Euro-Med Monitor Archives - CrossFireArarbia

‘True’ Image of The Genocide Unveilled

CrossFireArabia
February 13, 2026

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has launched the third edition of the WikiRights project in the Gaza Strip, targeting a new cohort of young men and women who survived the genocide in the enclave.

Launched in Gaza, the project targets 12 young Palestinian men and women. It provides them with in-depth training in human rights research and documentation, as well as professional editing on Wikipedia. The training covers creating, developing, and updating content, and involves using editing and contribution tools in both Arabic and English.

The project aims to enable participants to produce reliable content based on international documentation standards, address knowledge gaps concerning human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, and improve worldwide access to accurate, current information. Additionally, it strives to develop the skills of a young generation equipped with digital influence tools, empowering them to protect the human rights narrative from marginalisation or distortion on open knowledge platforms.

At a time when online platforms often disseminate false information about victims of armed conflicts, it is crucial for us to empower young people to share accurate facts and document Israeli crimes

Anas Jerjawi, Chief Operations Officer at Euro-Med Monitor

This round of the project is an exceptional version driven by the reality of the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip. Its main focus is on live field documentation and interviewing victims and witnesses, rather than just content creation, due to the urgent need to challenge efforts to conceal the true story of victims of genocide.

The first round of the project was launched in 2015 to enrich Wikipedia, which ranks seventh in the world by visitor numbers, with accounts of victims of violations in the historical documentation of contemporary events and crises, and to promote and develop human rights content in the electronic encyclopaedia. The project also aims to train human rights defenders to use the encyclopaedia and to modify its articles.

Upon completion of the training, participants are expected to take responsibility for adding documentation-based articles to Wikipedia that are rooted in live testimonies. This effort aims to showcase the stories of genocide victims in Gaza and ensure their voices are heard by the international community as part of a historical and human rights record.

Euro-Med Monitor’s Chief Operations Officer, Anas Jerjawi, said, “Training young people to edit Wikipedia content seeks to transform victims of genocide in Gaza from mere statistics into storytellers, especially given the recent failures of some platforms or their complicity in not conveying the scale of genocide.”

“At a time when online platforms often disseminate false information about victims of armed conflicts, it is crucial for us to empower young people to share accurate facts and document Israeli crimes, ensuring that these details are not exclusively recorded by the perpetrators,” Jerjawi added.

Wikipedia is regarded as a major online resource for information and statistics. Amid increasing events and armed conflicts in the MENA region, Euro-Med Monitor’s detailed analysis of human rights content on Wikipedia revealed that both the Arabic and English versions of the encyclopaedia have weak coverage, especially regarding the genocide in Gaza.

While government-issued official narratives largely shape Wikipedia articles, there is a near-total lack of stories from victims and survivors. Therefore, adding field-based facts and documented testimonies is crucial to fill this gap and promote fair, unbiased reporting on human rights issues.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor launched the WikiRights project in 2015 to record victims’ stories alongside official narratives. This effort reflects the organisation’s commitment to involving marginalised groups, especially victims of occupation and genocide, in shaping priorities and defending their rights. – Euro-Med Monitor

News

Israeli Army and Palestinian Corpses

CrossFireArabia
December 11, 2025

During over two years of ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army has pursued a systematic policy of burying Palestinian bodies in unmarked graves, including near aid distribution centres in central and southern Gaza, under conditions that obstruct identification, conceal burial sites, and prevent families from learning the fate of their loved ones.

The investigation published by CNN, “Bulldozed corpses and unmarked graves,” reinforces the data obtained by Euro-Med Monitor through documented testimonies and underscores the need for an independent international investigation to identify the victims, locate burial sites, and ensure accountability for these practices.

These practices were documented by Euro-Med Monitor through a systematic programme that included extensive field investigations across northern and southern Gaza, interviews with survivors, eyewitnesses, and families of the missing, the collection of data from medical teams and local authorities, and the analysis and cross-checking of available visual material. This documentation reveals a systematic and widespread pattern of burial operations reflecting an Israeli army policy that cannot be treated as isolated incidents.

