Israel is forcing humanitarian groups and human rights defenders to reduce their activities in the Palestinian territories.
The United Nations has warned of a crackdown on child rights activists in the occupied Palestinian territories, which is putting children in the West Bank and Gaza in an ever more vulnerable position.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned in a statement issued on Monday that numerous civil and aid organizations in the Palestinian territories have been branded as "terrorist" by Israeli interest groups or politicians, and that the cessation of their presence poses a serious threat to children.
„These organizations have played a vital role in protecting Palestinian children for more than three decades, including in Israeli military courts and in documenting grave violations committed against Palestinian children by Israeli forces.” – the committee concluded. They added: „Without them, Palestinian children will be even less protected and there is a risk that violations of their rights will continue to go unpunished.”
A statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) highlighted that tactics used to delegitimize human rights groups include: „military raids, travel bans, personal financial sanctions, threats of arrest, destruction of documents, and even secondary sanctions against partners who support their work”.
According to the committee, this „it is becoming increasingly impossible for these organizations to operate safely or to protect the children and families who turn to them for help”.
The committee urged the international community to hold Israeli authorities accountable for attacks on Palestinian human rights defenders, and called on Israeli authorities to lift restrictions on humanitarian individuals and groups.
„Despite grave risks and limited resources, children’s rights activists have stood by Palestinian children and families in extremely dangerous circumstances. They must be protected, not punished.” – the committee emphasized.
Israel has significantly curtailed humanitarian operations in Gaza since the „ceasefire” that began on October 10. It has banned Doctors Without Borders (MSF) after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff, further depriving Palestinians in the besieged zone of life-saving aid.
In February of this year, 17 international aid organizations petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to continue working in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories, as the Israeli government seeks to halt their life-saving work.
