Delayed Justice – From the Nakba to Gaza… Displacement Continues, and the Crimes of the Occupation Do Not Expire

In light of the ongoing and severe escalation facing the Palestinian people, the National Association for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms issues this statement to highlight the grave and continuous violations committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people—violations that constitute crimes against humanity under international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, particularly deliberate killings, indiscriminate targeting, collective punishment, systematic destruction of infrastructure, and organized forced displacement.

Since the outbreak of the Palestinian Nakba in 1948, the Palestinian people have been subjected to a prolonged occupation accompanied by systematic colonial policies aimed at land dispossession and the denial of rights—including annexation, settlement expansion, displacement, and ethnic cleansing. These crimes have escalated dramatically over the past decades, particularly in the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the occupied West Bank, where these are no longer isolated violations but rather part of a structured system of apartheid and racial segregation, driven by a political agenda to eliminate Palestinian presence.

Following the large-scale military aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, which lasted for several consecutive months, the entire world witnessed horrific scenes of relentless bombardment, the direct targeting of civilians, and the destruction of hospitals, schools, and humanitarian centers, culminating in the imposition of a comprehensive blockade, deliberate starvation policies, and the displacement of over one million Palestinians—an alarming precedent signaling a renewed Nakba through even more violent and brutal methods.

The Israeli occupation authorities have adopted forced displacement as a central policy in their settlement strategy, working systematically to evacuate Palestinian areas of their indigenous populations and replace them with Jewish settlers, as part of a colonial project that blatantly disregards all international laws.

In the Gaza Strip alone, since the beginning of the latest assault, the number of forcibly displaced Palestinians has exceeded 1.5 million, forced to flee their cities and towns at gunpoint or due to continuous air and ground bombardment. Refugee camps were also targeted, which proves that this displacement was not for “temporary security reasons” as Israel claims, but rather aimed at long-term demographic engineering. This constitutes a clear violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the mass forcible transfer of protected populations under occupation.

We must not forget the ongoing violations in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan in Jerusalem, Masafer Yatta in Hebron, and the Jordan Valley, where Israeli courts continue to issue eviction orders to Palestinians in favor of settler organizations, backed directly by the military and government—representing a crime of forced displacement and entrenching a system of apartheid.

International organizations, including the United Nations, have documented a wide range of crimes and violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including but not limited to:
• Deliberate targeting of civilians, including women, children, and the elderly. Over 70% of those killed in Gaza are civilians, with massacres committed in schools, markets, and shelters.
• Destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, water and power stations, UN facilities, mosques, and churches—leading to a full-scale humanitarian disaster.
• Imposition of blockade and starvation: Israel has used hunger as a weapon of war, in blatant violation of Article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
• Arbitrary arrests and torture: Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, have been detained. Cases of enforced disappearance and systematic torture in Israeli prisons have been documented.

These attacks and policies have had catastrophic humanitarian consequences, including:
• According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, as of 27 May 2025, the number of martyrs in Gaza since 7 October 2023 has reached 54,056, with 123,129 injuries. These figures do not include victims inaccessible to rescue teams, and over 15,000 children have been confirmed killed, highlighting the catastrophic impact on the most vulnerable sectors of Palestinian society.
• Residential buildings: Around 70% of homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, resulting in mass displacement.
• Hospitals: Of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, 16 have been severely damaged or rendered inoperable, including Al-Shifa Hospital, which has been reduced to an empty shell after Israeli military operations. The Strip has become uninhabitable, with a total collapse of health, water, and food systems.
• Schools: 477 schools—approximately 85% of Gaza’s educational facilities—have been damaged, with 133 completely destroyed.
• Civilians now live in inhumane conditions in tents, with no electricity, clean water, or access to medical care.

The continuation of this situation poses a long-term humanitarian disaster, not only for Palestinians but also for regional and international stability, placing the credibility of the international human rights system at serious risk.

In line with our mission to defend human dignity and the right of peoples to self-determination, the National Association for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms affirms the following:
1. We categorically reject all forms of forced displacement against the Palestinian people, which we consider an ongoing crime demanding international accountability.
2. We call on the UN Human Rights Council to dispatch independent fact-finding missions to the occupied Palestinian territories to investigate these crimes and report them publicly to the international community.
3. We urge the international community and signatory states to the Geneva Conventions to uphold their legal and moral responsibilities, act to end the aggression, and immediately lift the blockade on Gaza.
4. We demand the imposition of immediate sanctions on the Israeli occupation authorities, including a ban on arms exports and dual-use equipment that could be used to commit violations.
5. We call upon the International Criminal Court to accelerate its investigations into the situation in Palestine and to prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
6. We urge the United Nations to enforce its resolutions concerning the right of return for Palestinian refugees and to reject all plans aimed at resettling or forcibly relocating Palestinians from their historical homeland.
7. We reiterate our full support for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, independence, and an end to occupation, in accordance with the UN Charter and international law.
8. We express our full support for the Egyptian initiative rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and emphasize the importance of reconstructing the Gaza Strip without displacing its population, with Arab and international support to protect Palestinian rights and preserve regional peace and stability.

Finally, we warn that international silence and inaction not only constitute complicity, but active participation in the crime itself.
It is time to end the double standards, and to treat the Palestinian cause with the justice, equality, and human dignity it deserves, free from political calculations.

We direct this urgent appeal not only to the conscious minds within the United Nations, but to humanity as a whole:

Save what remains of Gaza.
Stop the displacement.
Put an end to this historic injustice