On 25 June 2018, Al Mezan’s Director of Monitoring and Awareness, Mr. Samir Zaqout, delivered a testimony to Mr. Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. The testimony focused on the situation of human rights in the Gaza Strip after Mr. Lynk’s last visit to the region in August 2017.  The Israeli authorities did not grant permission for the Special Rapporteur to visit the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and the meeting was held in Amman, Jordan from 25 to 29 June.

On 18 July 2018, Al Mezan gave a testimony to the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. The meeting was held in Amman from 17 to 19 July. Due to movement restrictions, Al Mezan participated in both meetings remotely.

Mr. Zaqout focused on the absence of accountability as a persistent and critical challenge to the situation of human rights in the oPt, the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters in the Gaza Strip, and on the worsening living conditions due to the 11-year closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip.

“Coupled with other violations, the closure and blockade has critically impacted the situation of economic rights,” said Mr. Zaqout. The rate of unemployment in Gaza has risen to 46.6% according to official assessments. The rate is around 60% among youth, 85% among women, and nearly all new graduates are unemployed.[1] The electricity crisis continues to result in 20-hour blackouts every day, which hinders the agriculture sector in particular, as farmers can’t irrigate sufficiently and endure higher operational costs.[2] The electricity crisis has also contributed to the spread of pollution, now affecting 73% of the Strip’s sea water, while 97% of underground water is considered undrinkable. As a result, diarrhea has been recorded in 80% of children under the age of 13.[3]

Mr. Zaqout reported on food insecurity and dwindling social services. The Ministry of Social Development reduced its services by 50% to victims of domestic abuse who stay in shelters and whose numbers rose from 96 in 2016 to 181 in 2017. Meanwhile, the number of juvenile delinquents reached 429 in 2017, a 41% increase from 2016.[4]

Mr. Zaqout testified that “the denial and delay by Israeli authorities of access to urgent medical treatment is reportedly connected to 54 deaths among Palestinian patients from Gaza in 2017, according to the World Health Organization. This deprivation of access compounds the suffering of patients who already endure the highest percentage of missing medicines and medical consumables in a five-year period.” Since August 2017, 36 patients, including 13 women and one child, died after their permit requests were either denied or delayed beyond a reasonable time limit by Israeli authorities. Mr. Zaqout also referred to the psychological stress experienced by Palestinians in Gaza due to the dire living conditions and the reported increase in the number of patients referred to the psychiatric hospital and to public psychiatric clinics.[5]

Mr. Zaqout also reported on the status of impunity for serious violations of international law and on the continued targeting of unarmed protesters.  

The deterioration of the living conditions and the situation of human rights in Gaza is the result of a political crisis. Development efforts, Mr. Zaqout stressed, that do not simultaneously address the root causes of the political conflict—crucially the illegal closure—would not yield sustainable or meaningful results.

Israel has successfully turned the Gaza Strip into an open-air prison that is sustained through the inaction of and failure to protect the population by the international community. It is in this reality that the population joined the Great Return March and called for their fundamental and basic human rights. Mr. Zaqout stressed that the Israeli authorities’ response to the protests was grounded in the intent to use unlawful force.[6]

Al Mezan provides regular reports and documentation to the UN, unilaterally and jointly with partner human rights organizations in the oPt, Israel and internationally.

[1] Refer to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statics

[2] For more information, please refer to, FACTSHEET: The Electricity Crisis in Gaza and its Effects on Agriculture, 28 January 2018. Available at: http://mezan.org/en/post/22318

[3] For more information, please refer to Al Mezan’s report published in Arabic on the situation of economic, social and cultural rights in the Gaza Strip in 2017. Available at: http://mezan.org/en/post/22532

[4] Ibid, footnote 3

[5] For more information, please refer to: Medical Care Under Siege Israel’s Systematic Violation of Gaza’s Patient Rights, 1 February 2018. Available at: http://mezan.org/en/post/22333

[6] For more information, please refer to: Briefing Paper on Israeli Supreme Court petition challenging the Israeli military’s use of lethal force against Gaza protesters and the State of Israel’s response, 15 May 2018. Available at: http://mezan.org/en/post/22822