Genocide Within a Genocide: Depraved Israeli Military Violations in Northern Gaza
October 17th, 2024
Justice For All Canada vehemently denounces the Israeli military’s continued violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Gaza, especially the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents in the north. The Israeli government is once again employing siege tactics by deliberately blocking essential supplies like food, water, and medical aid. These actions blatantly violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitute collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population. Such transgressions alongside relentless bombings are causing widespread suffering and death.
The continued military offensive is targeting homes, hospitals, and healthcare facilities in northern Gaza. With more than 300 medical staff trapped, hospitals on the brink of collapse and supplies running out, these institutions are being systematically dismantled, putting thousands of lives at risk. Doctors are being forced to operate without anaesthetic, and healthcare workers cannot provide a single meal for themselves or their patients. Meanwhile, 317 patients are still hospitalized, including 80 in critical condition. 400,000 Palestinians remain at risk of starvation as a result of blocked aid. Humanitarian organizations report that 200,000 people have been without food or water for over 10 days. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been unable to deliver any food aid to northern Gaza since October 1, leaving thousands of families cut off from basic supplies.
In recent days, Israeli airstrikes have devastated Gaza’s refugee camps, leading to horrifying civilian casualties. In Jabalia, artillery fire fit a food distribution centre, killing at least 10 people trying to obtain basic supplies. More than 20 people were further killed when tank fire struck a UN-run school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat camp. Fires have broken out in other areas, such as Dair al-Balah, where over 50 tents burned, injuring women, children, and the elderly. These relentless attacks by Israeli forces target areas that were supposed to be safe zones, where Palestinians had been told they could seek refuge. Instead, these strikes are hitting places like refugee camps and schools, leaving civilians with nowhere to turn.
The mass displacement and destruction of northern Gaza's infrastructure is part of a broader effort to permanently remove Palestinians from their homes. Reports indicate that over 42,000 Palestinians have already been killed since bombardments began on October 7th, 2023, with 98,684 wounded and at least 11,000 people unaccounted for (presumed dead beneath the rubble of their homes). Israel’s actions amount to a genocide within a genocide, deepening the ongoing humanitarian disaster in an already overcrowded and besieged territory. Immediate international intervention is needed to create humanitarian corridors, deliver aid, and stop the indiscriminate bombings. Canada and allied states have both a legal and moral responsibility to prevent further atrocities, hold responsible Israeli officials accountable, and restore human dignity to the people of Gaza.
To address these egregious violations of international law and prevent further atrocities, Justice For All Canada urgently calls for immediate implementation of the following measures:
Starvation, forced displacement, and assaults on civilians and medical facilities are war crimes. An immediate ceasefire and the creation of protected humanitarian zones are essential to prevent further loss of Palestinian life. We urge Canadian leaders to uphold international law and take action now to end this unprecedented genocide and humanitarian crisis.
Sources
"‘Obligation’ – Israeli NGOs Urge World Community to Stop Evacuation, Starvation of North Gaza." The Palestine Chronicle, 15 Oct. 2024, https://www.palestinechronicle.com/obligation-israeli-ngos-urge-world-community-to-stop-evacuation-starvation-of-north-gaza/.
"Gaza: Israeli Forces Pushing People from North Gaza to the South Will Only Worsen the Humanitarian Catastrophe." Doctors Without Borders, 9 Oct. 2024, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/gaza-israeli-forces-pushing-people-from-north-gaza-to-the-south-will-only-worsen-the-humanitarian-catastrophe/.
Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. "North Gaza Hospitals Say Food, Medicines Running Out as Israel Presses Offensive." SwissInfo, 16 Oct. 2024, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/north-gaza-hospitals-say-food%2C-medicines-running-out-as-israel-presses-offensive/87741691.
Christou, Dr. Christos. "MSF: Unconditional Humanity Needs to Be Restored in Gaza." Doctors Without Borders, 17 Oct. 2023, updated 20 Nov. 2023, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/msf-unconditional-humanity-needs-to-be-restored-in-gaza/.
Al Jazeera. “Palestine’s UN Envoy Says ‘Genocide within Genocide’ Going on in North Gaza.” 13 Oct. 2024,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/13/palestines-un-envoy-says-genocide-within-genocide-going-on-in-north-gaza
Justice For All Canada vehemently denounces the Israeli military’s continued violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Gaza, especially the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents in the north. The Israeli government is once again employing siege tactics by deliberately blocking essential supplies like food, water, and medical aid. These actions blatantly violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitute collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population. Such transgressions alongside relentless bombings are causing widespread suffering and death.