The worst thing I have ever experienced, after the shooting of civilians who were trying to get aid, was the order to clean up the area. The shooting was very intense, body parts everywhere, and the smell was awful

A contractor who worked with a humanitarian organisation in Gaza

Euro-Med Monitor’s field documentation shows that Israeli forces repeatedly buried Palestinian bodies in public squares, open land, and areas near vital facilities, including aid distribution centres, hospitals, and schools, after sealing these locations militarily and blocking access by medical teams, families, and residents. This practice destroys potential evidence of unlawful killings, obstructs effective investigation, and deprives families of the right to know the fate and burial place of their relatives, in further violation of human dignity and international law.

Many Palestinian families discovered the bodies of their relatives buried in shallow pits left behind by Israeli forces after their withdrawal. This pattern was particularly evident near aid distribution centres and along forced displacement corridors, amid military operations marked by siege, starvation, and mass displacement of the civilian population.

Findings revealed by CNN on the Israeli army’s burial of Palestinians near aid distribution points are consistent with what Euro-Med Monitor has documented in recent months. Field testimonies show that Israeli forces prevented civilians and medical teams from accessing bodies for hours or days, then carried out rapid burials that concealed victims’ identities and destroyed potential evidence of unlawful killings.

Euro-Med Monitor verified the testimony of a contractor who worked with a humanitarian organisation in Gaza by reviewing available data and cross-checking it with independent sources. The witness stated that he saw Israeli forces fire on Palestinian civilians seeking humanitarian aid, killing several of them, after which he was instructed to clear the area, including bulldozing bodies and human remains.

The contractor stated, “The worst thing I have ever experienced, after the shooting of civilians who were trying to get aid, was the order to clean up the area. There were body parts. The shooting was very intense, body parts everywhere, and the smell was awful.”

“I complained to the Israeli army officer, but he replied, ‘That’s none of your business.’ I had to load body parts onto the back of the truck to dump them,” he added. “When I was ordered to carry out the task, I was not warned about the true situation. I find it difficult to talk about it. I feel my heart pounding and like I am going to collapse.”

At least 45 people have gone missing in the vicinity of aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip, and their fate remains unknown, whether they were detained and subjected to enforced disappearance in Israeli prisons or killed and buried in unmarked sandy locations near those centres.

In March 2024, Euro-Med Monitor verified a widely circulated video showing, from a distance, two men walking separately along the Gaza beach, waving white flags in apparent surrender as they cautiously approached a group of Israeli soldiers on Al Rashid Street, near the barrier separating northern Gaza from the central and southern areas.

One of the men advanced towards the soldiers with his hands raised before disappearing behind a pile of sand and concrete, while the other attempted to flee but was pursued by an Israeli military vehicle and then suddenly fell to the sand, apparently after being shot. An Israeli military bulldozer subsequently appeared and buried both bodies beneath sand and debris.

The incident reflects a recurring pattern of deliberate dehumanisation and the use of terror to break the Palestinian population and force submission and displacement. It constitutes further evidence of the specific intent required for genocide under international law, while also being liable to classification as crimes against humanity and full-fledged war crimes.

An independent and comprehensive international investigation must be launched into the Israeli army’s burial practices near densely populated areas, aid distribution centres, and forced displacement corridors, including incidents involving the shooting of civilians seeking aid. The investigation must have full authority to collect and analyse evidence and to determine individual criminal responsibility for potential war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The Israeli army must immediately disclose the locations of all mass and individual grave sites established during its military operations in Gaza. Urgent measures are required to protect these sites as potential scenes of international crimes, prevent the transfer or destruction of bodies and any tampering with evidence, allow independent forensic teams to enter Gaza, and lift restrictions on the entry of DNA testing equipment, or establish a secure mechanism for transferring samples to specialised laboratories abroad to enable victim identification and proper documentation of crimes.

