Gaza Strip Archives - Page 3 of 10

Israel’s Intensifies Displacement Campaign in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
March 22, 2025

The consequences of Israel’s latest forced displacement campaign,masked as “evacuation orders”, in the Gaza Strip—along with its renewed ground assaults and ongoing intense aerial bombardments—are already catastrophic. This situation will undoubtedly compel hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee once more, forcing them to face homelessness yet again if the international community allows Israeli occupation forces toravage most homes, shelters, and structures in the area.

The Euro-Med Monitor field team observed Israeli occupation forces advancing on foot into western Beit Lahia on the evening of Thursday 20 March, accompanied by heavy artillery shelling and airstrikes during the night. This resulted in the forced relocation of thousands of people who were living in tents and run-down houses to areas devoid of the most basic necessities of life, where they were further bombarded and had no protection.

The Israeli occupation army also increased its violations in other regions of the Gaza Strip. In the last several hours, as of the time of publication, ithas conducted ground incursions into two areas of Rafah outside the “buffer zone” where its troops are positioned along the Egyptian border.Additionally, it has persisted in enforcing unlawful evacuation orders to drive out inhabitants of the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun and towns east of Khan Yunis.

Due to a lack of transportation options, thousands of people in these areas were forced to leave their possessions behind and flee. After creating shabby, temporary shelters close to their destroyed homes over the 61 days following the ceasefire implemented on 19 January, they have once again been forced to experience the agony of being displaced somewhere new without shelter.

Israel began its most recent violent bombing campaign on Tuesday morning with the apparent intent to target population centres, shelters, displaced people’s tents, and inhabited homes,without any military justification or necessity. Its illegal ground incursions and evacuation orders have occurred at the same time as this campaign. Israel has been committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip for nearly 18 months now, and its latest crimes are part of asystematic policy designed to impose harsh living conditions on the Strip’s residents that will ultimately result in their total annihilation.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Tuesday that he had directed the army to seize new areas of the Gaza Strip and evacuate residents southward, intensify air, sea, and land bombardments, and employ all available military and civil pressure methods, including carrying out President Trump’s plan to expel the Strip’s population.

“Take the advice of the President of the United States,” Katz said in a “final warning” last Wednesday. “Return the hostages and remove Hamas, and other options will open up for you—including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to.”

Israel’s policies of starvation, mass destruction, and ongoing terror alone have unveiled a comprehensive plan to rid the enclave of its Palestinian population by driving Palestinians from their land through bombardment, deprivationof the basic necessities needed for survival, andthe blocking of aid that has resulted in a lack of means of subsistence. Katz’s public remarks, however, unequivocally demonstrate Israel’s declared intent to forcibly uproot Palestinians as part of its 17-month-long genocide.

These remarks are not just threats; rather, they represent a reality that is being experienced on the ground as a result of widespread killings and the imposition of intolerable living conditions. The United States offers financial and military support for the continuation of Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip, obstructs any international efforts to hold Israel accountable, and intervenes to prevent the issuance or implementation of United Nations resolutions that might curb these violations, providing political and military cover for these killings. As a result, the US is not only a collaborator, but is also a key player in Israel’s ongoing crime of genocide.

The most recent field reports state that in less than 72 hours, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed 591 Palestinians, including 120 women and more than 220 children, and injured over a thousand more people, some of whom arecurrently in critical condition.

The international community’s silence has allowed Israel to carry out its crimes, including killing and injuring people and attacking the headquarters ofinternational organisations and the UN within the Gaza Strip, without any deterrent. This is a serious breach of international law that was implemented to give UN headquarters and UNemployees extra protection—which is a crime in and of itself that needs to be taken seriously, and for which prompt punishment is necessary.

UN employee Marin Marinov was killed and five other foreign nationals were seriously injured in Israel’s bombing of the United Nations Office for Project Services staff residence in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, last Wednesday. Two of the victims were participants in the UN 2720 mechanism for Gaza, and three supported the UN Mine Action Service programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Notably, this was the second attack on the headquarters in just 12 hours; it had been hit by Israeli shelling the night before, with one shell striking the building’s roof in an attack that left no casualties.

