The fact that Israel launched air and land attack on the Nusayrat, Al-Burayj and Al-Magazi refugee camps in Gaza, where forcibly displaced Palestinians took refuge was reporten in written and visual media. It was stated that hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives during these attacks.(1) (2) It has been recorded to that Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed 37 thousand 84 Palestinians, including at least 15 thousand 517 children and 10 thousand 279 women, and injured 84 thousand 494 Palestinians were injured since October 7, 2023.(3)
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been committing war crimes and genocide against civilians in Gaza before the eyes of the entire world. We are witnessing people in Gaza not being able to access their most basic needs, hospitals, places of worship, even civilian settlements being bombed, violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms and most fundamental principles of humanitarian law. Despite all the responses from the international community and the international judicial mechanisms, Israel's ongoing bombardment and total blockade in Gaza deepens the humanitarian crises, turning it into carnage. The people of Gaza have been subjected to an unfair and comprehensive "punishment" due to Israel's closure of entrances and exits to Gaza, restricting the provision of humanitarian needs such as food and medicine, and the freedom of travel. Palestinians are facing mass ethnic cleansing before the eyes of the whole world.
In accordance with the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, launching a military attack on places where protected civilians are located is clearly against the international law of armed conflict. According to the Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities and intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations constitute war crimes. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has continued to commit war crimes by violating international law and the law of armed conflict by attacking civilian refugee camps and humanitarian aid convoys.
(3) As Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, we once again again condemn Israel's systematic and widespread attacks against the civilian population in Gaza, which constitute genocide and war crimes, and reminding the necessity of implementing international judicial decisions against Israel and compliance with international law, we invite all actors of international community to take action to take the necessary steps to end this brutality and ensure permanent peace in the region.
Respectfully announced to the public.