Features Archives - Page 3 of 30

An Israeli Obsession: Digging Up Graves in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
February 1, 2026

The large-scale exhumation operations by the Israeli army east of Gaza City, under the pretext of searching for the body of the last Israeli captive in the Gaza Strip, are deeply alarming.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stresses that this pretext does not grant legitimacy to violating the sanctity of the Palestinian dead, tampering with their graves, or desecrating their remains. Any search operations must be strictly limited in scope, subject to stringent humanitarian safeguards, and conducted under neutral international supervision.

Over the past two years, Israel has systematically destroyed cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, dug up and vandalised graves, tampered with bodies, and transferred dozens of remains.

Euro-Med Monitor has reviewed documented reports indicating that the Israeli army dug up nearly 200 graves in a cemetery in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood near the Yellow Line. The operations are reportedly ongoing, with no independent information or neutral verification as to whether examinations are being conducted on site or whether bodies are being removed or transferred elsewhere. This significantly heightens the risk of serious violations and undermines any claim of necessity or restraint, particularly given Israel’s documented pattern of destroying, bulldozing, tampering with, and snatching bodies from cemeteries in Gaza.

The expansion of exhumations in the absence of any Palestinian or neutral international presence, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, risks exceeding the stated purpose of searching for a specific body and significantly increases the likelihood of violating the sanctity of cemeteries and the remains of the dead, including through the transfer or tampering of remains without traceable records.

Such practices not only violate the dignity of the deceased but also inflict severe psychological harm on their families by leaving them in uncertainty about the fate and burial sites of their loved ones, denying them verification or official information, and amounting to cruel treatment and psychological torture of the families of the deceased.

The Israeli army has destroyed 21 out of 60 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip over the past two years and has systematically vandalised cemeteries and exhumed graves in all areas where it conducted ground incursions. These actions included bulldozing graves, extracting remains, and crushing them with military machinery, repeatedly causing the mixing, loss, and disappearance of remains, as well as damage to neighbouring graves.

On 25 December 2024, Euro-Med Monitor received multiple testimonies regarding the Israeli army’s bulldozing of the Beit Hanoun Cemetery in northern Gaza. Documented excavations in specific graves included the removal and snatching of recently buried bodies, as well as the mixing of remains to the point that identification became impossible. Between 17 and 20 December 2024, the Israeli army stormed the Sheikh Shaban Cemetery in Gaza City, bulldozed dozens of graves, and ran over the bodies of the dead.

On 20 December 2024, Euro-Med Monitor documented extensive destruction and vandalism by the Israeli army in a cemetery approximately 1.7 kilometres east of central Khan Younis in southern Gaza, including the exhumation of graves across an area of about 2,500 square metres. Earlier that month, the Israeli army stormed the Al-Faluja Cemetery in Jabalia, northern Gaza, causing widespread destruction, including damage to graves and headstones and the confiscation of several bodies.

The attacks also targeted the Ali Ibn Marwan Cemetery, Sheikh Radwan Cemetery, Al Shuhada’ Eastern Cemetery, the Tunisian Cemetery, and the Cemetery of St. Porphyrius Church, all located in Gaza City and its northern areas. The central Khan Younis Cemetery in the Austrian neighbourhood was also targeted, destroying dozens of graves, creating large pits that swallowed graves, mixing and disappearing of remains, damaging adjacent graves, and violating the dignity of the dead.

Based on Euro-Med Monitor documentation over recent months, Israel is systematically violating the sanctity of the dead and cemeteries in clear breach of international humanitarian law and the rules of war, which require the protection of cemeteries during armed conflicts, the respectful treatment of the dead, and the preservation of graves, and prohibit their desecration or tampering.

Any Israeli search operations for the body of the last Israeli captive in the Gaza Strip do not justify violating the sanctity of Palestinian dead or exhuming Palestinian graves. The respect for the dignity of the dead is an obligation without discrimination, and tampering with remains or burial sites, or desecrating cemeteries, is prohibited.