Pressure must be exerted on Israel to disclose the identities of those killed, detained, or missing under its control during military operations, and to reveal burial or detention locations, to end families’ uncertainty and enable serious efforts to uncover the truth and secure redress. Israel must immediately disclose the fate of all persons it has arrested and continues to subject to enforced disappearance, cease this unlawful practice, allow detainees to communicate with their families and lawyers, and release all those held without a clear and specific legal basis, in accordance with international law.

Families and relevant Palestinian authorities must be enabled to retrieve the victims’ bodies and bury them in accordance with religious, humanitarian, and legal standards, ensure relatives’ participation in identification procedures, provide full disclosure regarding their fate, and deliver the necessary support.

States Parties to the Geneva Conventions and all other concerned states must ensure accountability for these crimes by opening national and international investigations, applying universal jurisdiction where necessary, and taking effective measures to prevent their recurrence. Euro-Med Monitor

News

In Spite of Ceasefire Israel Kills 8 People Daily

CrossFireArabia
November 10, 2025

Despite a month having passed since the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to commit genocide against Palestinian civilians through various means. It maintains conditions that devastate the lives of more than two million Palestinians and prevent any recovery from over 25 months of humanitarian catastrophe, in the midst of persistent international silence and failure to ensure protection and accountability.

Over the past four weeks, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the continued premeditated killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army. An average of eight Palestinians are killed daily under the ongoing comprehensive blockade on the Gaza Strip, alongside a policy of deliberate starvation, deprivation of basic means of survival, obstruction of reconstruction, restrictions on movement, denial of medical treatment for the wounded and sick, and the deliberate hindrance of humanitarian aid. This situation represents a continuation of the ongoing crime of genocide against the population of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army continues to violate the ceasefire daily through aerial and artillery bombardment, gunfire, and the ongoing destruction of homes and buildings, particularly in the eastern areas of Khan Yunis and Gaza City. These actions form part of a systematic approach to eroding the foundations of life in the Gaza Strip and denying its residents their most basic rights, in clear violation of international law.

Israel is exploiting the absence of international oversight to reshape the geographical landscape of Gaza, using the ceasefire as a cover to make areas under its direct military control effectively uninhabitable, both now and in the future

Since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October, the Israeli army has continued to kill Palestinian civilians, with 242 Palestinians killed, including 85 children, at a rate of more than eight deaths per day, and around 619 others injured, at more than 20 injuries per day. This clearly shows that Israel has not ceased its policy of killing and systematically targeting Palestinians.

In the absence of any effective international monitoring mechanism to enforce the ceasefire, Israel continues to commit violations on the ground by excluding the areas it controls, which make up over 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip, from the scope of the agreement. It has continued to carry out bombing and destruction operations even in the absence of active fighting.

Israel is exploiting the absence of international oversight to reshape the geographical landscape of Gaza, using the ceasefire as a cover to make areas under its direct military control effectively uninhabitable, both now and in the future. Euro-Med Monitor stresses that these actions are not merely violations of the agreement, but in effect transform the truce into a tool for expanding control and inflicting comprehensive, long-term destruction.

Israel continues to administer a deliberate policy of starvation in the Gaza Strip, having blocked the entry of approximately 70 per cent of the aid required under the agreement. It also controls the type of goods allowed in, systematically restricting essential food items such as meat and dairy products while flooding the markets with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor products. This maintains the population in a state of controlled, chronic hunger, without addressing its causes or severe health consequences, and without visibly displaying the acute physical signs of malnutrition.

The World Food Programme stated in a report issued on 7 November that hunger in Gaza has reached devastating levels, noting a 20 per cent increase in child malnutrition rates compared to last year, along with a shortage of routine vaccinations for one in five children due to the collapse of the health system.

Israel continues to close the Rafah crossing and block movement in both directions, restricting the movement of civilians, including the wounded and sick, and hindering the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

These actions are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic pattern indicating a clear policy by the Israeli political and military leadership to use the ceasefire as a cover to continue genocide against Gaza’s residents. By maintaining a disguised military assault and perpetuating killing, starvation, and systematic destruction, Israel exploits the absence of international will to protect civilians and hold perpetrators accountable.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of a grave development: the dismantling of the Gaza Strip’s geographical unity, turning it into an isolated and uninhabitable area. This risks entrenching a permanent geographical and demographic division and pushing the population towards forced displacement as the only means of survival.

