Over 113 international and Arab organizations have called on countries that provided and continue to provide arms and other forms of military assistance to Israel to adhere to their legal obligations and act resolutely and urgently to prevent Israel from perpetuating further crimes genocide and other serious violations of international law.
In a joint statement the organizations called on these countries to cut off all arms transfer to Israel stressing that providing arms or military support to Israel could make those countries complicit in Israel’s actions and facilitate its war crimes against Palestinians.
The statement also emphasized that since the launching of its large-scale retaliatory military offensive on Gaza on 7 October 2023 the Israeli military has carried out indiscriminate disproportionate and other unlawful attacks against civilian infrastructure causing widespread civilian casualties including through the use of internationally-banned weapons and white phosphorus.
It asserted that “nowhere is safe in Gaza. Palestinian civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip including a million children are trapped in dire conditions under almost constant bombing where they have no access to safe shelter food water electricity or fuel.”
“The complete siege of Gaza coupled with unfeasible evacuation orders and forcible population transfers is a violation of international humanitarian and international criminal law” the statement added.
The organizations expressed concern about reported news of targeting medical personnel journalists hospitals schools mosques churches bakeries telecommunication infrastructure and allocated areas as safe corridors.
The human rights groups underlined that many of these acts may amount to war crimes crimes against humanity and other grave violations of international law including incitement to commit acts of genocide.
The organizations also condemned the Israeli escalation of its repression and collective punishment against the Palestinian people which has affected the West Bank including Occupied Jerusalem where the Israeli occupation forces and settlers killed 158 Palestinians including 45 children since October 7.
“Furthermore the Knesset’s National Security Committee continued with “the government’s broader plan to arm Jewish Israeli civilians” by loosening Israel’s gun control and reportedly making an additional 400000 Jewish-Israelis eligible to have a license for guns” the joint statement highlighted.
The human rights groups said that imposing a two-way embargo on transfers of military items to and from Israel is a kind of legal and moral obligation demanding that all countries should put an end to and denounce imports of arms and surveillance technology from Israel. They called on signatories to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to cooperate within relevant international and regional organizations to impose a two-way embargo on transfers of military items to and from Israel.
They also called on all countries to call for an immediate ceasefire the unconditional and unimpeded access of fuel and humanitarian aid including water food and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis and the immediate lifting of the 16-year-long illegal blockade and closure on the enclave.
They urged the US the UK Germany Canada Italy the Netherlands and other countries that authorize the continued transfer of arms and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers in accordance with their international law obligations and immediately halt the provision of any materiel equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.
They asked the transit countries as well to refuse to have their ports and airports used for transferring arms to Israel.