International humanitarian law prohibits the snatching of dead bodies and affirms that degrading treatment and attacks on dignity, including that of the dead, constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

An immediate halt to all grave exhumation and bulldozing operations is required, along with refraining from any unilateral search measures and ensuring that any claimed search operations are subject to strict, written, and public constraints that precisely define their scope with minimal interference. Euro-Med Monitor calls for the presence of a neutral competent body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to thoroughly document every grave opening, including the identification and coordinates of targeted graves, prevent the transfer of any remains outside the Gaza Strip, ensure reburial at the same site without alteration, and rehabilitate damaged cemeteries in a manner that preserves the dignity of the dead and the rights of their families.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses the need for the International Criminal Court and relevant UN investigative mechanisms to fulfil their role in investigating the systematic destruction of Palestinian cemeteries and the snatching of bodies as part of broader files on crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, to ensure accountability, prevent impunity, and uphold the dignity of the dead.

Features

Averting an Environmental Catastrophe. How?

CrossFireArabia
December 29, 2025

By Najla Shahwan

Amid staggering immediate needs, widespread trauma and mounting medical complications, what is unfolding in Gaza is not only a humanitarian catastrophe. It is an ecological collapse, one that threatens the very possibility of recovery and will affect Gaza’s population for generations to come.

While the human suffering is visible and relentless, the environmental devastation is less apparent and harder to grasp. Yet it is no less catastrophic. The human cost of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, launched after the Hamas attack on 7 October, is being compounded by a rapidly escalating environmental crisis.

The destruction of essential civilian infrastructure — including water, sewage and waste management systems — has led to long-term toxic contamination of land and sea, posing severe health and environmental risks. Israel’s bombardment has filled Gaza’s landscape with a lethal mix of shattered concrete, asbestos dust and polluted water.

Olive groves and farmland have been flattened. Soil and groundwater are contaminated by munitions and toxins. The sea is choked with untreated sewage and waste, while the air is thick with smoke and fine particulate matter. Gaza’s environment is in freefall: poisoned water, ruined croplands and a shattered power grid are pushing the territory to the brink.

The United Nations and global medical and human rights organisations have repeatedly warned of famine, forced starvation, widespread environmental destruction and near-constant bombardment, citing grave violations of international law and describing Israel’s assault as genocidal.

As of late 2025, Gaza continues to endure a catastrophic environmental disaster that persists despite successive ceasefire agreements. Even after the latest ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, conditions on the ground have remained largely unchanged. Israeli air and artillery strikes continue, alongside the illegal destruction of civilian homes and reports of Israeli troops shooting Palestinian civilians.

Pollution is pervasive, in the air people breathe, the water they bathe in and drink, the food they consume and the surroundings in which they live. Israel’s war on Gaza has not only levelled neighbourhoods, displaced families repeatedly and crippled medical facilities, but has also poisoned the land and water upon which Gazans depend.

Much of Gaza’s agricultural land has been destroyed, leaving the territory in a state of severe food insecurity and famine, with food increasingly used as a weapon. Alongside the devastation of water, sewage and hospital infrastructure, Israel continues to restrict the entry of food, tents, warm clothing and life-saving medical supplies, leaving millions without basic necessities.

Children, in particular, are bearing the brunt. They are growing up amid one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises, without adequate shelter, sanitation or warm clothing, and facing alarming levels of acute malnutrition.

Freshwater supplies are now severely limited, and much of what remains is unsafe. The collapse of sewage treatment facilities, the destruction of piped systems and the use of cesspits for sanitation have almost certainly contaminated the aquifer that supplies much of Gaza’s water, contributing to a surge in infectious diseases.

The scale and potential longevity of this damage have prompted calls for the destruction to be recognised as “ecocide” and investigated as a possible war crime. According to official estimates, Israeli forces have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians during more than two years of war. The UN estimates that 90 per cent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, with more than 1.5 million people in urgent need of shelter.

Environmental devastation, from heavily polluted water to the suspected impact of toxic weapons, has deepened an already apocalyptic humanitarian crisis. Flooding rains, combined with the lack of safe drinking water and even basic hygiene facilities such as handwashing, are accelerating the spread of disease. Health authorities are struggling to save lives, while essential medical supplies continue to be blocked from entering the enclave.

Unusually heavy rains, strong winds and flooding have further compounded the suffering, making conditions for displaced families even more dire. Months into a fragile ceasefire that has been repeatedly violated, the true scale of Gaza’s environmental destruction is becoming painfully clear — and the situation continues to deteriorate.