The continued silence of the international community and the failure to activate accountability mechanisms provide Israel with practical cover to continue committing genocide, albeit at a slower pace, as part of a consistent policy aimed at eliminating the Palestinian presence in the Gaza Strip.

The international community must take immediate practical steps to ensure genuine protection for Palestinian civilians, secure the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and bring an immediate and comprehensive end to the illegal blockade. All crossings must be opened for the movement of people and goods, including the sick and wounded, under the supervision of the United Nations and its relevant agencies.

Safe, sufficient, and regular access to humanitarian aid must be guaranteed, particularly for essential items such as food, medicine, fuel, and supplies needed to restore health and basic services. It is imperative to prevent Israel from continuing to control the quantity and quality of aid or obstruct its delivery.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses the need to ensure the safe return of all forcibly displaced persons to their homes and original places of residence within the Gaza Strip and rejects any arrangements or projects that would entrench forced displacement or impose isolation zones or so-called “humanitarian zones” as substitutes for their original homes.

The deployment of an effective international mission under the United Nations is required to monitor Israeli conduct, document violations, and provide a protective presence that would help safeguard civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Euro-Med Monitor urges all states to halt the export and import of weapons and military or security equipment to and from Israel, and to suspend any military or security cooperation with it, in fulfilment of their obligation to prevent genocide and avoid contributing to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

All states and regional organisations, particularly states parties to the Genocide Convention, must take effective political, economic, and legal measures, including imposing targeted sanctions and suspending partnership and cooperation agreements with Israel, until it complies with its obligations under international law. States must also support the investigations of the International Criminal Court and implement the relevant orders of the International Court of Justice, while exercising their national jurisdictions to prosecute those involved in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and ensure that such individuals are not afforded any safe haven.

Euro-Med Monitor calls for the establishment of an international mechanism for compensation and reconstruction to guarantee redress for civilian victims and the rebuilding of homes, infrastructure, and vital facilities, in a manner that does not restore Israeli control over resources, crossings, or freedom of movement.

News

Bombing a Hospital!

CrossFireArabia
April 14, 2025

The Israeli forces’ deliberate destruction of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Arab Hospital reflects a broader intent to systematically dismantle essential aspects of life in the Gaza Strip. This attack is part of a clear strategy to erode all means of survival by disregarding international legal protections for civilians in order to deliberately deprive them of basic living conditions and strike vital infrastructure; it demonstrates a calculated Israeli policy designed to induce a slow collapse and push the people in the Strip towards a total breakdown.

The Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that this escalation marks a dangerous phase in a systematic strategy meant to eliminate Palestinian civilians in the besieged enclave. The targeting of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital is the targeting of Gaza City’s last refuge for the sick and wounded, who should always be protected, and of medical personnel working under catastrophic conditions to save lives. Bombing a hospital sheltering critically ill patients is a direct violation of the right to life and, in a broader context, is part of Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli aircraft struck the emergency building of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza City with two bombs at around 2:10 a.m. on Sunday 13 April 2025. The attack occurred less than 30 minutes after the hospital received an Israeli call demanding evacuation. The strike destroyed the building and caused particularly extensive damage to the reception area and emergency department, laboratory, and pharmacy, which all caught fire.

According to eyewitnesses, people sheltering inside the hospital and medical staff were forced to evacuate dozens of patients and wounded people—some in critical condition—from the hospital to the surrounding streets. Patients were left lying on sidewalks, exposed to the risk of death and denied access to medical care, highlighting the severity of the escalating humanitarian crisis. Following the evacuation process, an injured child, Hatem al-Nabih, died outside the hospital.

