Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said that there is no hope of protecting civilians’ lives until apartheid is dismantled, on Wednesday, February 1.
This came in a report by Amnesty to set out how Israel enforces an institutionalized system of oppression and domination against Palestinians.
Commenting on the recent Israeli crimes, Callamard said that the devastating events have exposed yet again the deadly cost of the system of apartheid.
“The international community’s failure to hold Israeli authorities to account for apartheid and other crimes has given them free rein to segregate, control and oppress Palestinians on a daily basis,” he added.
Over the first month of 2023, Israeli forces killed about 35 Palestinians, including 8 children and an elderly woman. 20 of the deadly shooting attacks took place in Jenin alone, according to data from the Palestinian ministry of health.
“Apartheid is a crime against humanity, and it is frankly chilling to see the perpetrators evade justice year after year,” said Agnès Callamard. In addition, he pointed out that Israel controls virtually every aspect of the Palestinians’ lives.
“Until apartheid is dismantled there is no hope of protecting civilian lives,” Amnesty said. The report also shed the light on how Palestinians are subjected to daily oppression and discrimination through territorial fragmentation and legal segregation.
Furthermore, Amnesty’s report came to shed light on the increasing Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestine which constitutes a ‘war crime’ under international law.
Increased settlement expansion will put countless more Palestinians at risk of forcible transfer – a crime against humanity which Israeli authorities have committed on a systematic basis, the report explained.
