On 12 July 2019, nine-year-old ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi was shot in the forehead by an Israeli soldier in Kafr Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank, during the town’s weekly protests against settlement expansion and settler violence. At the the time he was shot, ‘Abd was playing at the entrance of his friend’s house, over 100 metres away from demonstrators. The shot to ‘Abd’s forehead resulted in a large hole, multiple skull fractures and serious brain damage; a CT scan showed around 100 fragments lodged in the boy’s brain. Over three months since this grievous wounding, we have reports from two sources that he remains in hospital in a coma. [Read more…]
LPHR Human Rights Blog
Prosecutor of the ICC under renewed challenge by ICC judges over her Gaza flotilla raid decision
On 2 September 2019 the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (the Prosecutor), Fatou Bensouda, to reconsider her decision not to open an investigation into the Gaza flotilla raid. This marks the third intervention by the ICC against the Prosecutor’s decision of November 2014 not to launch an investigation into alleged serious crimes committed by Israeli military forces against humanitarian activists on 31 May 2010. This blog provides a brief overview of the prosecutorial and judicial decisions made at the ICC in relation to this egregious incident. [Read more…]
Israel’s policy to prevent injured Gazan protesters from accessing critical medical treatment must be challenged by the international community
In August 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that between 30 March 2018 and 31 July 2019, 315 Palestinians (including 62 children) had been killed during the ‘Great March of Return’ civilian protests in Gaza that demand realisation of the right of return and an end to the closure imposed on Gaza. In addition, Israeli forces’ use of excessive force, including live ammunition, against civilian protesters not posing a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury, has caused thousands of injuries, many being very serious. 7,381 Palestinians have suffered gunshot wounds, of which 6,437 (87%) presented limb wounds, according to the WHO report. [Read more…]
New research indicates that G1 Secure Solutions, formerly G4S Israel, remains involved in human rights violations against Palestinians
In June 2015, the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises published its important findings that G4S was in multiple breach of human rights responsibilities connected to its activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, following a comprehensive human rights complaint submitted by LPHR. Nine months afterwards, G4S announced that it had commenced a process to sell its subsidiary company, G4S Israel. Then, in June 2017, the UK multinational announced that it had completed the sale of G4S Israel to an Israeli private equity fund, FIMI Opportunity Funds.
Right to education at increased risk for Palestinian schoolchildren in Hebron
According to UNICEF, the withdrawal earlier this year of an international observer force, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), from the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron, has put some 7,000 Palestinian residents, including schoolchildren, at “heightened risk of further serious human rights violations”. This alarming conclusion brings to light the deeply disturbing issue of Palestinian schoolchildren in occupied Hebron being subjected to threats and violence simply by exercising their basic human right to education. This blog elaborates upon this serious child rights issue. [Read more…]
The UK’s response to the alarming moves of the US against the International Criminal Court
The need for the international community to stand up in support of international criminal justice is more heightened than ever before in light of the truly alarming discourse and conduct of the United States administration, which seeks to obstruct the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pursue legal accountability for suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity. [Read more…]
Israel plans significant settlement expansion in context of ongoing manoeuvres to legalise unauthorised outposts in the occupied West Bank
In the last few weeks, the Israeli government has announced plans for a significant expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside a parallel initiative to develop further new legislation as a means to enable the legalisation of illegal ‘outposts’. This blog highlights these troubling developments which contravene clear obligations set by international law.
LPHR and Al Mezan’s significant new report on the systemic denial of justice for Gaza human shield survivors
In the summer of 2014, during the military offensive on Gaza that Israel code-named ‘Operation Protective Edge’, at least five Palestinians in Gaza, including a child, had their lives endangered when used as human shields by Israel’s military forces. [Read more…]
A humanitarian crisis in Gaza: connecting the tightened closure with the flawed Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism
At the start of last week, the Government of Israel imposed a series of severe restrictions on the movement of goods through Kerem Shalom, the main commercial crossing to and from the occupied Gaza Strip, which will remain in place until further notice.
The Israeli government is moving to institutionalise the application of Israeli domestic law in the occupied West Bank with disturbing consequences
The United States NGO, Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), has detailed the recent steps taken by the Israeli government to systematically apply Israeli domestic law to illegal settlements. These developments critically build upon practices already in existence that are raising deep concerns, as summed up in a statement on 1 June by the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, that Israel’s ‘illegal settlement activity promotes the de facto annexation of the West Bank’.
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