An aggressor has no right to self-defence against an occupied people. What Israel is doing is defending its own occupation and the systematic denial of Palestinian national rights. It is exercising every possible means to dissolve Palestinian national unity and weaken Palestinian institutions.
In front of this systematic policy of aggression, the international community has two options: Either it decides to remain complacent or it intervenes to hold the occupying power responsible for its violations, protect the Palestinian people and give peace a chance.
More than 70 per cent of the population of Gaza are refugees. With 1.7 million inhabitants, Gaza has more than 5,000 people per square kilometre, a density which is even higher in the eight refugee camps that have been targeted by Israeli forces. The fact that Israel bears responsibility for the creation of the refugee catastrophe is beyond argument, but Israel has decided to go even further, displacing thousands of people even within this tiny strip. In 2005, Israel withdrew its colonisers from Gaza, but it did not end the occupation. The “disengagement”, a unilateral step, aimed at turning Gaza into an open-air prison while consolidating Israel’s colonisation in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Ariel Sharon, the late Israeli prime minister, had said that Tel Aviv’s disengagement “will strengthen its control over those same areas in the ‘Land of Israel’, which will constitute an inseparable part of the state of Israel”.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s air space, maritime borders and any connection with the rest of Palestine would be controlled by Israel. Recent Israeli attacks against sewage and electricity plants as well as water lines are a further proof that it is not acting in self-defence.
Example of brutality
There is no safe place in Gaza for Palestinians. Every place is a potential Israeli target. During these past weeks, attacks have affected more than 20,000 homes, injured almost 4,000 people and killed more than 600 people. The killing of more than 20 complete families is a further example of brutality against the Palestinian people. The killing of children also shows the disregard that Israel has for Palestinian lives.
The names of Umama Al Hayyeh, aged 9; Dima Isleem, aged 2; Mohammad Ayyad, aged 2; Rahaf Abu Jumaa, aged 4 as well more than 130 other children killed are a reminder that every single Palestinian is a possible target for Israel.
If certain countries continue to treat Israel as a state above the law, we can expect the list to keep growing. There have been requests for international protection of the people of Gaza. We are currently looking into ways to prosecute Israeli war crimes.
The international community must end Israel’s impunity by conditioning its relations with Tel Aviv in terms of its respect for international law and human rights.
Israeli war crimes should not be treated differently than others. Failing to act will only add frustration and bloodshed. The international community must stop hiding behind calls for resumption of negotiations and implement its own responsibilities, including the responsibility to protect the Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable for failing to respect its own obligations.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2014
Dr Saeb Erekat is a Palestine Liberation Organisation Executive Committee member and head of the Negotiations Affairs Department.
