We stand firmly against injustice in all its forms. Nothing can justify the current war crimes committed by Israel in occupied Palestine. Equally, nothing can excuse the continued support offered by other nations to this apartheid regime. If you believe in human rights, dignity, and justice, then we urge you to boycott this rogue state. Silence is complicity, do what’s right.
They lie to steal land. They lie to justify occupation. They lie to destroy homes, hospitals and schools. They lie to justify the killing of children, women and men. They lie to win the votes of those who thirst for blood. They lie to secure financial and military support from America. They lie to dominate, control and manipulate. They lie to conceal their crimes and escape accountability. They lie to rewrite history and silence the truth.
This is the machinery of oppression: take the land, control the narrative, dehumanise the people, and then convince the world that the victims are to blame.
For decades, Palestinians have endured dispossession, military occupation, displacement, restrictions on movement, home demolitions and the systematic denial of fundamental rights. The Israeli apartheid system has been sustained not only through laws, checkpoints, settlements and military force, but also through a relentless battle over language, history and truth.
When Palestinian homes are demolished by the Israeli occupation, the destruction is dressed up in the language of security, planning regulations or military necessity. When land is taken and Israeli settlements expand, the language of biblical entitlement, historical claims and security is used to normalise dispossession. When Palestinians resist their oppression, their actions are presented without the context of occupation, while the overwhelming power of the Israeli occupying regime is too often obscured behind claims of self-defence. When civilians are killed and entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble, official explanations demand trust before accountability, while Palestinian testimony is questioned, dismissed or treated as inherently suspect.
The same pattern appears in the treatment of humanitarian suffering. Hospitals, schools, refugee camps and civilian infrastructure are not merely buildings. They are places where people seek treatment, education, shelter and safety. Their destruction demands credible evidence, independent investigation and accountability. Invoking security cannot provide a blank cheque for the destruction of civilian life, nor can allegations against individuals justify collective punishment of an entire population.
The double standards are unmistakable. Governments that proclaim their commitment to human rights, democracy and international law have continued to provide Israel with substantial military and diplomatic support. Palestinian lives are too often subjected to a different standard of concern, their suffering reduced to statistics, their deaths explained away, and their demands for freedom postponed in the name of political convenience. The language of universal human rights becomes hollow when it is applied selectively.
This is how Israeli racism and domination operates. Control the land, control movement, control resources, control the borders, control the narrative, and then accuse the oppressed of creating the crisis. Demand that Palestinians prove their humanity while allowing the powerful to evade the same moral scrutiny. Repeat the official explanation often enough, and hope that repetition will replace evidence.
But propaganda cannot erase documented realities. International human rights organisations, United Nations bodies and independent investigators have documented extensive violations affecting Palestinians. In 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded in its advisory opinion that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and that its policies and practices obstruct Palestinian self-determination. The Court’s findings cannot be dismissed simply because they challenge the claims of a powerful state. Nor can allegations of grave violations be answered with slogans. They require evidence, independent scrutiny and the application of international law without fear or favour.
Criticism of Israeli regume policies, occupation and apartheid is not hatred of Jewish people. Jewish people are not collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, just as no population should be judged by the conduct of its leaders. The demand is for equal rights, dignity, freedom and justice for Palestinians, and for accountability for those responsible for violations, regardless of their nationality, identity or political power.
The greatest threat to an unjust system is not anger alone. It is the persistence of truth. It is the testimony of families who refuse to forget their homes, the memories of refugees who preserve the names of their villages, the photographs of destroyed streets, the records of Gaza genocide, demolished buildings, and the voices of those who continue to demand freedom despite decades of dispossession.
They lie because the truth threatens their power. They lie because the truth exposes their injustice. They lie again and again, believing that repetition will turn lies into truth.
But no lie can erase a people’s history, steal their identity or silence their cries for justice.
Palestinians are not a footnote in somebody else’s history. They are a people with roots, memories, rights and a future. Their freedom is not a favour to be granted by an occupying power. It is a fundamental right.