If this trajectory continues, it will leave a legacy of environmental damage that will undermine the health and wellbeing of Gaza’s population for generations. Ending the human suffering must be the immediate priority. Restoring freshwater systems, clearing debris and re-establishing essential services are urgently needed to save lives.

For Palestinians, neither safety nor reliable access to life-saving treatment or aid has materialised under the ceasefire. Beyond emergency relief, the recovery of vegetation, freshwater ecosystems and soil will be essential for food and water security. Gaza’s environmental recovery will depend on careful, inclusive and science-based planning, and on a political will to allow a future in which Gaza’s people can survive, rebuild and live with dignity.

The author Najla M. Shahwan is a contributor to The Jordan Times

Features

Exiled: Bashar Al Assad Wiles His Time in a Moscow Flat

CrossFireArabia
December 14, 2025

Bashar Al Assad sometimes walks the streets of Moscow incognito. This was a prerequisite set by the Kremlin for his stay in Russia.

The Syrian president, who was forced into exile, exactly one year ago on 8 December, 2024, lives in one of Moscow’s top palatial flats in the capital’s business district with his wife and three children with 24-hour body guards who have been assigned to the family for their protection.

Since his stay Moscow, the message has been thrust forward that Moscow takes care of its friends even when they have fallen from grace and/or down in the dumps. Bashar Al Assad, and his father before and who held power since 1970 were always the strongest of allies and Damascus was always seen as Russia’s strategic gateway to the Middle East.

Friendship however doesn’t mean the end of political opportunism and interest. Whilst Assad is allowed to stay in Moscow under the rubric of humanitarian grounds, his asylum follows strict rules: he is not allowed to engage in any political activity nor is he allowed to talk to the press or the media.

He is no longer treated as presidential but a private person. Russian president Vladimir Putin had never met him since he arrived in Moscow nor is he planning to despite claiming otherwise. All Putin would say is he is planning to meet the ex-president ‘sometime’ in the future. Add insult to injury is the fact that Assad has been assigned a lowly figure in the Russian Foreign Ministry as a means of coordination whenever it’s necessary.

But this has long proved a sign of frustration. Today, Assad is alone despite his staff that either travelled with him when he was hastily bungled up last year on a military jet from a Russian airbase near Latakia last year or joined him latter in his residence to start his exile.

With little to do, he spends his days playing video games or going downstairs to the mall in his plush complex to wile his time away, doing it day after day after day. The strong man of Syria, at the top of the helm for the 24 years with ministers, officials, politicians and Ba’ath Party – for theoretically it was this pan-Arab institution that ruled Syria since the late 1960s – is no more.

In Moscow he is a guest with his brother, Maher Al Assad, a former strong man and previous head of the Republican Guard who is staying at the capital’s Four Seasons Hotel. Today they have little political sway with the Kremlin preferring they stay as low as possible and ‘out of sight out of mind’ because of Moscow’s new strategic plans with the new government of Syria lead by previous Al Qaeda extremist-turned-president Ahmad Al Sharaa.

Putin wants to maintain a rapport with the new government because Syria is still seen as the new battleground of political rivalry vis-a-vis the United States, Turkey and Israel. Moscow wants to continue to be a part of the geo-political pie despite the fact that Al Shara has continually called on Moscow to handover Assad to be tried for criminal charges in Damascus, something that was always refused by the Kremlin and Putin.

But politics reflects the interests of both sides for Sharaa wants to be a favorite with everyone, both the West and Russia as demonstrated by his last visit to Moscow last October who continues to have military, strategic, economic and aid ties to Syria from the past Baathist regime.

Thus, although relegated to his luxurious apartments, Assad can still be a valuable political asset to Moscow, being put on hold for the right time as a political chip to be used with the new government of Syria who is desperate to create the needed stability of the country, keep outside powers at bay, check Israeli incursion into its territory and start a program of reconstruction and economic development.

Features

Killing The Fish of Gaza

CrossFireArabia
November 1, 2025

Following the war, Gaza’s fishing sector has been left in a catastrophic state, with infrastructure largely destroyed, production severely reduced and fishermen facing an ongoing battle to resume their livelihood. Although a ceasefire now is in place, Israeli restrictions continue to hamper any recovery.

