A report by the "Arab Observatory for Human Rights" regarding violations by "the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territories" over a span of 50 days, from the start of the war on October 7 to November 25, 2023, emphasized that the ongoing war launched by the Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip will have severe consequences not only for the Palestinian people in Gaza but also for the security and stability of the entire Middle East. The report called on the international community and the International Criminal Court to "take urgent action and investigate the war crimes committed by Israeli forces against the defenseless Palestinian people in Gaza," including attacks on schools sheltering displaced persons, residential areas, hospitals, mosques, museums, and archaeological sites in Gaza and the Palestinian territories in general, as well as targeting children, women, and the elderly.
The observatory urged the UN Human Rights Council to "establish an international fact-finding committee to investigate human rights violations committed in Gaza, along with policies of collective punishment and forced displacement, and other war crimes." It pointed out that "the Israeli aggression during these 50 days resulted in the killing and injury of 4% of the population of Gaza, with 47,000 citizens classified as martyrs, wounded, or missing." The report stated that "70% of the victims were children and women, and 1.7 million were displaced, with more than 50% of citizens' homes and civil facilities destroyed, especially hospitals, most of which are now out of service, turning the Gaza Strip into a besieged and devastated disaster area without water, food, medicine, fuel, or communication."
It emphasized that "what citizens in Gaza are experiencing is one of the largest humanitarian disasters." The report highlighted that "the Israeli assault on the territory constitutes unlawful military action due to its explicit and clear violation of the United Nations Charter, in addition to committing serious violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, as well as contravening numerous international treaties and conventions governing the principles and regulations of international humanitarian law."
The observatory warned against the dangers of targeting civilian facilities in Gaza by Israeli warplanes and the destruction of infrastructure, despite international humanitarian law providing certain protections for public and private properties. This has resulted in the martyrdom of over 6,150 children and 4,000 women out of more than 15,000 martyrs, with 7,000 missing under the rubble of buildings or lying as corpses in the streets, as the occupying forces prevent access to them. Additionally, 3,000 students were martyred while in class, and over a thousand infants, including those less than a year old, were also reported, with the number of martyrs among children aged between one and four years exceeding 1,300.
It was noted that "the number of female martyrs reached 4,000 women as of November 24, with 25% of them aged between 20 and 30 years, and approximately 50% of female martyrs aged between 30 and 40 years, while 15% of victims were aged between 50 and 70 years." The report also indicated that "the West Bank has also witnessed a wave of tension and field confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation army, escalating in the wake of the Gaza war." It elaborated that "Israeli authorities conduct daily raids in the West Bank villages and towns, accompanied by clashes, arrests, gunfire, and the demolition of the homes of prisoners."
The report referenced the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, noting that the number of prisoners in the West Bank has risen since October 7 to over 3,290 detainees, including 125 women, while the number of children has reached 145, and 41 journalists have been detained, 29 of whom are still in custody.
Regarding the targeting of the Palestinian health sector, the report mentioned that "the Israeli occupation deliberately aimed to dismantle the Palestinian health sector and render it inoperative to prevent the treatment of the wounded and injured, claiming that hospitals harbor command centers for Hamas and offensive tunnels." According to the Gaza Government Media Office data, 207 doctors, nurses, and paramedics, and 26 members of the Civil Defense forces were killed, in addition to 26 hospitals and 55 health centers being rendered non-operational, along with the destruction of 56 ambulances.
Based on the preceding information, the Arab Observatory called on the UN General Assembly to "activate its Resolution 377 concerning convening under the title 'Uniting for Peace' to stop the war as long as the Security Council fails in this regard, in addition to providing legal support and documentation for all crimes of the occupation to aid the Palestinian Authority's request for an investigation from the International Criminal Court, submitted since 2021, and reaffirming the necessity of supporting the cases brought by Djibouti and Comoros to the International Criminal Court to investigate these massacres."
It concluded by demanding "the expeditious formation of the legal committee approved by the Arab Islamic Summit, consisting of specialists to catalog all decisions and violations against the Palestinian people, prepare a legal memo to be submitted to the relevant international bodies, and formulate a strong legal file through this committee to be presented to the International Criminal Court and other relevant entities."