The world must stop confusing the power to impose a narrative with the right to define the truth. It must stop treating accountability as optional and human rights as negotiable. Until Palestinian freedom and equality are recognised in practice, the lies will continue to serve the system that depends on them.
On 20 May 2024, my Office submitted applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I in relation to the situation in the State of Palestine.
Today, based on the evidence presented by my Office, the judges have confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Rome Statute crimes have been committed.
With respect to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, the judges of the International Criminal Court have found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others. The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians as a superior.
My Office had also submitted applications for warrants of arrest for Mr Yahya Sinwar, then Head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and Mr Ismail Haniyeh, former Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, but later withdrew them following evidence confirming their deaths.
Today, our collective mind and focus should be on the victims of international crimes in Israel and in the State of Palestine. In my own meetings with the victims and families of hostages taken from kibbutzim, and with victims from Gaza who have lost so many loved ones, I have underlined that the law is there for all, that its role is to vindicate the rights of all persons.
The decision of the independent judges of the International Criminal Court affirms that international humanitarian law must be upheld in all circumstances through fair and impartial judicial processes.
As I emphasised in May, these applications were made following an independent investigation, and on the basis of objective, verifiable evidence vetted through a forensic process.
I appeal to all States Parties to live up to their commitment to the Rome Statute by respecting and complying with these judicial orders. We count on their cooperation in this situation, as with all other situations under the Court’s jurisdiction. We also welcome collaboration with non-States Parties in working towards accountability and upholding international law.
I will also continue to seek cooperation from all stakeholders including the State of Israel and the State of Palestine to ensure my Office fully meets its responsibility pursuant to article 54 of the Rome Statute to investigate incriminating and exonerating circumstances equally. In line with the Rome Statute, the door to complementarity continues to remain open. As with all situations, we will continue to actively assess the application of this fundamental principle, which requires genuine domestic investigations and any necessary prosecution of the same individuals for substantially the same conduct.
In parallel, my Office is continuing to pursue its independent and impartial investigation in the situation in the State of Palestine with focus. We are taking forward additional lines of inquiry in areas under the Court’s jurisdiction, which include Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. I am deeply concerned about reports of escalating violence, further shrinking humanitarian access, and continued expansion of allegations of international crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
We will continue to carry out our mandate in order to fulfil the fundamental commitment forming the basis of the Rome Statute: that the lives of all human beings have equal value
GENEVA (19 February 2024) – UN experts* today expressed alarm over credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Palestinian women and girls have reportedly been arbitrarily executed in Gaza, often together with family members, including their children, according to information received. “We are shocked by reports of the deliberate targeting and extrajudicial killing of Palestinian women and children in places where they sought refuge, or while fleeing. Some of them were reportedly holding white pieces of cloth when they were killed by the Israeli army or affiliated forces,” the experts said.
The experts expressed serious concern about the arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and girls, including human rights defenders, journalists and humanitarian workers, in Gaza and the West Bank since 7 October. Many have reportedly been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and severely beaten. On at least one occasion, Palestinian women detained in Gaza were allegedly kept in a cage in the rain and cold, without food.
“We are particularly distressed by reports that Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence,” the experts said. They also noted that photos of female detainees in degrading circumstances were also reportedly taken by the Israeli army and uploaded online.
The experts expressed concern that an unknown number of Palestinian women and children, including girls, have reportedly gone missing after contact with the Israeli army in Gaza. “There are disturbing reports of at least one female infant forcibly transferred by the Israeli army into Israel, and of children being separated from their parents, whose whereabouts remain unknown,” they said.
“We remind the Government of Israel of its obligation to uphold the right to life, safety, health, and dignity of Palestinian women and girls and to ensure that no one is subjected to violence, torture, ill-treatment or degrading treatment, including sexual violence,” the experts said.
They called for an independent, impartial, prompt, thorough and effective investigation into the allegations and for Israel to cooperate with such investigations.
“Taken together, these alleged acts may constitute grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and amount to serious crimes under international criminal law that could be prosecuted under the Rome Statute,” the experts said. “Those responsible for these apparent crimes must be held accountable and victims and their families are entitled to full redress and justice,” they added.
The experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.
The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.
Since Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel – statements reflecting a policy being carried out by Israeli forces. Other Israeli officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza would be conditioned either on the release of hostages unlawfully held by Hamas or Hamas’ destruction.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.
“For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza’s population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s population.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza between November 24 and December 4. They described their profound hardships in securing basic necessities. “We had no food, no electricity, no internet, nothing at all,” said one man who had left northern Gaza. “We don’t know how we survived.”
The poem refers to the ban Israel imposed on an advertisement B'Tselem, where it listed the names of the children killed during Israel bombing in Gaza in 2014.
The tragedy of genocide has plagued human history, manifesting as one of the darkest aspects of human behavior—organized, deliberate attempts to eradicate entire communities, races, or ethnic groups. In recent decades, the global community has proclaimed “never again” countless times, yet these atrocities persist. What sets the contemporary era apart is the horrifying reality that some genocides are not hidden in the shadows but unfold before the eyes of the world in real time, with the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza standing as one of the most televised and documented cases of mass suffering in history.
Gaza, home to over 2 million Palestinians, has often been described as the world’s largest open-air prison, with its inhabitants subjected to military occupation, systematic blockade, and repeated large-scale military assaults. The scale of devastation during Israel’s military campaigns, particularly in recent months, has brought accusations of genocidal intent from human rights organizations, scholars, and political observers. Entire neighborhoods have been obliterated, families wiped out, and critical infrastructure—hospitals, schools, and water systems—reduced to rubble.
What distinguishes this tragedy is the omnipresence of cameras and social media. Videos of bombings, destroyed homes, and the lifeless bodies of children circulate widely, evoking international outrage and despair. Journalists, activists, and civilians trapped in Gaza have turned their phones into tools of testimony, capturing the raw brutality of the conflict. Despite this unprecedented visibility, the international response remains paralyzed, reflecting the enduring failure of global powers and institutions to prevent or halt genocide when geopolitical interests are at play.
As scholars Raphael Lemkin and others have defined genocide—not only the killing of individuals but the destruction of a way of life—it becomes increasingly difficult to view the destruction of Gaza as anything less than an attempt to erase the Palestinian people’s existence in this besieged territory. The systematic targeting of civilians, the destruction of homes and cultural sites, and the language of dehumanization directed at Palestinians suggest a chilling intent to eliminate them as a people.
The situation in Gaza forces us to confront uncomfortable truths: What does “Never Again” truly mean when genocide unfolds live on our screens? How do we reconcile the ubiquity of evidence with the inaction of those in power? Gaza is not merely a humanitarian crisis; it is a test of the global conscience. And right now, the world is failing that test.
For those who believe in justice and human dignity, there is no neutral ground. Genocide thrives on silence and complicity. The voices of the oppressed, amplified by technology, demand accountability. If we fail to act, history will judge not only the perpetrators but all of us who stood by as the most televised genocide unfolded before our very eyes.
Today Drop Site News is publishing a landmark investigation about the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s unrelenting assault on Gaza by British journalist Owen Jones. His report is based on interviews with 13 journalists and other BBC staffers who offer remarkable insights into how senior figures within the BBC’s news operation skewed stories in favor of Israel’s narratives and repeatedly dismissed objections registered by scores of staffers who, throughout the past 14 months, demanded that the network uphold its commitment to impartiality and fairness. Jones’s investigation of the BBC has three main components: a deeply reported look into the internal complaints from BBC journalists, a quantitative assessment of how the BBC characterizes the year-long siege on Gaza, and a review of the histories of the people behind the coverage—and, in particular, one editor, Raffi Berg.
Appropriately, when Jones began this reporting as an independent journalist and reached out to Berg for comment, Berg at first hired the famous defamation lawyer Mark Lewis, who is also former Director of UK Lawyers for Israel. Jones is a Guardian columnist and hosts his own searing independent news coverage on YouTube. If you have the means to help pay for Jones’s $24,000 in initial legal bills in vetting the story, you can do so here.
