Atrocity Alert No. 397: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan and the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

Dozens brutally killed in Israeli attacks on refugee camps in Gaza

On May 26, an airstrike by Israeli forces on a refugee camp in northwest Rafah killed at least 45 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 250 others. The camp was in an area Israel had previously declared “safe” and had sent Palestinians to for safety. According to several reports, the bodies of the victims were torn to pieces and children’s bodies were found in fragments because the shelling was so intense. Many victims were trapped under flames and burned to death. Two days later, emergency services in Gaza reported that Israeli tank shells had hit a cluster of tents in Al-Mawasi – another area where Israel had sent Palestinians to for safety. At least 21 people, mostly women and children, were killed.

While Israel has denied shelling Al-Mawasi, Israeli forces have claimed the May 26 attack was aimed at senior Hamas officials, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the civilian casualties a “tragic mistake.” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said: “Whether the attack was a war crime or a ‘tragic mistake’ for the people of Gaza, there is no doubt about that. What happened last night was the latest – and possibly the cruelest – heinous act.”

About 1 million people have been displaced since Israel escalated the situation in Rafah around May 6. Palestinians are fleeing relentless bombardments and acute shortages of food and water, as life-saving aid deliveries have almost completely stopped since Israeli forces seized the Rafah crossing in early May.

The attacks in Rafah came shortly after Israeli forces bombed makeshift shelters for displaced Palestinians in other areas of Gaza, including Jabalya, Nuseirat and Gaza City. Attacks continue to increase in several areas of northern Gaza, leading to further displacement and the death and injury of Palestinian civilians.

On 24 May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the request of South Africa, issued its third legally binding interim injunction, ordering Israel to immediately cease its military offensive and any other actions in Rafah “that could impose on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life likely to result in its physical destruction in whole or in part”. The ICJ also ordered that Israel “must keep the Rafah crossing open so that urgently needed basic supplies and humanitarian assistance can be delivered without hindrance”.

Savita Pawnday, executive director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said: “The atrocities of these latest massacres – in the so-called ‘safe zones’ of Gaza – have been condemned by the highest international community. Both the International Criminal Court and the ICJ have been very clear that international crimes are likely being committed in Gaza. It is high time that the United States and others who support and abet Israel’s ongoing atrocities end their complicity and help end this nightmare.”

Israel must immediately implement all interim orders of the International Court of Justice. All states that have acceded to the Genocide Convention must assist Israel in ensuring compliance with the Convention. All states must stop arms exports to Israel and take other economic and political measures necessary to ensure compliance with international law. A permanent ceasefire must be achieved urgently.

Fighting in El Fascher shows no signs of abating

On Wednesday, May 22, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted and entered Abu Shouk, a refugee camp in El Fasher, North Darfur, forcing 60 percent of the camp’s 100,000 residents to flee. The RSF reportedly beat, tortured, extrajudicially detained civilians and looted their belongings. According to satellite imagery obtained by the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at the Yale School of Public Health, the destruction in and around Abu Shouk indicates the presence of the RSF in several civilian areas. “Currently, civilian homes equivalent to about 100 football fields have been destroyed in the last two weeks of fighting,” said Nathaniel Raymond, director of the HRL.

As fighting intensifies between RSF and Sudanese forces in El Fasher, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that more than 134 people have been killed and 900 injured since May 10. The MSF-supported South Hospital – one of the few medical facilities still functioning – has been hit by mortar shells and artillery fire twice since May 25, killing or injuring patients. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are stranded in El Fasher, without access to food, water and basic services as RSF continues to relentlessly attack the area from multiple directions, blocking all supply routes. On May 24, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that more than a dozen trucks carrying aid for at least 121,000 people have been trying to reach El Fasher for over a month, but are hampered by the security situation, access restrictions and delays at checkpoints.

Despite several senior UN officials warning of an imminent attack on El Fasher and the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide raising the alarm about the continued threat of genocide in the Darfur region, the RSF has continued to extend its control over Darfur. The fall of key capitals, including El Geneina in West Darfur, has been followed by systematic campaigns of ethnic cleansing of non-Arab communities that may amount to genocide. The civilian population in El Fasher is currently being subjected to similar atrocities.

The UN Security Council, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and states with influence on the warring parties should continue to support efforts to end the fighting, giving the highest priority to protecting civilians in Darfur and preventing further escalation of civilian harm. In particular, regional and subregional organizations and the UN Security Council must explore all options to protect civilians, including Chapters VII and VIII of the UN Charter, to achieve and maintain a lasting ceasefire and ensure humanitarian access. Member States that facilitate the transfer of weapons, ammunition and other goods to Darfur are in violation of the 2004 UN Security Council arms embargo and must be held accountable.

PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICTS

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Security Council putting the protection of civilians on its agenda and the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions – a cornerstone of international humanitarian law aimed at protecting victims of armed conflict. Despite these achievements, countless people around the world suffer the horrific immediate and long-term consequences of armed conflict. Jaclyn Streitfeld-Hall, Director of Policy and Research at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said: “In far too many situations, state and non-state actors are increasingly and brazenly disregarding their legal obligations, while some states claiming to support the protection of civilians are exacerbating protection crises around the world, including through arms supplies and other forms of military and security support.”

Describing the situation globally as “thoroughly grim,” the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on POC records at least 33,443 civilian deaths in 2023, a 72 percent increase from 2022, while the proportion of women and children killed doubled and tripled, respectively. The changing nature and context of contemporary armed conflicts – such as asymmetric warfare and urban battlefields – expose civilians to a range of dangers, including indiscriminate attacks, attacks on civilian infrastructure and livelihoods, and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA). The use of EWIPA is a leading cause of civilian deaths and injuries during armed conflict. Last year, nearly 30,000 civilians were killed and injured by explosive weapons in six conflicts alone: ​​Gaza, Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.

Millions of civilians have been forced to flee bombings and fighting, and many face further protection risks and endure harsh living conditions. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Gaza and elsewhere, refugee camps are regularly targeted, causing civilian casualties, secondary displacement and further trauma. At the same time, far too many civilians face hunger, starvation and disease as they are denied or otherwise hindered in accessing life-saving humanitarian assistance – a commonly used weapon of war. Humanitarian and UN personnel providing vital assistance and protection are also increasingly falling victim to attacks. More than 500 humanitarian workers were victims of violence in 2023, and over 250 were killed. On 24 May, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the protection of humanitarian and UN personnel in conflict and demanding that all combatants protect them in accordance with international law.

The international community must step up its prevention efforts and take action to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable receive the effective protection they need and deserve. All States should comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and use their influence to ensure that all parties to conflict and their supporters comply with international norms and standards. All Member States must support and effectively implement the EWIPA Political Declaration and the Safe Schools Declaration. The international community should resource and commit to strengthening international and national accountability mechanisms to end the culture of impunity.