Despite the obvious Israeli targeting and the type of shrapnel discovered at the headquarters, which experts for CNN determined were consistent with an Israeli M339 120mm tank shell, Israel’s denial of responsibility for this crime is just another example of its strategy of falsifying information in order to maintain impunity.

Israel’s refusal to take responsibility for this crime is not just dishonesty; rather, it is a calculated strategy that reflects its conviction that it can control the facts and avoid accountability without facing repercussions. Israel relies on its unrestricted political and diplomatic protection to carry out its violations in the absence of any meaningful investigations or true international accountability.

Israel continues not only to commit crimes but also to push the envelope, breaking every rule of international law because it knows that every transgression that goes unpunished opens the door for even more heinous acts. In the face of an international system that consistently fails to deter Israel and its allies in any way, the most horrific crimes and legal infractions have become routine and obvious, respectively.

In addition to being a disgraceful failure, the international community’s silence regarding Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip over the past nearly 18 months effectively gives Israel permission to commit further acts of genocide by resuming the mass killing of Palestinians. The systematic destruction of Palestinians’ means of subsistence is an obvious attempt to eradicate them entirely.

The systematic pattern of mass murder, continuous forced starvation, wilful deprivation of basic survival necessities, and the complete destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip cannot be justified under any circumstances, regardless of the pretexts Israel may use. The core of Israel’s genocide in the Strip is the systematic policy to destroy Palestinian society and prevent it from existing as a viable entity, which is what these acts comprise—they are not isolated crimes.

Any attempt by Israel or its allies to disguise these crimes as security concerns or military requirements is nothing more than flagrant deception to hide the crime of genocide. Moreover, since these actions are being carried out with the obvious intent to exterminate the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, these justifications do not alter the legal reality. The international community should not engage in any way with these excuses, and must act immediately to hold those responsible accountable and stop this genocide against the people of the Gaza Strip from continuing.

All states, both individually and collectively, should take up their legal obligations and act immediately to halt the genocide in the Strip by all means possible. In order to protect Palestinian civilians there, the international community must take all necessary steps to force Israel to lift the blockade completely and immediately, permit unrestricted movement of people and goods, open all crossings without arbitrary conditions, and take effective measures to protect Palestinians from forced displacement and slow killing. This includes launching an urgent response to appropriately meet the population’s immediate needs, including by providing adequate temporary housing.

Israel’s persistent and grave transgressions of international law necessitate the imposition of economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions by the international community. The financial assets of officials implicated in crimes against Palestinians must be frozen, military cooperationsuspended, and arms exports to Israel prohibited. Additionally, trade privileges and bilateral agreements that benefit Israel’s economy should be suspended in order to pressure Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians.

States that aid Israel in committing these crimes, including the United States and other nations that give Israel support or assistance in any way, including aid and contractual relationships with itsmilitary, intelligence, political, legal, financial, media, and other areas that help its crimes continue, should be held accountable.

Arrest warrants and investigations by the International Criminal Court into Israeli officials involved in international crimes in the Gaza Strip must be expedited. To prevent Israeli officials from acting without consequence, Member States of the Rome Statute are required to cooperate fully with the Court and ensure that these arrest warrants are carried out.

News

White House Complicity: Bloody Days Return to Gaza

CrossFireArabia
March 18, 2025

The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it has conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the largest since a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas took effect on Jan. 19.

“Based on directives from the political echelon, IDF and Shin Bet forces are launching a large-scale attack on Hamas terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

💢 At least 200 people, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza as the Israeli army launches a 'large-scale' attack

The Israeli army says these airstrikes are the largest since a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas took effect on Jan. 19… pic.twitter.com/AisQKBxQIl
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 18, 2025

Local media, citing the Palestinian civil emergency service, said at least 200 people have been killed, including women and children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the army to take “strong action” against Hamas in Gaza, the Prime Ministry’s Office said.

“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” it said in a statement.

The army is attacking Hamas targets in the Strip “to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon, including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.”

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength. The operational plan was presented by the IDF over the weekend and approved by the political leadership,” it added.

Hamas said the Israeli government has declared war on Gaza by breaking the ceasefire agreement.

“We demand that the mediators hold Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement,” it said in a statement.