The conflict has brought Gaza’s once thriving fishing sector to collapse and the impact of the two- year escalation on the sector is devastating. Since October 7, Israel has systematically destroyed Gaza’s important source of food and livelihoods for residents of the Strip as its critical fishing sector has been almost completely obliterated.

Gaza’s average daily catch just between October 2023 and April 2024 dropped to 7.3 percent of 2022 levels, causing a $17.5 million production loss.

The main seaport in Gaza City and other landing sites has been destroyed and Gaza’s two main aquaculture farms along with the hatchery facility wiped out leaving the sector unable to produce alternative aquatic foods through aquaculture.

According to an assessment, before the conflict, over 6,000 residents in Gaza relied on the fishing industry for their primary source of income, of this total; approximately 4,500 were fishermen and boat owners.

The fishing sector supported approximately 110,000 people, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FA0), although Israel’s restrictions on the industry before the war thwarted its potential both in terms of local production to meet the needs of the population and as a source of export.

Over the years, Israel blocked access to the maritime area off the coast of the Gaza Strip, maintained a limited “fishing zone” and allowed fishermen to operate in an area only up to six nautical miles from the coast in the northern Gaza Strip and up to 15 nautical miles in certain areas, despite the Oslo Accords stipulating that should be allowed up to 20 nautical miles from the coast.

The Israeli navy enforced restrictions on the fishing zone through warning shots or live fire towards vessels and fishermen, killing or severely injuring people on multiple occasions.

In addition, Israel destroyed or confiscated boats and equipment as a matter of policy, arrested fishermen and restricted the entry of material necessary for the repair and rehabilitation of boats, such as fiberglass, engines and other items.

Over the course of the aggression, the coastal fishing infrastructure has sustained massive damage, including the main Gaza Seaport, several smaller ports, fishermen’s rooms, and vital fishing equipment.

As of late 2024 and mid – 2025, reports from NGO’s and human rights groups state that approximately 95 per cent of the fishing sector in Gaza has been destroyed.

The damage to Gaza’s fishing sector has exacerbated an already dire food security crisis as fish, once a vital source of protein and other essential nutrients for Gazans, is now nearly unavailable.

Today, in Gaza’s fishing areas lie broken boats, torn nets, and ruined infrastructure, standing in stark contrast to the once-vibrant industry that supported thousands of fishers for generations.

Fishermen have been killed, chased, and arrested, while most of their boats and equipment have been destroyed.

For Gazans, the sea was not just a source of food, but a source of livelihood and identity.

The Israeli military’s tactics in its horrific war have shown a focused effort to disrupt and destroy the civilian way of life, thereby crippling the very survival of the Gaza population.

The territory’s fishing sector stands among the hardest hit, its work force devastated and productivity nearly extinguished.

According to the Palestinian Fishermen’s Syndicate, Israel has pursued a systematic campaign to dismantle the industry that for centuries has played a significant part in the Palestinian economy, culture, and cuisine.

The fishing industry has been central to Gaza’s economy, providing employment for fishermen and others in subsidiary jobs related to packaging, marketing, and transportation as well as boat repair and maintenance.

Notably, the sector provided direct and indirect employment opportunities for youth and women, particularly through small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both formal and informal settings.

According to the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), before the war, there were more than 2,000 fishing vessels in Gaza, of which 1,100 had engines and about 900 were manually operated.

The fishing industry in Gaza was one of the few autonomous food production sectors in the Strip, and therefore had a direct and critical impact on the food security of the population. According to PNGO, the sector produced an average of 3,000-4,000 tons of fish per year, alongside an additional 300-500 tons from artificial fish farms in recent years.

The decimation of the fishing industry, together with the destruction of other means of food production, has contributed to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and ensured continued dependence of the population on entry of aid.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, from May 2025, the entire population of the Gaza Strip, approximately 2.1 million people, has been facing an imminent risk of famine.

Given the restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip since the beginning of the war, the fishing industry could have provided a source of protein to partially alleviate the crisis; instead, Israel’s destruction of the industry dramatically worsened the situation.

