Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Archives

Gaza: No Trucks, No Aid, Israeli-style

CrossFireArabia
August 11, 2026

Israel persists in maintaining its illegal siege on Gaza, intentionally disrupting transportation and freight by destroying trucks and warehouses of transport companies. It also targets and detains drivers and blocks the entry of trucks, spare parts, and essential materials. This obstructs the delivery of food, medicine, and aid through crossings to the people, risking a return to famine in the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, Israel enforces a comprehensive policy that disrupts the entire supply chain, starting from the entry of goods and aid through crossings until they reach the population. Even when trucks are permitted to cross into Gaza, it is not guaranteed that their cargo will reach those in need, due to the destruction or impairment of the transportation, storage, and distribution infrastructure.

Nahed Shuhibar, head of Gaza’s Private Transport Association, told Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor that before the Israeli genocide, Gaza had about 1,200 trucks delivering food, medicine, fuel, animal feed, building materials, and other essentials. Since then, only around 400 trucks remain after Israeli bombings and destruction, with roughly 100 out of service due to restrictions on the entry of spare parts, tyres, oils, and batteries. As a result, just about 300 trucks, which are only 25 per cent of the original fleet, are currently operational.

The total Israeli ban on importing essential maintenance materials has threatened the operation of the remaining trucks. Workers had to dismantle broken-down trucks and reuse their parts to keep others operational. Additionally, the cost of changing a single truck’s oil skyrocketed from roughly 450 shekels (about $150) before the genocide to around 100,000 shekels (about $33,000) now, due to a severe shortage of supplies. The price for one kilogram of engine oil, if available, reached nearly $1,100.

This ban halts the main way of delivering food, medicine, and fuel to an enclave where Israel has mostly destroyed its infrastructure and local production, leaving residents almost entirely reliant on foreign aid.

Field data indicates that Israeli attacks have damaged or destroyed over 150 trucks during their operations, mainly on roads leading to or near the Kerem Shalom crossing. These attacks have resulted in the death of more than 20 drivers, including four since the ceasefire in October 2025, and have led to the arrest of 15 others, some of whom have been detained for two years.

Several drivers, who were attacked or arrested, operated within convoys that had previously undergone vetting and coordination with Israeli authorities through the UN and international organisations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This confirms that Israeli authorities were aware of their identities, the nature of their tasks, and their routes.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasised that Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law stand, regardless of coordination. This includes avoiding attacks on civilians and civilian structures, safeguarding relief workers and their transportation, taking all possible precautions to minimise harm during military actions, and enabling the swift, unobstructed delivery of humanitarian aid.

The destruction of approximately 150 transport company offices and warehouses, combined with the lack of safe storage and refrigerated facilities, has dismantled the logistics infrastructure essential for storing and distributing goods. This leads to delays of 24 to 72 hours in shipping, slow inspections, and truck breakdowns, which cause frozen food, medicine, and other vital materials to spoil before reaching those in need.

Additionally, Israeli forces intentionally and repeatedly stop truck drivers at military checkpoints and within the Kerem Shalom crossing, forcing them to strip and subjecting them to severe beatings and humiliation, even though they have prior security approval to work and access these areas.

Additionally, Euro-Med Monitor reported that several newly imported trucks in the Gaza Strip have been taken out of service. After approximately 100 trucks entered through private commercial arrangements, it was later discovered that these trucks remained registered to Israeli owners or were subject to outstanding ownership and security interests held by Israeli banks. This allowed Israeli authorities to seize the trucks upon arrival at the crossings, and 23 trucks have already been seized. Consequently, operators of the remaining trucks have halted their use to avoid losing them.

The number of trucks crossing alone can be misleading regarding the extent of relief, since the actual measure is the volume of goods that safely and consistently reach the population across all Gaza Strip areas. Aid isn’t truly available if it remains stranded, spoiled, or cannot be delivered to the most affected regions.

