Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

The Lebanese authorities, communities and humanitarian agencies are struggling to shelter and provide the necessities of life to over one million people fleeing Israel’s airstrikes and invasion to the south, Oxfam said today. 

 The UN Security Council (UNSC) is failing people living in conflict, with Russia and the United States particularly responsible for abusing their veto power which is blocking progress toward peace in Ukraine, Syria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. Ahead of the UN Summit for the Future, Oxfam calls for reform of the UN Security Council to stop the “Permanent Five” from being their own “judge and jury”.

In response to the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming support for a resolution to implement the International Court of Justice’s opinion on the illegality of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director Sally Abi Khalil said: “This historic vote has shown that the international community overwhelmingly recognises its obligations in ensuring the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and an immediate end to Israel’s illegal occupation.  

Starvation is being used as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians, Oxfam said today as it renewed its call for food, water, fuel and other essentials to be allowed to enter.  

Shane Stevenson, Oxfam Country Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said:   

“Finally, for the first of 12 consecutive nights, two million Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of thousands of traumatized children, can rest rather than lie awake in fear as bombs fly over their homes.  And civilians across Israel will be spared the threat of rocket attacks.  

Reacting to news of a two-week ceasefire between US/Israel and Iran, Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

Most countries recognize Palestinian statehood, yet Israel’s international law violations are accelerating.

With the start of the Israeli Knesset’s summer session on May 4, the undersigning organisations observe with grave concern the series of legislative initiatives and policy measures, currently making their way through the legislative process, that pose existential threats to the survival and mandate of Human Rights Organisations in Israel. 

Ahead of foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, where discussions will include the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the wider region, Agnès Bertrand-Sanz, Oxfam humanitarian expert, said: 

“The discussions happening today behind closed doors have an impact on real people, people who are facing the unimaginable. Yet, Europe’s response is often lethargic – recently exemplified by their lack of response to Israel’s banning of UNRWA.

In response to the latest Israeli attack on the Al-Mawasi so-called “safe zone”, as described by Israel, Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Sally Abi Khalil, said: “Once again, we are witnessing the absolute disregard Israel has for Palestinian lives and for international law.