In addition, the Gaza fishing sector faces severe environmental challenges, including the depletion of fish stocks due to overfishing in a confined area, the destruction of fish farms, and the pollution from wastewater and damaged infrastructure.

Today, after Israel’s war halted, the situation underscores the urgent need for coordinated recovery efforts, including the restoration of fishing infrastructure, support for affected workers, and sustainable investment to rebuild the sector and protect the livelihoods it sustains.

After extensive damage, the reconstruction of Gaza’s fisheries sector requires a multi prolonged and long- term effort.

The plan involves emergency relief for fishers, restoring critical infrastructure, removing explosive ordnance, rebuilding the fish farming industry, and addressing environmental contamination.

Sufficient and sustained international funding is needed, as the estimated recovery cost of Gaza across all sectors is in the tens of billions of dollars.

A stable and sustained ceasefire is the most crucial precondition, as demonstrated by the failure of recovery efforts during renewed conflicts.

Significant international aid and a lasting peace are essential for the sector’s revival.

Najla M. Shahwan is a Palestinian author, researcher and freelance journalist and contributed the above article to the Jordan Times.

Features

Keeping Israel’s Secret in The Closet

CrossFireArabia
October 26, 2025

Israel continues, in a deliberate and institutionalised manner, to implement a systematic policy aimed at erasing physical evidence of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed over the past two years in the Gaza Strip. This policy is carried out through a series of field and administrative measures, including the prevention of international journalists and independent investigation committees from entering Gaza, in an attempt to obstruct any criminal investigation or field documentation that could establish the truth and confirm Israel’s legal responsibility.

The recent decision by the Israeli Supreme Court granting the government an additional delay regarding the entry of independent journalists into Gaza reflects the institutional complicity within the Israeli state apparatus in concealing crimes and protecting their perpetrators. The judiciary thus provides a legal cover for government policies designed to suppress transparency and erase field evidence of crimes committed in Gaza.

The continued prevention of international journalists and investigators from entering Gaza forms part of a consistent and coordinated policy exercised by Israeli authorities through their executive, security, and judicial arms to keep the crimes beyond international scrutiny and obstruct any independent accountability or investigation into the grave violations committed.

The ongoing ban on independent journalists entering Gaza represents a long-standing Israeli policy since the beginning of the military assault on the Strip. It aims to deprive the world of witnessing the reality on the ground by imposing a complete media blackout and preventing all documentation and international monitoring tools from accessing the crime scenes.

Despite the enforcement of the ceasefire agreement on 11 October, Israel continues to deny entry to international journalists, except for limited tours organised under the supervision and escort of the Israeli army. As a result, all scenes shown from the field remain under military censorship and devoid of the independent coverage guaranteed by international standards of press freedom.

The killing of 254 Palestinian journalists and the ban on the entry of international media workers exemplify an integrated Israeli policy aimed at concealing the truth and monopolising the narrative by maintaining tight control over the media scene and preventing any independent oversight or field documentation. This policy not only withholds information but also strips victims of their right to tell their story to the world, turning their tragedy into a one-sided account narrated by the very perpetrator of the crime.

Israel’s actions to erase evidence of genocide include continuing to prevent the entry of the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the investigation team of the International Criminal Court, as well as fact-finding missions and other international mechanisms specialised in investigating grave crimes. This deliberate obstruction of international justice constitutes a violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.

Israeli authorities also block the entry of forensic teams and forensic anthropology experts who should secure crime scenes, examine human remains, and document biological and physical evidence proving mass killings, genocide, and the use of prohibited weapons and projectiles. This obstruction undermines a fundamental pillar of international criminal investigation, aiming to destroy material evidence before examination, deny victims and their families the ability to identify their loved ones, and prevent the international community from verifying the nature and scale of the crimes committed.

Israel further refuses to allow the entry of essential equipment and materials needed for exhuming bodies and identifying victims, including laboratory tools, autopsy instruments, and DNA analysis kits. This has left hundreds of bodies unidentified and deprived families of their basic human right to know the fate of their loved ones and bid them farewell with dignity.

Among these are around 195 bodies that Israel handed over without any details about their identities or circumstances of death, many of which showed clear signs of torture and summary execution. These findings indicate extrajudicial killings and inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees and prisoners, including those subjected to enforced disappearance.