Justin Brady, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine, warned that the Gaza Strip is facing a food emergency that could escalate to Phase 5 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification if aid flow diminishes. This is the highest level, signifying an extreme food shortage at the household level that endangers lives. The region is considered to be in famine when these conditions become widespread, combined with malnutrition and mortality rates surpassing specific thresholds.

During a press conference on 3 August 2026 in Ramallah, Brady explained that an analysis involving over 60 experts from 20 organisations, along with a scientific review of local conditions and field surveys, predicts that more than 1.4 million people, which is 67 per cent of Gaza’s population, will face Crisis level (IPC Phase 3) or worse food insecurity from July to December 2026, compared with around 1.6 million people, or 77 per cent of the population, at the end of last year when Israel’s policy of mass starvation caused extensive civilian casualties.

The analysis indicates that approximately 212,000 people, nearly 10 per cent of the population, will remain in a Phase 4 food emergency, the penultimate stage. Many of these individuals live near the Israeli-imposed Yellow Line, where access to humanitarian aid and essential services is limited. Additionally, the governorates of North Gaza, Gaza, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Yunis are projected to experience IPC Phase 2 malnutrition. Some areas near the Yellow Line could not be classified because assessment teams were unable to reach them.

Furthermore, the analysis shows that approximately 83 per cent of households lack any income source, and “an estimated 1.9 million people (90 per cent of the population) would face high levels of acute food insecurity in the absence of humanitarian food security assistance through December 2026.” This indicates that the observed improvement is due to aid, not an actual recovery in the population’s capacity to produce or purchase food. Consequently, even minor disruptions in the aid’s entry, transportation, or distribution could swiftly nullify this progress.

The comparison with last year’s data reaffirms that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip remains critically severe. Any reduction in aid volume could swiftly worsen living conditions, which are already very fragile.

Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation under Articles 55 and 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to guarantee that the population receives food and medical supplies when local resources are insufficient. It must also approve relief plans and assist in their implementation using all available means. Customary international humanitarian law also mandates enabling the swift and unobstructed flow of humanitarian aid. This obligation includes ensuring that supplies are not only permitted to enter through crossings but are also effectively transported and distributed to civilians.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that Israel breaches these obligations by intentionally destroying the logistical infrastructure required for transporting food and medicine and hindering its repair or replacement. This occurs despite awareness of hunger, disease, and the population’s near-total reliance on aid, representing yet another aspect of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The transport system has become crucial for the population’s survival due to widespread challenges such as disease, malnutrition, loss of jobs and sources of income, destruction of farmland, livestock, and food production facilities, and disrupted fishing activities. These issues have damaged local food sources, prevented most residents from buying essentials, and made access to external food and medicine a matter of survival.

Israel cannot claim ignorance of these facts or their consequences, as it controls the crossings and supply routes, and continually receives notifications and warnings about hunger, disease, and the population’s almost total reliance on aid. Despite this, Israel still destroys transportation means for food and medicine and prevents their repair or replacement.

This conduct fulfils the material element of genocide by intentionally subjecting Palestinians to life conditions designed to deprive them of survival means and aiming to destroy them physically, wholly or partly. This specific intent is evidenced by Israel’s continued enforcement of these conditions after their impacts became evident, coupled with their awareness of these effects. This occurs within a broader pattern of acts of genocide and statements by Israeli officials that indicate a goal to eliminate Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

International humanitarian law clearly prohibits starving civilians. Intentionally withholding essential objects and materials necessary for survival, such as relief supplies, can be considered a war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(25) of the Rome Statute. The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court has previously determined that depriving people of food, water, and medicine in the Gaza Strip constituted using starvation as a method of warfare.

Commercial and civilian trucks are generally considered protected civilian objects unless they meet specific criteria to be classified as military targets under international humanitarian law. Drivers and trucks involved in humanitarian aid benefit from special protections, and intentionally attacking them, while they retain civilian protection, is considered a war crime according to Article 8(2)(b)(3) of the Rome Statute.

These acts also continue Israel’s failure to comply with the binding provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice in 2024. These measures specifically ordered Israel to provide basic services and humanitarian aid on a large scale without obstruction, as well as to increase the capacity, number, and accessibility of crossings.

