The historic ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas must herald new era of justice and safety for Palestinians.
While this ceasefire agreement is devastatingly overdue, with many tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who were needlessly killed in the months before a deal was reached, today is an historic day. Amnesty International Australia stands with the Palestinians in Gaza and across the World as they take to the streets to celebrate.
“For 15 months, Palestinians have endured horror after horror, war crime after war crime. I hope with news of this ceasefire deal that this nightmare and genocide will come to an end,” says Mohamed Duar, Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson for Amnesty International Australia.
“Civilians have paid the ultimate price – with their lives. Women, men and children have had their homes destroyed, displaced time and time again, starved as a weapon of war and denied medical care and aid.”
“Now they must now be protected and receive justice. Those responsible for atrocity crimes must be held to account and Australia must do everything within its power to end Israel’s impunity once and for all, to see the end Israel’s brutal military occupation and apartheid regime,” says Mr Duar.
This ceasefire deal comes after sustained pressure from people across the world, led by Palestinians in Gaza, the diaspora and powered by many millions of people in countries around the world including ordinary people, healthcare workers, aid workers and journalists.
The global movement for Palestinian justice has been supported by the groundswell of people-powered action here in Australia including weekly marches, political pressure campaigns, peer-to-peer advocacy across social media and sophisticated campaigns against Australia’s complicity in weaponry and munitions transfers to Israel. Amnesty International Australia commends the work of grassroots advocacy groups who have led and inspired this campaign, and the pressure it brought to bear on the Albanese government.
Amnesty International will continue to play a role in the monitoring of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to help ensure compliance with the ceasefire terms.
Amnesty International calls on the Australian government and the international community to help ensure:
- Israel allows lifesaving humanitarian aid to enter Gaza immediately;
- The urgent rebuilding of medical and other essential infrastructure;
- The illegal 18 year blockade on Gaza is brought to an end;
- Israel allows independent human rights investigators access to the Gaza strip;
- Israel ends the brutal military occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as ruled by the International Court of Justice;
- Israel ends the system of oppression and domination of apartheid;
- Justice and accountability for victims of war crimes and genocide including the enforcement of ICC arrest warrants;
Justice will only be achieved when Palestinians can live in dignity, with equal rights and justice with the occupation and system of apartheid dismantled.
Background
In December 2024, Amnesty released our report ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza’ following nine months of meticulous research that determined that Israel was violating the Genocide Convention following its brutal assault on the Palestinian population of Gaza. We found that Israel has been deliberately killing, physically and mentally harming and displacing Palestinians in Gaza, creating conditions of life calculated to destroy and dehumanise them including annihilation, displacement, deprivation of crucial aid and starvation as a weapon of war. Amnesty International’s report found that brazen and bold genocidal intent such as that expressed by Israeli political and military officials in real time and on social media.
Civilians, humanitarians, medical workers and journalists have all come under constant attack. Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed and according to the UN, 369 aid workers, 1057 healthcare workers and 160 journalists have been killed despite their protection under international law. They are and should never be a target.
Gaza has been flattened, the hospital system destroyed and medical workers including Dr Hasam Abu Saffiya forcibly disappeared, tortured or killed. Israel’s continuous and deliberate denial and obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza has left civilians facing unprecedented levels of hunger and children have starved to death. The international community which has thus far shamefully failed to persuade Israel to comply with its legal obligations must ensure Israel immediately allows lifesaving supplies to urgently reach all parts of the occupied Gaza Strip to ensure the survival of the Palestinian population.
