On 10 March 2021, Saeed Alyan Awad, a Palestinian, was brutally attacked by Israeli settlers whilst on his way to check on his land to the south of Hebron in the Israeli occupied West Bank. Saeed, who was accompanied by his wife and children, sustained a cracked skull and broken jaw. His wife suffered severe bruises to her leg.
LPHR Human Rights Blog
Overview of Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria on the tenth anniversary of the Syrian conflict
On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian conflict, LPHR remain gravely concerned about the Palestinian refugee camp, Yarmouk, in Syria. LPHR has continuously monitored the acute human rights and humanitarian concerns which are rife in Yarmouk, with the latest of two legal Q&As being published in March 2019 (it can be read here).
This blog to mark the tenth anniversary provides a summary of the situation of Yarmouk refugee camp over the last ten years. In so doing, it also emphasises the necessity for legal accountability for apparent serious violations of international law that has caused catastrophic civilian harm.
Child fatalities arising from Gaza’s ongoing electricity crisis
Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP) has recently reported on the fatal dangers of Gaza’s ongoing electricity crisis. DCIP reports that on 1 September 2020, three young Palestinian children from the same family died when their home caught on fire in the Gaza Strip. The three brothers from the al-Hazin family, five-year-old Yousef, four-year-old Mahmoud, and two-year-old Mohammad, lived in Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. In late summer, electricity was only available intermittently, about four hours per day. According to DCIP, the boys’ father Omar al-Hazin charges a battery each day to light their home. He was unable to charge the battery on 1 September, so he lit a candle and placed it beside a wood-framed window covered with a plastic screen. [Read more…]
LPHR interview on the growing military targeting of Palestinian university students and the launch of the Tom Hurndall Student Protection Project
Last month, our colleagues at the excellent UK charity, Friends of Birzeit University (Fobzu), published an interview with LPHR on the increasing Israeli military targeting of Palestinian university students. The interview was conducted soon after the submission of LPHR’s complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding the ongoing detention of three female Birzeit University students: Layan Kayed, Elyaa Abu Hijla and Ruba Asi. The complaint was jointly submitted with the Palestinian human rights organisation, Addameer.
LPHR nominates Palestinian artist and human rights defender Hafez Omar for Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship 2021
Hafez Omar is a Palestinian artist and a recognised human rights defender based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. His work, which is powerful, visually and politically, has been utilised to educate a global audience on the human rights violations Palestinians face and experience daily under military occupation.
On Human Rights Day, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights can announce that we have nominated Hafez Omar for the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship 2021: “an award which honours the world’s most remarkable free expression heroes.”
Israeli Supreme Court strikes down the ‘Land Regularisation’ Law but fails to condemn illegal settlements and their expansion
On 9 June 2020 the Israeli Supreme Court struck down a law passed in 2017 that provided for the expropriation of private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The ruling, HCJ 1308/17, Silwad Municipality, et al. v. The Knesset, et. al (petition accepted 9 June 2020) (joined by the court with HCJ 2055/17, The Head of Ein Yabrud Village v. The Knesset ), held that the law disproportionately violates Palestinians’ rights to property, equality and dignity.
While a welcome relief against a particularly offensive law that would justify further expropriation of Palestinian land, the judgment is made on a narrow basis that fails to recognise either the underlying illegality of settlements or to be clear on the inappropriateness of the Israeli state passing and reviewing legislation to apply to the occupied West Bank. Before addressing the judgment and its limitations in more detail, a brief history of the Regularisation Law will be provided. [Read more…]
Abuse and violence against children in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Al-Issawiya in East Jerusalem
LPHR remain extremely concerned at the ongoing police campaign of abuse and violence against children in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Al-Issawiya in occupied East Jerusalem. Over the past year, LPHR has monitored and reported a sharp increase in the number of children injured as a result of violent police activity in the neighbourhood, with injuries sustained through the use of rubber-coated steel bullets, black sponge rounds and tear-gas. Since the Israeli police launched their operation in Al-Issawiya in April 2019, there has also been a high number of child arrests in the neighbourhood (many carried out during terrifying night-time raids of family homes) and a systemic violation of children’s legal rights during arrests and detention. B’Tselem reports that during the period of April 2019 – April 2020, more than 850 residents of Al-Issawiya have been arrested: the majority of them minors. This blog elaborates upon these serious child rights issues.
COVID-19 pandemic: Vulnerable population groups in the occupied Palestinian territory and the legal duty to apply ‘all necessary preventative means available’
While many parts of the world transition to mandatory lockdown, Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory face uncertainty about how they will be protected from the spread of COVID-19. This blog will focus on the circumstances of three particularly vulnerable population groups: i) the population of Gaza, ii) child and adult detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, and iii) families and individuals displaced by home demolitions.
Children from Gaza receiving medical treatment whilst separated from parents due to Israel’s permit regime
Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently reported that a 10-year-old girl from Gaza, Miral Abu Amsha, died of cancer on 28 February without having seen her father since December, after her family struggled to obtain Israeli-issued permits to accompany her to hospital. Miral’s mother had also initially been denied permission to accompany Miral to hospital in Nablus to undergo chemotherapy due to “incorrect details” on her application form. She was eventually allowed to visit Miral in hospital, reportedly following publicity around the case. Miral’s father didn’t apply for permission to accompany her as it is generally the case that only one accompanier is allowed per patient, including for children. [Read more…]
A seminal step towards legal accountability and justice: ICC Prosecutor announces she is ready to open an investigation into the situation in Palestine
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s announcement that she is ready to open a criminal investigation into the situation in Palestine is a seminal step towards achieving legal accountability and justice for the many victims, survivors and their families of alleged serious international crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces and their military and political leadership.
The potential for the investigation to effectively prevent or deter the commission of ongoing and future crimes, by countering the systemic impunity that has prevailed until now, is also very significant.