2023-11-22 11:11:39
Copy: AIThe organization has carried out pressure actions in Madrid and other locations in Spain and around the world to ask President Biden to use his position as Israel’s priority partner and demand that the recently agreed truce in Gaza and OPT be respected by all parties and not for four days but a ceasefire prolonged over time that allows the entry of humanitarian aid in quantities that alleviate the desperate situation of more than a million people.
“It is necessary to continue with the negotiation to release all the hostages, the prolonged cessation of the bombings and the investigation of war crimes to begin”
The organization also demands that Biden end arms transfers to Israel.
Otherwise, the organization assures, it will be complicit in the horrors that are taking place.
Amnesty International today sent a loud and clear message to US President Joe Biden: to use the full influence of his Government to demand that the recently agreed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas be respected by all parties and extended in time, and not a four-day truce. To this end, activists from the organization have gone to the United States Embassy in Madrid with “Cease Fire” signs, an action that has been replicated in consulates in other cities such as Barcelona, Seville, or Las Palmas, as well as in others. places in the world, such as Washington (in front of the White House), or Dublin and Brussels (in the embassies).
“Every day without bombing is a relief, as is the release of some hostages, but a four-day truce is insufficient for a population that has been suffering the horrors of this war for more than six weeks. A prolonged ceasefire is necessary. in time so as to allow the entry of humanitarian aid in sufficient quantities to alleviate the desperate situation of more than a million people. It is also necessary to continue the negotiation to free all the hostages, the prolonged cessation of the bombings and “Let the investigation of war crimes begin,” declared María Pastor, head of Campaigns for the crisis in Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“The United States abstained during the last United Nations vote, and although we consider this the first sign that it is willing to deviate from its stance of unreserved support for Israel at the UN, it needs to take another step. It must use all its influence over Israel to demand a prolonged ceasefire, and it must also refrain from sending weapons to Israel while war crimes continue to be committed. After more than 11,000 people have died since the beginning of the conflict, in many cases as victims of war crimes as Amnesty International has investigated, these requests cannot wait any longer,” adds María Pastor.
“We welcome the Biden administration’s calls to denounce war crimes committed by Hamas and other armed groups and emphasize the need to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all abducted civilians. However, the United States’ failure to condemn the atrocities committed by Israeli forces, and its refusal to demand that the Israeli government immediately lift the illegal blockade, contributes to the current violations and deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza.” , the organization has stated in a letter to the United States Embassy.
“All victims have the right to justice and reparation; and all civilian lives must be protected equally. As the state with the greatest influence over Israel, the United States has both the opportunity and the responsibility to act to save lives and stop the suffering of civilians,” the letter states.
The organization also pressures the United States to stop its transfer of weapons to Israel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance. “If the United States continues to supply weapons to Israel, knowing that Israeli forces are using those weapons to commit serious violations of international law, it will be complicit in the horrors that are taking place,” says María Pastor.
Amnesty International’s requests, which the United States can clearly influence, are:
• And prolonged ceasefire, observed and respected by all parties to the conflictwhich allows the protection of the civilian population.
• Israel must lift the siege imposed on Gaza, restore electricity and water supplies and guarantee access for humanitarian aid. And end the illegal blockade that has been imposed on Gaza for 16 years.
• Israel must immediately rescind the order to evacuate the civilian population from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, including medical staff and hospital patients.
• The work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) must be unequivocally and unconditionally supported. which already in 2021 began an investigation into the situation in Palestine.
• A comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict must be promoted within the UN.
On the other hand, the organization demands that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups immediately release the kidnapped civilians.
More than 11,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza, many in the context of indiscriminate and other illegitimate attacks. More than a third of deaths in Gaza are children, and countless bodies remain trapped under the rubble. Millions of people face displacement, dispossession and suffering.
At least 200 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and other armed groups and held in Gaza remain in danger, and the continued indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel puts civilians at risk. Israel’s tightening siege of Gaza blocks the entry of goods such as water, food and fuel, leaving more than two million people struggling to survive.
If the fighting is not stopped immediately, the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from Israel’s 16-year illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip will only worsen.
Amnesty International has published several investigations with on-the-ground information on human rights violations taking place in the region. You can find everything the organization has made public here.
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