The continued military offensive is targeting homes, hospitals, and healthcare facilities in northern Gaza. With more than 300 medical staff trapped, hospitals on the brink of collapse and supplies running out, these institutions are being systematically dismantled, putting thousands of lives at risk. Doctors are being forced to operate without anaesthetic, and healthcare workers cannot provide a single meal for themselves or their patients. Meanwhile, 317 patients are still hospitalized, including 80 in critical condition. 400,000 Palestinians remain at risk of starvation as a result of blocked aid. Humanitarian organizations report that 200,000 people have been without food or water for over 10 days. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been unable to deliver any food aid to northern Gaza since October 1, leaving thousands of families cut off from basic supplies.
In recent days, Israeli airstrikes have devastated Gaza’s refugee camps, leading to horrifying civilian casualties. In Jabalia, artillery fire fit a food distribution centre, killing at least 10 people trying to obtain basic supplies. More than 20 people were further killed when tank fire struck a UN-run school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat camp. Fires have broken out in other areas, such as Dair al-Balah, where over 50 tents burned, injuring women, children, and the elderly. These relentless attacks by Israeli forces target areas that were supposed to be safe zones, where Palestinians had been told they could seek refuge. Instead, these strikes are hitting places like refugee camps and schools, leaving civilians with nowhere to turn.
The mass displacement and destruction of northern Gaza's infrastructure is part of a broader effort to permanently remove Palestinians from their homes. Reports indicate that over 42,000 Palestinians have already been killed since bombardments began on October 7th, 2023, with 98,684 wounded and at least 11,000 people unaccounted for (presumed dead beneath the rubble of their homes). Israel’s actions amount to a genocide within a genocide, deepening the ongoing humanitarian disaster in an already overcrowded and besieged territory. Immediate international intervention is needed to create humanitarian corridors, deliver aid, and stop the indiscriminate bombings. Canada and allied states have both a legal and moral responsibility to prevent further atrocities, hold responsible Israeli officials accountable, and restore human dignity to the people of Gaza.
To address these egregious violations of international law and prevent further atrocities, Justice For All Canada urgently calls for immediate implementation of the following measures:
- An immediate and permanent two-way arms embargo on Israel, in accordance with international law, which prohibits the transfer of weapons where there is a substantial risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights laws. This includes closing the existing loopholes in Canada’s arms exports regime, which permit the export of “non-lethal” military equipment to Israel (for example, a sensor installed on a missile) and military exports which are sent to Israel through the US without any meaningful export controls. Continued arms transfers to Israel have enabled widespread unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, amounting to war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
- Immediate imposition of targeted sanctions on Israeli government officials responsible for planning, ordering, and carrying out the military operations in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. These sanctions should include asset freezes, travel bans, and other restrictive measures under Canada’s Magnitsky Act and the Special Economic Measures Act.
- Fully support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its ongoing investigations and enforcement of arrest warrants for Israeli officials. The ICC Prosecutor has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The warrants implicate them of war crimes, including the starvation of civilians, attacks directed at civilians, willful killing, and crimes against humanity such as extermination through starvation. Should the ICC issue these arrest warrants, we urge Canada to ensure that they are enforced.
Starvation, forced displacement, and assaults on civilians and medical facilities are war crimes. An immediate ceasefire and the creation of protected humanitarian zones are essential to prevent further loss of Palestinian life. We urge Canadian leaders to uphold international law and take action now to end this unprecedented genocide and humanitarian crisis.
Sources
"‘Obligation’ – Israeli NGOs Urge World Community to Stop Evacuation, Starvation of North Gaza." The Palestine Chronicle, 15 Oct. 2024, https://www.palestinechronicle.com/obligation-israeli-ngos-urge-world-community-to-stop-evacuation-starvation-of-north-gaza/.
"Gaza: Israeli Forces Pushing People from North Gaza to the South Will Only Worsen the Humanitarian Catastrophe." Doctors Without Borders, 9 Oct. 2024, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/gaza-israeli-forces-pushing-people-from-north-gaza-to-the-south-will-only-worsen-the-humanitarian-catastrophe/.
Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. "North Gaza Hospitals Say Food, Medicines Running Out as Israel Presses Offensive." SwissInfo, 16 Oct. 2024, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/north-gaza-hospitals-say-food%2C-medicines-running-out-as-israel-presses-offensive/87741691.
Christou, Dr. Christos. "MSF: Unconditional Humanity Needs to Be Restored in Gaza." Doctors Without Borders, 17 Oct. 2023, updated 20 Nov. 2023, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/msf-unconditional-humanity-needs-to-be-restored-in-gaza/.
Al Jazeera. “Palestine’s UN Envoy Says ‘Genocide within Genocide’ Going on in North Gaza.” 13 Oct. 2024,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/13/palestines-un-envoy-says-genocide-within-genocide-going-on-in-north-gaza