Bangkok, 28 July 2014 — The current phase of the sustained Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people has already resulted in over 800 deaths and shows no signs of abating.

 

We strongly condemn the manner in which Israel has used the most sophisticated weaponry to attempt to annihilate the Palestinian people citing the supposed threat the heavily armed Israeli state faces from the rockets of Hamas. The massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza, which is being treated as a spectator sport by some Israelis deserves international condemnation.

The United Nations and Independent reports have recorded that a majority of those killed in Gaza are civilians, of which many are women and children. Hundreds have been injured and thousands displaced. Hospitals and schools have been hit with buildings and homes reduced to rubble in the ongoing assault.

Gaza is an open prison with the Palestinians being trapped in the tract of land, with no escape from the continuous bombardment from the land, air and sea and the ground invasion.

The Israeli blockade has stopped humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza where the people are in urgent need of medical supplies, food and now even drinking water.

Israel has violated international and humanitarian laws with this ongoing attack, and has also dismissed a resolution passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council urging it to stop the assault, and negotiate a ceasefire on terms that respect the rights and the dignity of the Palestinians.

We call upon Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to allow free movement of aid, supplies and Palestinians to and from Gaza.

We call upon the international community to pressure Israel to conclude a ceasefire that recognizes the rights of the Palestinians and the need for an immediate lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza, an immediate withdrawal of all military forces, end of the blockade, internationalization of the Rafah crossing, international protection and the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the restoration of all occupied territories to the Palestinian people.

These steps are imperative in order to prevent the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in the Gaza strip from to leading to a complete genocide and elimination of the Palestinian people.

Signed by the Board and Staff of Focus on the Global South