Israel has bombed al-Ahli Hospital, putting north Gaza’s last functioning medical facility out of service. Critically ill Palestinian patients were forced to flee the Christian hospital before dawn on Palm Sunday with only a moment’s notice. pic.twitter.com/gYiP893Kzh
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 13, 2025

As international law mandates the protection of medical facilities, the Israeli army’s order to evacuate the entire hospital within less than 30 minutes falls far short of the minimum standards required for a safe and effective evacuation. The order reflects a deliberate failure to provide genuine safeguards for civilians, including patients, the wounded, and medical staff. Given the Israeli pattern of issuing formal warnings to justify actions that still result in egregious harm due to the lack of time allotted for evacuation, Israel is not absolved of its legal responsibility.

Furthermore, the issuing of evacuation orders does not revoke a hospital’s protected status under international law, nor justify targeting and destroying it, especially when the facility plays such a vital role in the survival of civilians, as was the case with Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. An operating hospital remains a site of humanitarian use, and under no circumstances may civilians be deprived of its services, even after evacuation.

Demanding the immediate evacuation of a hospital overcrowded with critically ill patients, many of them on life support, amid a total blockade and absence of safe zones, cannot be seen as a humanitarian measure. Instead, it is an impossible demand—one that turns the so-called warning itself into a tool of coercive pressure aimed at the destruction of the population, both physically and psychologically. With no escape, refuge, or international intervention, this strategy deliberately drives individuals into a further state of absolute despair, as they see themselves being pushed towards a fate in which their people’s existence has been eliminated.

Israel’s claim of Hamas’ “military use” of the hospital is a familiar and well-worn justification that is often invoked to legitimise its systematic killings and destruction after the fact. This claim lacks credibility in the absence of concrete evidence, especially when considered within the broader context of the deliberate Israeli policy of targeting civilian infrastructure—most notably hospitals. Israel’s bombardment of these facilities has been central to its attacks, despite there being no legal basis for this type of targeting, as such buildings are protected under international humanitarian law.

The principle of proportionality prohibits civilian harm that is excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. Therefore, the destruction caused by Israel’s bombing of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and the consequent severe physical and psychological suffering inflicted on patients, medical staff, and displaced civilians who were seeking shelter there outweigh any claimed military benefit. There is no question, then, that the attack flagrantly violates international humanitarian law and constitutes an international crime warranting legal prosecution and accountability.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses that this attack is not the first to target Al-Ahli Arab Hospital since Israel began its genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. It is also part of a broader, systematic campaign to completely disable all health facilities in the besieged enclave. Following the destruction and shutdown of most other hospitals by Israeli forces over the past 18 months, Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was the last relatively functional hospital, serving over one million people in Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip.

Prior to the attack on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, media outlets close to the Israeli army published a video on March 21 showing Israel’s bombing and destruction of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in southern Gaza City. As one of the largest specialised hospitals, it served over 12,000 cancer patients. Israel had already targeted this hospital in November 2023 and again in mid-2024, after which Israeli forces turned it into military barracks. This action deprived thousands of patients of vital care, and led to the deaths of approximately 500 cancer patients due to lack of treatment.

Israel’s bombing of both Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital—despite the latter being under Israeli control—indicate that these attacks are being carried out without any legitimate military necessity. They reveal that Israel’s true objective is not security, but the deliberate creation of widespread destruction and unliveable conditions in the Gaza Strip, with the ultimate aim of forcing the remaining Palestinian population to leave it.

Breaking | Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which had been providing critical care to civilians in Gaza City amid the ongoing war, has been completely knocked out of service following Israeli airstrikes. pic.twitter.com/LT5ZJsQkLd
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 12, 2025

The ongoing targeting of hospitals and healthcare infrastructure in the Gaza Strip constitutes both a war crime and a crime against humanity. It exposes the systematic nature of the Israeli aggression and its goal of eliminating the civilian population by dismantling their most basic means of survival—most notably the healthcare system, which remains the last lifeline amid the ongoing genocide and total siege imposed on the Strip’s civilians.