The international community needs to act promptly and decisively to stop Israel’s ongoing genocide, cease all hostilities, lift the illegal and comprehensive siege on Gaza, ensure free movement of people and goods, and allow the population access to food, water, medicine, and livelihoods without being hostage to unpredictable Israeli policies.

States need to go beyond mere statements of concern by enforcing a comprehensive embargo on supplying weapons, equipment, and military or security services that could perpetuate the siege or hinder relief efforts. They should suspend cooperation contributing to ongoing violations, impose targeted sanctions on responsible individuals, and actively work to enforce the rulings of the International Court of Justice. Additionally, states ought to support investigations by the International Criminal Court instead of offering political protection to Israeli officials.

Israeli authorities must promptly and unconditionally lift all restrictions on importing new trucks, spare parts, tyres, engine oil, batteries, fuel, maintenance and diagnostic equipment, cranes, and power generators. They must also allow the private and humanitarian sectors to bring in a transport fleet that matches the population’s real needs.

All land crossings should be open to regular humanitarian and commercial traffic, functioning according to transparent, published schedules. Restrictions on quantities and arbitrary inspections should be eliminated, with a set time limit for inspections and clearance. Additionally, detailed daily data on truck numbers, loads, and their entry and arrival times should be publicly available.

Euro-Med Monitor urges an immediate stop to targeting drivers and trucks, ensuring their freedom of movement within the Strip, as well as the establishment of safe, permanent routes beyond temporary or superficial coordination. Furthermore, transparency regarding detained drivers, their detention sites, and the legal ground for their arrest is crucial. Israeli authorities must immediately release anyone not charged with a recognised crime and provide detainees with proper channels to communicate with their families and lawyers.

Additionally, Euro-Med Monitor urges the return of confiscated trucks or full compensation for the affected merchants. It also requests an investigation into how trucks with outstanding interests, held by Israeli banks, were permitted to enter. Moreover, it calls for assurances that crossings and banking systems are not exploited to seize or disable Palestinian property.

The United Nations and donor countries should finance an emergency initiative to restore logistical capabilities in the Gaza Strip. This includes acquiring or leasing trucks, setting up mobile maintenance centres, deploying temporary storage, refrigerated warehouses, and containers, and maintaining a reserve of spare parts and operational supplies. Priority should be given to isolated regions and areas near Israeli-controlled zones.

Euro-Med Monitor calls for the establishment of an independent UN mechanism to monitor the movement of trucks from the moment they enter until their loads reach the population, and to document cases of delay, refusal, targeting, or confiscation, provided this mechanism does not become a substitute for Israel’s direct legal responsibility or a means of lending legitimacy to its unlawful control over relief.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) should accelerate its investigations into all international crimes in the Gaza Strip, aiming to expand prosecutions to include all accountable individuals. It must issue additional arrest warrants for anyone reasonably suspected of responsibility. States parties are required to enforce these warrants promptly and without bias, avoiding the receipt, protection, or facilitation of the movement of wanted persons. Furthermore, all states should invoke universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute these crimes in their own courts.

Relief is determined by what actually reaches the population, not just the number of trucks Israel permits to cross. Food that remains stranded at the crossing or spoils before reaching those in need does not alleviate hunger and cannot be considered relief.

Euro-Med Monitor strongly criticises Israel’s claim that aid is facilitated based on truck numbers, pointing out that Israel destroys the trucks carrying supplies, obstructs repairs, and targets drivers. This effectively nullifies the impact of entry and allows control over how much food and medicine are delivered, where, and when. Such disruptions make transport a direct tool for managing deprivation and starvation.

Features News

How Can We Protect The ICC?

marwan
July 30, 2026

The coordinated actions to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC) and hinder its jurisdiction are deeply troubling and signal a dangerous path forward. This trend has become apparent with Venezuela and Chad announcing plans to withdraw from the Rome Statute. This occurs alongside clear US incitement efforts against the Court, including sanctions on its officials, and the European state parties’ lack of substantial action on arrest warrants for Israeli officials.

