THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Salama, has confirmed that the Israeli occupation army has used the killing of women and the targeting of reproductive health as tools for genocide in the Gaza Strip.
‘Israel’s attacks on Palestinian women are part of a systematic genocide strategy’ Salama said in a press statement on Sunday.
‘When looking at Israel’s actions overall, it is clear that targeting the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in particular serves this purpose.’
She emphasised that ‘the killing of Palestinians simply for being women is considered a war crime and a crime against humanity,’ noting that the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide also prohibits acts of genocide aimed at preventing reproduction within a group.
Salama continued: ‘When we put all the pieces together, we find that the destruction of the health sector, leaving newborns to their fate, and creating horrific conditions for pregnant and nursing women are all tools used in the Israeli genocidal violence targeting the total or partial destruction of the continuity of the Palestinian population.’
Using data from the United Nations Population Fund, she highlighted the devastating impact of the attacks on women and children: ‘800,000 women have been forcibly displaced from their homes, and about one million women and girls are suffering from severe food insecurity.’
The UN rapporteur also noted that ‘the situation in Gaza has reached dimensions unprecedented in modern history,’ and abortion rates have increased by 300% due to inadequate medical care, psychological trauma, and bombings.
Salama added: ‘This is not just about genocide; it also means deliberate killing and the complete destruction of the legal boundaries of war.’
- The Israeli military operation in the north of the occupied West Bank entered its 14th day in Jenin and its 8th day in Tulkarem on Sunday, amid ongoing destruction of homes and property.
The Israeli occupation army also expanded its operation to Tammun town in southern Tubas, as a prelude to deploying its forces in other towns and villages in the northern West Bank.
In Jenin, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) blew up four neighbourhoods in Jenin refugee camp, destroying dozens of homes.
Local sources said the IOF brought large shipments of explosives into the camp and placed them inside several homes, then detonated them.
Over the past few days, the IOF forced the residents of the camp to leave their homes, bulldozed and detonated multiple homes and roads, turned dozens of houses into military posts, and deployed scores of troops in all areas of Jenin.
A few hours after its massive detonation of homes in Jenin camp, the Israeli army threatened to bomb a residential building in Jenin City.
According to the WAFA news agency, the IOF notified the al-Saadi family of its intent to bomb their three-storey house in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin City if their son, Qusay, did not turn himself in.
Meanwhile, al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad said that a group of its fighters had detonated an explosive device at an IOF vehicle in Silat al-Harithiya town, northwest of Jenin.
In Tulkarem yesterday, Israeli forces continued to patrol different streets of the city and its refugee camp, assaulting vegetable vendors.
In Tulkarem refugee camp, the IOF started to force citizens to leave their homes turning a number of them into military posts.
A citizen was reportedly injured in Tulkarem camp when one of the IOF snipers deployed inside a tall building opened fire on him.
At dawn yesterday, Israeli forces raided Palestinian homes in Ezbet at-Tayyah suburb in southern Tulkarem and kidnapped five young men.
The IOF also continues to besiege the hospitals of Thabet Thabet and al-Israa in Tulkarem City and obstruct the movement of ambulances and medical personnel.
In Tubas, local sources said that the IOF carried out an arrest campaign in Tammun town on Sunday evening.