Since 2 March 2025, Israel has blocked the entry of medicine and medical supplies along with all other humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which was already facing a severe shortage of such supplies due to the strict blockade prior to the January 2025 ceasefire, shattered by Israel on 18 March. The crisis has been compounded by the escalating Israeli airstrikes and the rising number of casualties they continue to cause.

All states must fulfil their individual and collective legal obligations and take urgent action through all available means to stop Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. They must employ effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians, including by safeguarding medical facilities, health workers, the wounded, and the sick, to halt the continuation of Israel’s policy of mass extermination in the Strip.

Euro-Med Monitor calls on the international community to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice, and to hold it accountable for its horrific crimes against the Palestinian people. The international community must also enforce the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister without delay.

In addition, the international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and grave violations of international law. These should include an arms embargo; a halt to all political, financial, and military support or cooperation; a freeze on the assets of officials implicated in crimes against Palestinians; and travel bans against these officials. Additionally, trade privileges and bilateral agreements that grant Israel economic advantages that enable its continued violations should be suspended.

All relevant states and entities must hold accountable those complicit in Israel’s crimes—most notably the United States and other Israeli allies that assist in enabling Israeli violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This includes aid and other forms of cooperation in the military, intelligence, political, legal, financial, and/or media sectors, as well as any other sectors that contribute to the continuation of the aforementioned crimes.

Israeli targeting of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital is a deliberate assault on life and Gaza’s last refuge // @EuroMedHR https://t.co/hVcuoTIM6i @antonioguterres @UNOSAPG Virgina Gamba @mo_bleeker @IntlCrimCourt @KarimKhanQC @CIJ_ICJ #ICJ #ICC #R2P #PreventGenocide #ActToProtect
— Israel Genocide (@IsraelGenocide) April 14, 2025

Analyses

Why is Israel Torturing Its Prisoners?

CrossFireArabia
February 28, 2025

The physical and mental health conditions of the Palestinian detainees and prisoners released during the seventh round of the ceasefire exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are shocking.

Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, who arrived in the Gaza Strip recently in exceptionally poor health, illustrates its ongoing use of torture to terrorise and persecute prisoners and detainees and break their will until the very end of their detention. The effects of torture were clearly evident, with the emaciated bodies of the released individuals reflecting the severity of systematic crimes and inhumane treatment that exceed all legal and moral bounds.

The repeated release of such visibly unhealthy individuals from Israeli prisons reveals that the heinous torture and willful medical neglect they endure have escalated to appalling levels. Euro-Med Monitor notes that the atrocities occurring in these prisons are among the worst violations recorded by human rights organisations worldwide.

https://twitter.com/EuroMedHR/status/1895193029843320974

In a blatant violation of the mandatory rules of international law—which forbid torture in all its forms and under all circumstances, without exception, and consider its commission an international crime that does not expire by statute of limitations—hundreds of released prisoners and detainees arrived in the Gaza Strip after midnight in exceptionally poor health. It became evident after their transfer to the Gaza European Hospital in the southern section of the Strip that dozens of them required urgent medical care because their bodies showed signs of torture and inhumane treatment, including deprivation of necessary medical care and treatment.

Along with severe weakness and exhaustion, the Euro-Med Monitor field team documented severe injuries among detainees and prisoners, including limb amputations and severe swelling brought on by torture. Some appeared incapable of walking without the assistance of friends, and others required immediate medical attention because their health was rapidly deteriorating.

Even though the majority of detainees were not charged with any specific crimes, many of them claimed that they were beaten, mistreated, and threatened right up until the very last minute before their release. Since being kidnapped from the Gaza Strip at various points following 7 October 2023, they were arrested or detained, tortured, and subjected to degrading treatment as part of a systematic policy designed to cause them severe physical and psychological harm. This policy is a part of Israel’s crime of genocide, which aims to destroy the Palestinian people in the Strip, either entirely or partially, by weakening the foundations of their survival and leading them to submission or extinction.