These actions risk undermining the international criminal justice system and depriving victims of international crimes of one of the few remaining accountability mechanisms, thereby entrenching impunity for perpetrators and providing political and legal cover for ongoing grave violations of international law.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor expresses deep concern over the Chadian government’s announcement that it has begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC. This comes shortly after Venezuela notified the United Nations of its withdrawal, following similar notifications from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. These actions indicate a concerning trend of countries moving away from the Rome Statute, both within and outside Africa.

Chad plays a crucial role in Darfur investigations because of its direct border with the region and its large refugee, survivor, and witness populations. It has also recently supported ICC teams in documenting crimes. Although Chad’s withdrawal does not legally remove the Court’s jurisdiction over Darfur crimes, it may significantly hinder access to victims and evidence and impede cooperative efforts.

Additionally, Venezuela’s decision is especially significant because it occurs during an active investigation by the Court into alleged crimes against humanity since April 2017. This investigation involves suspected state security forces, civilian authorities, and pro-government actors. There are serious concerns that the withdrawal might be used as a tool to hinder cooperation and reduce chances of holding accountable those responsible for the crimes under investigation.

Venezuela and Chad’s simultaneous withdrawal decisions, along with similar actions by other states, reveal a coordinated effort to weaken the Court through two main strategies. The first involves a fierce campaign led by the United States with Israeli backing, employing sanctions, threats, and public rhetoric to encourage states to withdraw. The second consists of internal weakening tactics by state parties’ governments, such as withdrawing during investigations, ignoring cooperation duties, or selectively enforcing decisions while refusing to arrest or surrender wanted individuals.

Washington’s welcoming of Venezuela and Chad’s withdrawals on 25 and 27 July are part of a broader campaign, announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 13 July, aimed at dismantling the Court.

The successive withdrawals primarily harm the victims by limiting their access to justice, rather than penalising the Court as an institution. This situation gives perpetrators of international crimes more room for impunity, especially when there are no effective, independent national judicial alternatives.

The criticisms levelled at the ICC regarding slow procedures, selectivity in case handling, and limited outcomes, particularly concerning crimes committed outside Africa, are legitimate and demand serious structural reforms to strengthen the Court’s independence, efficiency, and consistency. However, addressing these shortcomings must not be done by dismantling or withdrawing from the Court, but by reforming it, enhancing its effectiveness, and ensuring it exercises its jurisdiction free from political interference or selectivity.

Past operational failures should not justify undermining the Court’s authority. The bias within the international justice system highlights the need to reform accountability mechanisms and broaden their scope, rather than weakening the few tools available to hold perpetrators of the gravest international crimes accountable.

Euro-Med Monitor points out the irony of the US administration exploiting African concerns about ICC selectivity while simultaneously intensifying its campaign against the international judicial system. This escalation is mainly due to the Court’s expanded reach to include officials in Israel, a key US ally.

Washington’s imposition of financial sanctions and travel restrictions on the ICC Prosecutor, judges, and deputy prosecutors due to their work on cases involving US and Israeli officials represents a blatant interference in the independence of international justice. These measures not only intimidate Court staff and block access to vital financial and technical resources but also discourage banks, corporations, organisations, and experts from cooperating, which hampers investigations, delays enforcement of decisions, and limits victims’ access to justice. Moreover, it sets a dangerous precedent that allows powerful states to penalise international justice whenever it targets their officials or allies, thereby broadening impunity.

On 21 November 2024, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, after judges found reasonable grounds to believe they are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Both arrest warrants remain in effect and must be obeyed by the parties involved. The argument that the Court lacks jurisdiction because Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute is unfounded, as jurisdiction is based on crimes committed within the territory of the State of Palestine, a member state. This covers the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Therefore, Israel’s non-acceptance of the Rome Statute does not exempt its officials from accountability for crimes allegedly committed on the land of a party state.

