‘Plans to escalate the military operations in Gaza City indicate that indeed the worst is yet to come’ - Agnès Callamard

In response to the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to “take control” of Gaza City, where nearly one million Palestinians are struggling to survive under inhumane conditions, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

“It is utterly outrageous and revolting that the Israeli cabinet has approved plans for the military to scale up their ground presence in the occupied Gaza Strip and completely take over Gaza City.

“Just as we thought we had already seen the cruellest, most painful chapters of this genocide unfold – through Israel’s continued and escalating use of starvation as a method of warfare – plans to escalate the military operations in Gaza City indicate that indeed the worst is yet to come.

“If implemented, the plans will result in extraordinary level of suffering for the Palestinians of Gaza facing starvation in the context of an on-going genocide. The plans will also violate international law, and trample on the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion concluding that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and must end.

“Israel has also stepped-up mass displacement orders, transforming the Western parts of Gaza City into an ocean of suffering, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, mostly internally displaced, are forced into a cruel and inhumane daily fight for survival. Most are staying in makeshift camps, or renting damaged homes, while living under a deadly mix of bombs, hunger and disease.

“Expanding the ground operations into Gaza City will have catastrophic and irreversible consequences for Palestinians, who have no prospects to receive medical support as the healthcare system across Gaza has been decimated by Israel’s attacks and left in tatters.

“Amnesty International urges the Israeli cabinet to immediately halt and rescind this colossal atrocity in the making before it is too late and to end the genocide. We reiterate our call to Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all civilian hostages.

“The international community, particularly Israel’s allies, including the European Union and its members, cannot stand by, professing empty platitudes and condemnations. These would merely constitute another smokescreen, while allowing the horrors of Israel’s genocide to unfold.

“States must urgently suspend all arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate any engagement with Israeli entities when this contributes to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. They must also urgently adopt tangible measures to ensure that Israel ends its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, dismantles Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and ends its illegal presence across the whole Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“We cannot be frozen between shock and incredulity: we must act forcefully to demand that states with influence over Israel end this abomination by securing an immediate and enduring ceasefire, the unimpeded flow of aid into and across Gaza, a total lifting of the illegal blockade, and the rapid return of the hostages held in Gaza and of all Palestinians unlawfully detained by Israel.

“Decades of impunity for Israel’s apartheid against all Palestinians have been a fertile ground for genocide to develop, this must end. We join the millions of people who have been taking to the streets calling on their governments to act: the time is now. Our humanity is at stake.”