Furthermore, the Euro-Med Monitor team documented Israel’s ongoing use of psychological torture and humiliation against recently released prisoners through the enforcement of laws that directly incite violence and genocide. This official systematic incitement is a fundamental tool of Israel’s policies against Palestinians, particularly those in the Gaza Strip. One example of these measures is the prison authorities’ requirement that newly released inmates and detainees wear vests with official Israeli Prison Service slogans and threatening phrases in Hebrew, including religious quotations that express the principle of revenge and pursuit until liquidation. Additionally, they are forced to wear plastic wristbands with derogatory words printed on them to psychologically degrade them and highlight the fact that they are still being singled out despite being “free”.

The phrase “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not return until I have destroyed them” is printed on the vests of Palestinian detainees and prisoners who have been released, and is taken from a biblical passage (Psalm 18:37) that expressly calls for killing and genocide. This is a form of direct and public incitement to genocide, which is forbidden by Article 3 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

By depriving the Palestinians of their humanity and treating them as a legitimate target for killing and targeting, Israel’s actions go beyond psychological warfare and constitute a dangerous extension of institutional hate speech and a consolidation of the intention to commit genocide.

The violations which Palestinian prisoners and detainees are subjected to by Israel, whether while these individuals are being held or being released, gravely violate international law and represent a blatant disregard for its mandatory regulations that forbid torture and cruel or inhuman treatment without exception. The Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions provide complete protection for prisoners and detainees, and forbid torture, humiliation, or retaliation, making these crimes punishable by international law.

The death of detainee Raafat Adnan Abdul Aziz Abu Fanouneh (34), who was tortured and abused following his arrest in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, was announced yesterday (Wednesday) in Israel’s Shamir Medical Centre (formerly Assaf Harofeh). A minimum of 60 prisoners and detainees—as these are the only victims whose identities are known—have perished in Israeli occupation prisons since the beginning of the genocide, including at least 39 individuals from the Gaza Strip. This is the highest number ever.

Israel continues to commit the crime of enforced disappearance against hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, failing to disclose their whereabouts or medical conditions to their loved ones, which raises serious concerns about the safety and lives of the people being held. Israel also continues to conceal any information about them from the press, despite credible evidence that dozens of additional prisoners and detainees have been killed inside Israeli prisons and detention facilities.

In addition to being crimes against humanity and full-fledged war crimes, the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army and other Israeli security forces against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip also amount to acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip, because they are carried out in a systematic and brutal manner. These acts include the killing of Palestinians and the infliction of severe physical and psychological harm, including torture, other forms of ill-treatment, and sexual violence, including rape, and are carried out with the goal of eradicating the Palestinian people as a whole.

All countries and pertinent international organisations must take swift and decisive action to end Israel’s widespread and systematic crimes of killing, torture, and other serious violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Detainees who have been arbitrarily arrested must be released without conditions, right away. Additionally, local and international organisations must be given immediate permission to visit detainees, who must be allowed the opportunity to choose their own lawyer.

Israel’s notorious arbitrary detention practices, such as administrative detention and detention under the “Unlawful Combatants Law”, must be stopped. These practices are a blatant violation of international law and are employed as a systematic, repressive tool to weaken the Palestinian will, tear apart the social fabric that holds them together, and deny Palestinians their fundamental legal rights.

To ensure justice for Palestinian victims and that the Israeli occupation is held responsible for its violations, human rights and media organisations must step up their efforts to pressure Israel’s government to stop its ongoing crimes. In addition, these groups must work to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and detainees and to share these individuals’ testimonies about the horrific crimes they face.

The International Criminal Court must investigate the crimes, submit specialised reports regarding the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, particularly after 7 October 2023, and issue arrest warrants for all perpetrators. All concerned nations must make sure the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted and brought before the Court to stand trial.

Israel must immediately cease its crime of enforced disappearance against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip; reveal all secret detention camps; reveal the names, whereabouts, and fates of all Palestinians it is holding from the Strip; and take full responsibility for the safety and well-being of these individuals. These demands must come from the international community.

Euro-Med Monitor