The fact that Greece, Italy, and France permitted a government aircraft carrying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fly through their airspace during his recent trip to the United States, despite all three being state parties to the Rome Statute and aware of the active arrest warrant against him, raises serious questions about whether this conduct aligns with their legal duty to cooperate in good faith with the Court and to refrain from undermining its decisions.

Granting prior airspace transit was not compulsory for these states; it was a sovereign choice they could refuse. This decision allowed an individual wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity to pass, which undermines the purpose of the arrest warrant. It also highlights a contradiction: while these states publicly support legal obligations, their actions of helping wanted persons evade arrest contradict their stated commitments.

The European Union’s political backing for the Court diminishes in credibility and practical value when member states allow a judicially wanted official to transit through their territories, instead of denying transit permissions and using their authority to prevent their territories from being used to evade arrest warrants.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that Greece, Italy, and France need to give clear legal reasons for granting transit permissions. It is essential to adopt strict, clear protocols to prevent facilitating the movement of wanted persons and ensure their rapid arrest and surrender to the Court if they enter or land in these countries, in line with their obligations under the Rome Statute.

It is important to clearly separate proceedings related to the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s personal and professional conduct from the Court’s judicial decisions. The process of dismissing or investigating Khan is a separate institutional matter and does not affect the legality of the arrest warrants.

Holding any Court official accountable for misconduct, when proven through independent, fair procedures that ensure the rights of all involved parties and safeguard whistleblowers and victims, is an institutional obligation that upholds the Court’s integrity without threatening its independence. Using individual accountability as a reason to discredit ongoing investigations or nullify independent judicial rulings is unacceptable.

Euro-Med Monitor rebukes any attempts to leverage Khan’s case to challenge the investigation into the situation in Palestine or the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. The warrants were not issued by the Prosecutor in his personal capacity, but by an independent Pre-Trial Chamber that determined, following an evaluation of prosecution submissions, that there were reasonable grounds to believe both individuals bear criminal responsibility for crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. Consequently, the enforceability and legal validity of the warrants do not depend on Khan remaining in office.

The removal of the Prosecutor does not disrupt the Court’s legal or institutional continuity, nor does it invalidate ongoing investigations or active arrest warrants, including those related to Palestine and Venezuela. Additionally, it does not absolve state parties from their obligation to cooperate fully with the Court and enforce its judicial orders.

A transparent, independent, and competitive process is crucial for selecting a new Prosecutor. This process should be based on clear public criteria for competence, integrity, and experience, ensuring candidates undergo rigorous professional and ethical assessments. It must also shield the selection from political influence and conflicts of interest. The Court must guarantee continuous progress on all cases without delays or bias, avoiding the transitional period being used to disrupt investigations or expose them to pressure from the US and Israel, which could undermine accountability.

Concerning the legal consequences of the withdrawals, notifications from Chad and Venezuela to begin withdrawal procedures do not cause an immediate departure from the Rome Statute. Article 127 states that a withdrawal becomes effective one year after the UN Secretary-General receives written notification, unless a later date is specified. Until that time, both countries remain state parties with legal obligations, including cooperating with the Court and fulfilling its requests.

Venezuela’s withdrawal, even after it takes effect, does not remove the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Rome Statute was in force for the country. It also does not end ongoing investigations or cancel cooperation obligations related to proceedings started before the withdrawal became effective. Similarly, Chad’s withdrawal does not impact the Court’s jurisdiction over Darfur crimes or disrupt cooperation processes initiated during its membership. Withdrawal does not erase individual criminal responsibility nor stop the Court from considering issues submitted before it officially took effect.

Chad, Venezuela, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso should reverse their withdrawal decisions, retract their notifications before they become effective, uphold their legal commitments, and collaborate with other States Parties to reform the Court and address operational issues, rather than undermining the international criminal justice system and depriving victims of one of the few accountability tools available.

Concerned states should fully cooperate in relevant cases and investigations. This includes allowing Court investigators access to victims, witnesses, information, and evidence, while ensuring the protection of victims and witnesses and the preservation of evidence. States must also avoid using withdrawal procedures that could hinder investigations or reduce accountability for international crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction.

