Hamas Urges Int’l Community to Hold Israeli Regime Accountable for Its Crimes against Palestinians
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Hamas reminded the world of its responsibilities to criminalize Israeli violations against Palestinians and hold the occupying regime accountable for its crimes.
The Palestinian resistance movement made the remarks in a statement released on Saturday, while marking the Human Rights Day which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948.
The resistance movement said the world is marking this day as Israel continues to escalate its terror and systematic violations against Palestinians, including deliberate killings, land theft, siege, and racial discrimination and segregation.
It went on to say that the day provides a good opportunity to shed light on the scale and gravity of the unabated Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
“It is also a suitable opportunity to remind the whole world of its responsibilities to take actual action to criminalize the Israeli occupation’s violations and colonial settlers’ terrorism, work on putting an end to them, and prosecute their perpetrators as war criminals at international courts,” Hamas added.
The movement further stressed that Israeli crimes constitute a flagrant violation of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, reaffirming its commitment to the legitimate Palestinian rights.
Hamas further called on the United Nations and the international community to put an end to Israeli crimes in the occupied cities of al-Quds and the West Bank, end the unjust blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, and enable the Palestinians to defend themselves with all means possible until ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital.
Since the start of 2022, Israeli troops have killed more than 210 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the United Nations, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank this year is the highest in 16 years.
Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.
Incidents of sabotage and violence by settlers against Palestinians and their property have also become a daily occurrence throughout the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank.
However, Israeli authorities rarely prosecute settlers and the vast majority of the files are closed due to deliberate police failure to investigate them properly.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued illegal settlement expansion.