Israel consulted with US: White House

A White House spokesperson confirmed Monday that Israel consulted with the US on its airstrikes in Gaza.

“As President (Donald) Trump has made it clear: Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

Ahead of a meeting Tuesday of the UN Security Council on Gaza, Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said the country will show “no mercy” against its enemies.

“Let me be very clear: Israel will not stop until all of our hostages are back home. We will make it very clear to the Security Council that if they want to stop the war in Gaza, they have to ensure that the hostages are coming back to Israel,” Danon said.

The UN did not immediately react to the strikes, but deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN has consistently warned against a return to fighting in Gaza.

Despite the ceasefire, local authorities in Gaza had reported almost daily violations by the Israeli army.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 48,500 Palestinians since October 2023, most of them women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Uncategorized

Israel Kills 3 Palestinians Every 24 Hours in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
March 14, 2025

Israel has killed 150 Palestinians—an average of three people every 24 hours—since the ceasefire on 19 January 2025. The Euro-Med Monitor field team has documented Israeli sniper and drone attacks since the ceasefire went into effect, as well as the continued use of the blockade as a weapon of slow death by starvation in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing killings by the Israeli army are carried out by snipers and drones, including quadcopter aircraft, which target Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. The deadly attacks frequently occur when residents attempt to return and inspect their damaged homes near the so-called “buffer zone” imposed by Israel along the Strip’s northern and eastern borders.

An Israeli drone strike on Monday 10 March killed Abdullah Ali al-Shaer and injured another person in the east of Rafah, despite the victims being in a designated “safe zone”. Just hours earlier, a separate drone attack killed three siblings—Mahmoud, Mohammed, and Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed—northeast of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Rafah Governorate has faced the most Israeli targeting since the ceasefire. Fifty-three-year-old Abdel Moneim Ali Qishta was killed inside his home by Israeli forces stationed along the Egyptian border opposite the al-Salam neighbourhood in the southern part of the city, on the morning of Saturday 8 March. That same day, an Israeli drone strike killed two young men, Mahmoud Hussein Farhan al-Hissi, 37, and Mahdi Abdullah Nadi Jarghoun, 39, in the town of al-Shawka, east of Rafah City.

The Euro-Med Monitor field team has documented Israeli sniper and drone attacks since the ceasefire went into effect, as well as the continued use of the blockade as a weapon of slow death by starvation in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.https://t.co/Mp9RpfKdnj pic.twitter.com/eUOH0h5JMS
— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) March 13, 2025

Euro-Med Monitor has also documented the Israeli army’s ongoing killings of Palestinians in repeated attacks on the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, and the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, since the beginning of March. Since the ceasefire, Israel has killed 150 Palestinians—an average of six people every two days—and injured 605 others, at a rate of 11.8 individuals per day. This pattern underscores Israel’s systematic and ongoing targeting of Palestinians in the Strip, carried out with no military justification and in blatant disregard of the ceasefire and international law.

Israel has engaged in widespread killing and destruction in the besieged enclave for over 15 months and has intensified its genocidal policies by imposing deadly living conditions on Palestinians that result in their slow, systematic killing. Through a complete, illegal siege, Israel is preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and essential supplies while blocking the repair of critical infrastructure and services necessary for survival—all amid an absence of effective international intervention.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of a worsening humanitarian crisis if the blockade persists, with markets now being rapidly depleted of goods. Additionally, numerous relief and food distribution centres have halted operations due to the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip’s border crossings and Israel’s refusal to allow supplies to enter since 2 March. This has significantly worsened the suffering of civilians, pushing them closer towards famine without the swift intervention of the international community.

Famine is not the only threat that should prompt the international community to act, and waiting for it to occur before responding is unacceptable. Depriving the enclave’s vulnerable population, particularly children, of proper nutrition will lead to severe malnutrition, resulting in long-term health damage and potentially irreversible physical and psychological disabilities depending on the individual’s age. Euro-Med Monitor asserts that severe malnutrition during critical growth stages weakens the immune system, heightens the risk of fatal diseases, and causes significant delays in cognitive and motor development, leaving a person with permanent health consequences that cannot be remedied, even if conditions improve in the future.

