Sunday, 27 December 2015, marks the seventh anniversary of the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip code-named “Operation Cast Lead” (OCL). The occasion is marked amidst continued impunity and denial of justice for Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and continued violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan) reiterates its condemnation of Israel’s policy of immunity to international law and the international community’s unwillingness and failure to pursue accountability. The lack of accountability and access to justice perpetuates the cycle of violence perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces, notably encouraging Israel to launch the full-scale military aggression in July-August 2014 and the daily attacks on civilians in the oPt. 

The OCL offensive was launched at approximately 11:30am on Saturday, 27 December 2008, with a surprise airstrike campaign carried out by 80 warplanes. The attack targeted the majority of the police stations and security premises in Gaza, in addition to numerous other targets.
Lasting only five minutes, the attack was devastating due to its timing, scale and the type of weaponry used. The timing of the attacks also sparked a state of panic among Gaza’s children as it coincided with arrival and departure times between school shifts when nearly all of Gaza’s school students were either in the streets or on school grounds. Several school children were killed in these attacks.

The 22-day military offensive was at that time unprecedented in terms of the scale of grave and systematic violations of the provisions of international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 and Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of 1977.

According to Al Mezan’s documentation, during OCL the Israeli occupation forces killed 1,410 people including 356 children and 113 women. 949 of the victims were civilians and 231 were civil police officers. The total number of destroyed houses reached 11,157; 8,511 of the houses were partially destroyed. According to Al Mezan’s estimation, about 30,000 houses sustained minor damages. The total area of razed land reached 6,743 dunams, including 1,170 dunams that were razed more than once. The Israeli forces damaged 612 public facilities, 643 vehicles, 209 industrial facilities, and 710 business facilities.

Seven years has passed and the victims remain without justice. Those who suffered from deaths and injuries in their family and destruction to their property maintain no hope that redress will be achieved. The whole population of the Gaza Strip continues to struggle against the violation of rights that go hand in hand with Israel’s closure/blockade policy that remains in place due to the international community’s unwillingness to exact political will from Israel. 

Al Mezan strongly condemns the failure of the international community to take effective steps to end Israel’s policy of impunity and secure accountability for violations of international humanitarian law. Al Mezan calls on the international community to take effective and prompt steps to: 

1. Lift the Israeli closure/blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and ensure the free movement of people and goods, including construction materials, without delay;
2. Provide due protection for Palestinians in the oPt notably amidst Israel’s daily and escalated violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law;
3. Trigger international accountability mechanisms to ensure redress for victims and to hold perpetrators to account; and
4. Work towards ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and enable Palestinians to enjoy their rights, including their right to self-determination. 

Al Mezan asserts that we will continue to expose Israel’s systematic and widespread violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the oPt. Al Mezan will continue our work with Palestinian and international human rights organizations to push the international community to uphold its legal obligations, particularly under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to ensure protection for civilians and to bring war criminals to justice.

Al Mezan asserts that Israel’s campaign to defame human rights organizations will not serve as a deterrent to Al Mezan carrying out our mandate. Al Mezan will continue our efforts to provide the International Criminal Court with information and evidence surrounding Israeli forces’ involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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