The United States should stop its efforts to dismantle the Court and lift any financial sanctions and travel restrictions imposed on its judges, prosecutors, and associates. EU member states and other allies need to work together to implement legal, financial, and technical strategies that protect the Court and its personnel from sanctions and political influence, so it can continue to utilise the necessary services and resources to fulfil its responsibilities.

European state parties to the Rome Statute should turn their support for the Court into tangible actions by refusing to accept wanted individuals or allow their transit through their airspace. They must also ensure the arrest and surrender of such individuals on their territories, adhering strictly to legal obligations, including executing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant without bias or political influence.

Euro-Med Monitor calls on state parties to review national legislation and adopt clear, binding protocols for executing arrest and surrender requests, as well as for handling transit, landing, and official visit requests by wanted individuals, thereby preventing procedural loopholes from being exploited to protect them.

It is vital to persist in investigating the situation in the State of Palestine, covering crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. This includes executing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant without bias or political influence and rejecting any efforts to interfere with or alter the investigation’s direction or priorities.

Euro-Med Monitor calls on the Assembly of States Parties to ensure a transparent, independent, and competitive process for choosing and electing the new Prosecutor. This process should be based on published criteria for competence, integrity, and experience, with candidates undergoing comprehensive professional and ethical evaluations. It is also essential to disclose the selection procedures, prevent political interference and conflicts of interest, and thereby protect the independence of the Prosecutor’s Office. These measures are vital for maintaining the trust of victims and Court staff, and for ensuring ongoing investigations.

National judicial authorities should invoke universal jurisdiction as per their national laws, initiating independent investigations into international crimes and prosecuting suspects when jurisdiction is applicable. This approach broadens accountability opportunities beyond just the International Criminal Court. Euromedmonitor

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‘Europe Shouldn’t Toe The Israeli Line’

CrossFireArabia
February 8, 2026

Linking reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip to demilitarisation legitimises the ongoing genocide Israel has been committing in the enclave for more than two years and violates peremptory norms of international law.

This condition ignores the grave crimes committed by Israel against civilians and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and turns the population’s right to reconstruction into a bargaining chip for political leverage, in explicit breach of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which require the protection of civilians and the provision of their basic needs without restriction or condition.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor condemns the comments made by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, who tied Gaza’s reconstruction to Hamas’ demilitarisation. This stance significantly deviates from the EU’s commitment to preventing genocide by setting political and security conditions that endanger civilians’ rights to life and safety.

Kallas confirmed in remarks on 29 January and 2 February that “Gaza’s reconstruction will depend on Hamas’ demilitarisation,” underscoring a clear insistence on linking civilians’ rights to reconstruction and survival to a political condition unrelated to protection obligations under international law, particularly for a population in a territory almost entirely destroyed by the genocide Israel has been committing since October 2023.

The position adopted by the EU High Representative reinforces a systematic European approach of complicity, militarily, economically, and politically, with the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinian civilians. This approach is reflected in the continued failure to adopt meaningful accountability or pressure measures despite the grave and unprecedented crimes committed over the past two years, alongside the ongoing export of weapons and military equipment by key European Union states documented as being used in war crimes against Palestinian civilians, thereby engaging those states’ legal responsibility for contributing to and sustaining such violations.

The prevention or delay of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip falls within Article II(c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which prohibits “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The prohibition of genocide is a peremptory norm of international law from which no derogation is permitted, rendering the conditioning of reconstruction, an essential requirement for the population’s survival, on the fulfilment of a political or security condition, including disarmament, legally void.

This condition constitutes a serious breach of the European Union’s and its Member States’ positive obligation to prevent genocide, which requires the use of all possible and legally available measures to halt and end the deadly living conditions imposed on the civilian population, rather than creating additional obstacles to their removal or using political and economic influence to shield the continuation or prolongation of the crime.