This is not merely a temporary humanitarian crisis, but a deliberate, systematic policy aimed at eradicating entire Palestinian generations. It constitutes a direct act of genocide, as outlined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which explicitly prohibits the creation of conditions that lead to the destruction of a group, in whole or in part. The continued implementation of this policy, without decisive international intervention, not only reflects a failure in humanitarian response but also amounts to complicity in the documented crime of genocide.

Euro-Med Monitor reiterates that Israel’s renewed starvation of Palestinians will exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis and thus serves as a clear indicator of genocidal intent, and that this crime aligns with the broader, US-proposed ethnic cleansing policy. Humanitarian aid is a fundamental right of civilians under international humanitarian law, with no exceptions, and there is no legal justification for Israel to deny Palestinians access to essential aid. Israel is not only using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip for political and military gain but is also deliberately enforcing a policy of systematic starvation, creating life-threatening conditions designed to make survival in the Gaza Strip impossible.

Israel’s repeated statements announcing its full coordination with the United States administration, which has explicitly stated its intention to displace the Strip’s entire population, confirm that the crimes of starvation and blocking of humanitarian aid are not isolated incidents or negotiating tools. Instead, they are part of a deliberate plan aligned with the US strategy to forcefully displace and depopulate the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s policy continues to perpetuate genocide, even after the ceasefire. By depriving the Palestinian population of their most basic needs as part of a long-term plan that threatens their physical survival as a national group, Israel has maintained deadly conditions designed to gradually eliminate them. The international community can no longer afford to dismiss the illegal blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, which stands as one of the most prominent tools of Israel’s genocide.

All relevant countries and entities must fulfil their legal responsibilities and take immediate action to halt the genocide in the Gaza Strip. This includes pressuring Israel to lift the blockade entirely, allowing the unrestricted movement of individuals and goods into and out of the enclave, unconditionally opening all border crossings, and implementing effective measures to protect Palestinians from the ongoing policies of slow killing and forced displacement. Furthermore, an urgent response committee should be activated to address the population’s immediate needs, including temporary and adequate housing.

Israel kills 3 Palestinians every 24 hours in #Gaza, using snipers, drones, and starvation as genocidal toolshttps://t.co/KwNV6aAqd6
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) March 12, 2025

The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel in response to its systematic and severe violations of international law, including a ban on arms trade and military cooperation, as well as freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against the Palestinian people.

To pressure Israel to halt its crimes against the Palestinians, Euro-Med Monitor also calls for the suspension of any trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic benefits.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urges the international community to uphold its legal and humanitarian responsibilities by implementing the International Court of Justice’s order from 28 March 2024. This includes the precautionary measures requiring Israel to take necessary and effective actions, in cooperation with the United Nations, to ensure the unhindered and timely entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, in compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

The International Criminal Court must expedite its investigations and issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials implicated in international crimes in the Gaza Strip. Euro-Med Monitor reminds the member states of the Rome Statute of their legal obligations to fully cooperate with the Court, ensure the enforcement of arrest warrants, and prevent impunity for those responsible.

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor

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

News

Expert: Israel Seeks to Displace Palestinians by Making Rebuilding Costs Too High

CrossFireArabia
February 25, 2025

International law expert Dr. Anis Al-Qassem warned against the demolition and displacement acts carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank, adding the demolition and bulldozing operations aim at forcing the Palestinian people off their land.

Al-Qassem told Jordan24 that the occupation army is carrying out what he called “systematic impoverishment operations” against the Palestinian people, such they would be unable to rebuild what has been destroyed due to the huge sums of money that would be needed by the Palestinian National Authority and the residents together. He pointed out that this is what the Israeli occupation government seeks and is doing.

Al-Qassem added that the extent of the destruction of camps, homes and infrastructure in the West Bank is comparable to what the Israelis did in the Gaza Strip, and no party will be able to finance the exorbitant costs which will automatically push the people to voluntarily leave in search of a livelihood in light of the difficult circumstances they live in within the West Bank.

“Unfortunately, we cannot ask the Arab countries to intervene, given the fact that they completely ended their connection with the Palestinian cause, and this was clear in the Gaza war, despite the cohesion and solidarity of western countries with Israel, which today enjoys their unlimited support, economically, militarily and technologically,” he concluded.