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Israeli Forces’ Conduct in Gaza [1]

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Date: 2024-03-18

Oxfam and Human Rights Watch submit this memorandum in response to NSM-20, which establishes that the United States Departments of State and Defense will receive assurances from countries that receive US military assistance that they use US-origin “defense articles” in compliance with international law and that they have not arbitrarily impeded or delayed US-funded or supported humanitarian assistance during the calendar year 2023. Oxfam, an international humanitarian and development organization, and Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, together write to you to demonstrate that any such assurances from the Israeli government, a major recipient of US arms, are not credible, especially in light of the conduct of Israeli forces since the onset of hostilities in October 2023.

Oxfam and Human Rights Watch have observed or documented that the Israeli authorities have carried out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in violation of international humanitarian law following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in Israel, imposed collective punishments on the civilian population, deprived the civilian population of objects indispensable to its survival, and used starvation of civilians as a weapon of war. These are all grave violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international humanitarian law. The vast majority of Gaza’s population has also been forced to flee their homes, many as a result of Israeli actions that amount to war crimes.

Israeli authorities have also restricted, delayed, and impeded US-origin humanitarian assistance in contravention of US laws and policy. This memorandum addresses instances of apparent and prima facie violations of international law and restrictions on aid based on our firsthand experience or investigations, with supporting information from credible news organizations. Given the widespread insecurity in Gaza and the Israeli government’s restrictions on the entry of foreign investigators, journalists, and aid workers, we believe that the examples we cite here reflect a broader pattern of conduct than is currently being assessed by the US Government.

In November, Human Rights Watch called for states to suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel as long as its forces commit widespread, systematic abuses against Palestinian civilians with impunity, warning that states that continue to provide arms risk complicity in war crimes. In January, Oxfam joined with 15 international humanitarian and human rights organization to call for a halt to the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups where there is a risk that they will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.

We urge Secretaries Blinken and Austin to consider the likely violations below when determining the credibility of the Israeli government’s assurances in response to NSM-20. Oxfam and Human Rights Watch believe a suspension of arms transfers to Israel is necessary so long as there is an overriding risk that they are being used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and US law and policy.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law

Human Rights Watch documented a strike by Israeli forces on a marked ambulance outside al-Shifa Hospital on November 3, 2023, which reportedly killed 15 people and injured 60.[1] Ambulances are protected civilian objects under international humanitarian law and cannot be targeted when used to treat wounded and sick individuals, both civilian and combatant. Israeli authorities said they intentionally struck the ambulance, contending that it was being used to transport able-bodied fighters. Human Rights Watch investigated these claims and did not find any evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes. Furthermore, the high number of civilian casualties caused by the strike suggest that it was unlawfully disproportionate even if the ambulance was being used for military purposes. Human Rights Watch documented strikes on or near several major hospitals between October 7 and November 7, including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and the International Eye Care Center.[2] Hospitals enjoy protected status under international humanitarian law, and only lose their protection from attack if used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy,” though warnings, proportionality, and distinction are still required.[3] Israel contends that the hospitals were being used by Palestinian fighters and therefore were not protected under international humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch found with respect to the cases it investigated no evidence that would justify depriving the hospitals of their protected status under international humanitarian law.[4] Human Rights Watch determined based on verified video and witness accounts that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively. White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signaling, and obscuring, or as a weapon, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. In Lebanon, the Ministry of Environment has said that at least 6.82 square kilometers of land were burned in attacks by Israeli forces, including as a result of white phosphorous. An investigation by the Washington Post found that the Israeli military used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an attack that injured nine civilians and that Amnesty International said should be investigated as a war crime.[5] Human Rights Watch verified the US origins of the munitions used in this attack. Human Rights Watch documented two strikes by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on October 13, which killed one journalist and injured six others, including a US citizen.[6] According to Human Rights Watch’s investigation, the strikes on October 13 “were apparently deliberate attacks on civilians, which is a war crime.”[7] Relying on video evidence, expert audio analysis, and witness accounts, Human Rights Watch’s investigation found that the group was visible to the cameras of a nearby unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was most likely Israeli, within line of sight of five Israeli surveillance towers, and most likely targeted by at least one munition fired from the main gun of a tank from an Israeli military position approximately 1.5 kilometers southeast. Human Rights Watch’s investigation found that the Israeli military knew or should have known that the group of people they were firing on were civilians. Human Rights Watch documented a strike by Israeli forces on a family in a car in southern Lebanon on November 5 that killed three girls, ages 10, 12 and 14, and their grandmother.[8] Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the car that was struck, which only contained fleeing civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the attack on the car showed “reckless disregard by the Israeli military for its obligation to distinguish between civilian and military objects and a significant failure to take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths.”[9] An Oxfam analysis has found that a significant portion of its water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure that Oxfam and its WASH partners installed or rehabilitated over the period 2017-2023 has been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardment, rendering much of it inoperable. The locations of this infrastructure were deconflicted through the appropriate channels in order to ensure that Israel was aware of and could avoid damaging facilities that provide essential services to civilians in Gaza. Targeting humanitarian infrastructure is a violation of the principle of distinction, which requires Israel to distinguish between civilian objects and military targets, as well as the principle of precaution, which requires Israel to take all feasible measures to avoid incidental damage to civilian infrastructure. Human Rights Watch and Oxfam believe that Israeli forces’ use of explosive weapons with wide-area affects in populated areas of Gaza raises significant concerns over Israel’s compliance with the international humanitarian law principles of distinction and proportionality. As of mid-December, reports indicate that around half of all munitions dropped on Gaza were unguided “dumb bombs.”[10] Israel routinely uses 2,000-pound bombs on densely populated areas in Gaza. According to the Washington Post, Israeli forces dropped over 22,000 US-origin munitions on Gaza during the first 45 days of the hostilities.[11] The United States has reportedly transferred at least 5,000 2,000-pound “dumb bombs” to Israel since October 7.[12]

Intentional Deprivation of Services Critical for the Survival of the Population

On October 9, 2023, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Defense, stated, “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”[13] That evening, Israeli authorities cut off all water entering Gaza through the three Mekorot pipelines. On the day of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, October 7, Israel cut the electricity that it supplies to Gaza, which is the main source of electricity in the enclave.[14] As of March 19, Israeli authorities continued to block electricity to Gaza. Israel has also largely continued to block the entry of fuel to Gaza since then. The only power plant in Gaza ran out of fuel reserves by October 11.[15] In the absence of electricity, water and wastewater facilities in Gaza became inoperable once there was no fuel available to operate diesel generators. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of February 16, water production in Gaza stood at just 5.7% of what it was before the current hostilities.[16] The lack of potable water, as well the damage and destruction of sewage and wastewater infrastructure,[17] has led to the outbreak of diseases, including Hepatitis A and diarrhea,[18] as well as cases of severe dehydration.[19] The lack of water for cleaning, as well as the breakdown of sanitation infrastructure and resulting contamination of the environment, has also been a major cause of disease outbreaks. International humanitarian law requires Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population are provided for. This is a positive obligation that requires Israel to also protect Palestinians’ right to water and take “deliberate, concrete, and targeted” measures to ensure the full realization of these rights. Depriving a population from access to water amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, a war crime. The right to water, which includes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation, is also human right, and is derived from the right to life[20] and the right to an adequate standard of living.[21]

Arbitrary Denial and Restrictions of Humanitarian Aid

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[1] Url: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/18/israeli-forces-conduct-gaza

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