The continued retention of bodies and prevention of independent investigations constitute an additional form of collective punishment against Palestinian families, denying victims their basic human right to be identified and buried with dignity.

Israel has also carried out the total erasure of several cities, towns, villages, camps, and residential blocks where horrific mass killings occurred. Satellite images and field testimonies documented show that Israeli forces removed the surface layers of the ground, levelled targeted areas, destroyed rubble, and transferred it to unknown locations, effectively erasing potential physical evidence such as munitions remnants, bodies, original patterns of destruction, and explosion traces.

Israel continues to exercise full, unlawful military control over roughly 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip, reshaping the geography entirely through demolitions, bombardments, and bulldozing, and establishing new military routes and bases atop the ruins of destroyed buildings and farmland. This goes beyond military occupation, amounting to an engineered redesign of the field landscape to erase material evidence and prevent future verification of the crimes committed.

Israeli military deployment in these areas, coupled with the targeting of anyone approaching what it calls the “yellow line”, effectively isolates half of the Strip and turns it into a no-go zone, blocking journalists, researchers, and humanitarian teams from entering and preventing any genuine field documentation of the mass killings and widespread destruction that took place there.

Such acts constitute a flagrant violation of fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, which obligate parties to a conflict to preserve crime scenes until independent investigations are completed and to ensure that evidence is not tampered with. They also contravene the International Court of Justice’s ruling obligating Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide, including preserving evidence and preventing its destruction.

Israel continues to withhold hundreds, possibly thousands, of bodies, including those of Palestinian prisoners and detainees killed under unclear circumstances, preventing autopsies and forensic examinations that could verify causes of death. This is a blatant violation of Article 130 of the Third Geneva Convention, which obliges occupying powers to respect the remains of the deceased and return them to their families without delay.

Denying victims justice and preventing the world from knowing the truth are not merely additional violations but an extension of the crime of genocide itself. Through these actions, Israel seeks to erase the traces of its crimes, obliterate collective memory, and strip Palestinians of their right to narrate their story and existence, attempting to eliminate both the victim and the evidence of their existence.

The international community and relevant United Nations bodies must ensure the immediate entry of international journalists and correspondents into the Gaza Strip and enable them to work freely and independently, without military oversight or escort. This is essential to guarantee transparency, expose the truth about the crimes committed, and allow urgent international access for forensic experts and specialists in forensic anthropology and explosives to secure crime scenes and collect physical and biological evidence before it is lost or tampered with.

Reconstruction and debris removal in areas where massacres occurred must be carried out with full consideration of evidence preservation and documentation, as any reconstruction effort that fails to do so will effectively serve as a tool to erase the truth and destroy the forensic memory of the crimes committed.

The international community and UN agencies are urged to support the establishment of a specialised framework for managing Gaza’s debris that links reconstruction and dismantling processes to the preservation and documentation of evidence—making adherence to this framework a prerequisite for any construction or debris removal activity.

There is also an urgent need to disclose the lists of the forcibly disappeared, missing persons, and bodies, reveal burial locations, return remains to their families, and allow international and UN mechanisms to conduct independent investigations into the crimes committed. Perpetrators must be brought to justice before international courts to ensure accountability, compensation, and redress for victims and their families.

The UN Human Rights Council should act swiftly to activate and reinforce existing monitoring and investigation mechanisms, enabling them full access to the Gaza Strip to protect crime scenes and ensure that evidence is not destroyed or altered. These mechanisms must be provided with the necessary technical and logistical support to operate independently and effectively.

The International Criminal Court must expand its ongoing investigation into the situation in Palestine to include the ongoing genocide and the systematic erasure of evidence, and take practical measures to protect crime scenes and related evidence. This includes establishing a dedicated field office for Palestine, similar to the one created for Ukraine, to coordinate on-site investigations, collect forensic evidence, and ensure continuous international oversight over the investigation process.

Any delay in such intervention will grant Israel more time to complete the destruction of evidence and the physical traces of its crimes, undermining the international community’s duty to protect truth and uphold justice. Saving the truth in Gaza is no longer merely a moral obligation, but a legal and humanitarian imperative that cannot be delayed.

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor