Press Releases

Since 5 October 2024, the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime has ramped up its genocidal campaign in northern Gaza, issuing brutal displacement orders, severely restricting humanitarian aid, essential goods and access, and invading, bombing and besieging areas. These acts intensify the already deadly conditions imposed in Gaza, particularly in the north, where starvation, massacres, lack of healthcare, and complete willful destruction have persisted for over a year. Due to the complicity and absence of practical measures from States, the Israeli genocide continues unabated in all the Gaza Strip, with a particular focus on the north, as mainstream media provides insufficient coverage.
From the early days of October, the Israeli regime has been clearly implementing the worst elements in the “Generals’ Plan,” sentencing Palestinians to death and destruction via starvation, displacement and relentless bombardment. Since the intensification of its genocidal acts, in northern Gaza, at least 770 Palestinains have been massacred, but with the ongoing Israeli denial of access, the number is likely much higher.
From 1 to 12 October, the Israeli regime imposed a complete siege on the northern area, denying the entry of all essential items, including food, water, medicine, fuel and other aid. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “[a]fter 15 October, a token amount of aid seems to have entered the north, but this does not commensurate with the needs of the population.” As it did for over a year, it is clear that the Israeli regime is weaponizing humanitarian aid and using starvation as a means of genocide.
During 5 and 6 October the Israeli regime issued “evacuation orders” for the over 400,000 Palestinians that remain in northern Gaza, but once again engineered a situation that endangers Palestinian lives whether they stay or leave. Both UNRWA and OHCHR reported that Palestinians have been targeted while attempting to flee; but, Palestinians fear that if they do leave, the Israeli regime would never allow them to return. With Ben Gvir’s renewed call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the continued presence of Israeli forces on the Netzarim corridor, their fears are well founded. Israeli forces continue to destroy essential infrastructure and means of life, including homes, shelters, and agricultural land, to ensure that no Palestinian remains in the north.
Those that have remained face dire conditions due to constant bombardment, no access to healthcare, and shortages in food and water. Israeli forces have placed a siege on Jabalia refugee camp for almost three weeks, bombarding the area and imposing conditions designed to destroy all that remains in the camp and its surroundings. Israeli forces have launched daily attacks on schools housing internally displaced persons (IDPs), and denied both the access and means with which to rescue them to humanitarian workers. On 23 October 2024, the Palestinian Civil Defense announced that north Gaza “has completely gone out of service” due to Israeli ongoing eliminatory attacks on service providers.
Hospitals in north Gaza are being repeatedly hit, overwhelmed past their capacity, left without power, and facing critical shortages in medical supplies due to the siege. Israeli forces are “currently besieging and targeting the Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza, where more than 350 patients are reported to be trapped inside.” This further destruction of the healthcare system is part of Israel’s imposition of conditions of life to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza.
The Israeli colonial-apartheid regime has also severely hindered the operations of humanitarian organizations. Between 6 and 20 October, “Israel” denied 28 humanitarian missions in northern Gaza, including “an urgent request to access the Falouja area of Jabalya to help those trapped under the rubble” and requests to distribute food, medicine, and fuel. UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillippe Lazzarini stated, “Humanitarian agencies including UNRWA must get access to north Gaza.” However, both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council have not only failed to take measures to ensure access and protection to humanitarian agencies, they also didn’t bother to make a statement about the matter or about the recent Israeli legislation that would make UNRWA’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory illegal.
Western colonial states have once again made empty and meaningless statements, rather than taking concrete actions to end their complicity and the ramped up Israeli genocide. The United States, for example, is making calculated ploys to garner support as elections approach. The Biden administration has reportedly given the Israeli regime 30 days to improve the entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza, stating that a failure to implement measures “may have implications for U.S. policy.” In response to reports of “Israel” targeting Palestinian civilians in the north, Germany found that “there are considerable question marks” and called on “Israel” to comply with international law. The UN Security Council has failed to not only provide a compulsory resolution calling for an end to the Israeli slaughter in northern Gaza, but to even issue a statement on the matter.
The escalation of Israeli genocide in north Gaza has received little coverage in mainstream media, taking a backseat to Israeli plans for Lebanon and Iran, and of course, the US elections. This is partially due to the Israeli targeting of telecommunications systems: “Internet services in north Gaza have been disrupted since 19 October, and at least 3 Palestinian journalists were killed in the last 2 weeks, limiting the available information about the conditions of life in north Gaza.”
It has been long overdue for states to fulfill their obligations by taking concrete measures against the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime’s genocide and other international crimes. Measures that do not entail immediate diplomatic and economic sanctions and arms embargoes only serve to buy more time for the ongoing and escalated Israeli genocide in Gaza and its aggression against Lebanon, and further cements states’ complicity.