Lima Bustami, Head of the Legal Department at Euro-Med Monitor, stated that “both legal and moral imperatives require the European Union to direct its political pressure towards Israel as the party responsible for this destruction.”

“This should be achieved by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and linking all forms of economic, military, and diplomatic cooperation to the immediate cessation of the genocide, compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice, and the initiation of Gaza’s reconstruction alongside reparations for victims,” Bustami added. “Instead, Israel is imposing impossible living conditions on victims, effectively tying their right to life to security arrangements to which they are not a party.”

She continued, “This approach represents a flagrant inversion of justice: the perpetrator of genocide is effectively granted yet another veto over the reconstruction of what its military machinery has destroyed, while victims are punished twice, first through mass killing, and again by being denied their fundamental right to rebuild their lives.”

Euro-Med Monitor warns that these political conditions may be implemented on the ground by withholding or suspending reconstruction funding, restricting the entry of construction materials and essential goods, banning financial transactions, disrupting UN mechanisms and obstructing their work, or imposing other measures that deprive the population of life’s necessities. Such measures go beyond political bias and may legally amount to complicity in genocide, as they provide political cover and tangible material support that sustain deadly living conditions.

The conditioning of the fundamental rights of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, including the rights to housing, health, and survival, on political, military, or security objectives, constitutes collective punishment expressly prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It also undermines core principles of international humanitarian law, particularly the principle of distinction and the prohibition on punishing civilians for acts they did not personally commit, and places direct legal responsibility on those imposing such conditions for the resulting consequences.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses that the rules of international humanitarian law apply unconditionally, irrespective of political considerations, and that reconstruction is a legal right of victims and an essential component of the duty to provide reparation, not a reward or bargaining chip used for political gain at the expense of affected civilians’ rights.

This condition constitutes a grave violation of the international human rights framework, as reconstruction and the entry of necessary materials are indispensable to the realisation of the civilian population’s fundamental rights, foremost the rights to life, an adequate standard of living, housing, health, food, and water. The most vulnerable groups, particularly children and women, bear the brunt of this deprivation, as their rights are immediately and directly harmed by ongoing destruction, siege, and the denial of life-sustaining essentials.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, must publicly retract her statements linking Gaza’s reconstruction to demilitarisation and refrain from policies that provide cover for the continuation of genocide in the Gaza Strip and for Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people as a whole.

Influential international actors, particularly the European Union, must impose deterrent economic and diplomatic sanctions on Israel to compel compliance with the International Court of Justice’s rulings. This legal duty extends beyond permitting reconstruction to include the immediate imposition of a comprehensive arms export ban on Israel and ensuring accountability for the perpetrators of these crimes.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses that it is profoundly disgraceful for the European Union to deliberate over the conditions for rebuilding the destruction caused by machinery supplied by some of its Member States.

The international community must act decisively to compel Israel to comply with international law by immediately and comprehensively ceasing all crimes and grave violations against civilians in the Gaza Strip. Achieving justice requires activating a comprehensive and effective accountability process and guaranteeing victims the right to an effective remedy and to fair, comprehensive compensation for the material and moral harm suffered, as this is both an obligation on Israel and a legal entitlement for victims, unaffected by limitation periods.

Euro-Med Monitor calls on influential international actors, including the European Union, to comply fully with international law by separating the humanitarian track, including reconstruction as an inalienable right, from political and security considerations, ensuring that reconstruction is recognised as a legal duty and a right of victims rather than a tool of negotiation or coercion.

The international community must act urgently to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip and ensure the unrestricted entry of reconstruction materials, as this is a binding legal obligation and a humanitarian necessity to safeguard the rights, lives, and dignity of the civilian population. – Human Rights Monitor

Features

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.

News

Portugal Says No To Trump!

CrossFireArabia
February 15, 2025

Nearly 600 Portuguese political, academic, and military figures, along with journalists, petitioned the government and UN to reject Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and show solidarity with Palestine. They urged Portugal and the EU to oppose forced displacement and support Palestinian self-determination.