, neutralised zones” are needed for shelter from the effects of war. However, there have been numerous occasions to which the UN and Human Rights Watch have identified cases where Israeli forces have ‘intentionally’ targeted civilian areas. On October 13th, 2023, Israeli forces in southern Lebanon conducted two strikes which resulted in the killing of one journalist and six others. This was deemed a “deliberate attack on civilians” and as such constitutes a war crime. Moreover, the Human Rights Watch documented a strike by Israeli forces on a family in a car in southern Lebanon on November 5th, 2023, which killed three girls, ages 10, 12 and 14, and their grandmother. The Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the car that was struck, which only contained fleeing civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the attack on the car showed “reckless disregard by the Israeli military for its obligation to distinguish between civilian and military objects and a significant failure to take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths.”
Whilst the war itself is one of great travesty, the need for key resources to sustain life is now almost non-existent. Art 56 outlines that the occupying power of a territory has a responsibility to maintain medical access, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory. However, Oxfam found that a significant portion of its water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardment, rendering much of it inoperable. Targeting humanitarian infrastructure is a violation of the principle of distinction, which requires Israel to distinguish between civilian objects and military targets, as well as precautions, which requires Israel to take all feasible measures to avoid incidental damage to civilian infrastructure. Thus, creating a situation where civilians have very limited access to clean water, leading to sky-high records of dehydration and sanitary diseases. Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel, despite international humanitarian law requiring Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population are provided for. Depriving a population from access to water amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population which is a serious war crime. The right to water, which includes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation, is also human right, and is derived from the right to life and the right to an adequate standard of living.
As can be seen, the situation in Gaza continues to be dire. Mainstream media has redirected resources to other worldly disasters, but this cannot take away from the situation that Palestinian civilians are still facing every day. The possibility of rebuilding Gaza has been discussed by the UN, in which the report states that it would take until at least 2040 to rebuild homes, if reconstruction was to start immediately after hostilities ended. There is also calls for the UN to conduct an investigation and call an end to this atrocity, and it is the international responsibility of other states to withdraw support to Israel.
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