On July 3rd, the Israeli regime bombed and destroyed the offices of EuroMed Rights’ member Al Mezan in the refugee camp of Jabaliya, Gaza. EuroMed Rights condemns this attack against organized Palestinian civil society and identifies it as part of Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Civil society is vital to guarantee that the most vulnerable members of a community can enforce their rights and mobilize on behalf of themselves. Israel engages in the shrinking space strategies to try to break Palestinian civil society – including by designating CSOs as terrorist organizations, lobbying for their defunding with European stakeholders and now by physically destroying their offices and murdering their staff in Gaza. This attack cannot be seen as an exceptional act but part of a broader Israeli policy of war against Palestinian civilians.
We call for the European Union and the EU member states to support Palestinian civil society by reverting any defunding decision and by increasing financial, political and logistical supports to Palestinian CSOs. Furthermore, we call for the EU and EU member states to implement actions to ensure that a cease-fire is called and for the enforcement of the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures to prevent the commission of possible genocidal acts, such as implementing weapons trade bans with Israel and by reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Finally, we call for the EU and EU member states to enforce accountability measures such as supporting the ICC investigations to ensure all international criminals face justice.