Human Rights

8 December 2023; MEMO: Israel has deliberately destroyed dozens of archaeological sites and ancient sites in the besieged Gaza Strip since 7 October, in a blatant attempt to target Palestinian cultural heritage.

5 December 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian telecommunications company (PalTel), on Monday, said that all communication and internet services in the Gaza Strip have been completely cut off, Anadolu  Agency reports.

In a statement, the company said the telecom service was cut due to the disconnection of the main elements of the network in light of the ongoing Israeli shelling across Gaza.

5 December 2023; MEMO: Qatar’s emir today called on the UN Security Council to force Israel to return to the negotiating table over the war on Gaza, saying the inaction by the international community in halting the conflict was “shameful”, Reuters reports.

5 December 2023; MEMO: A week after US lawmakers expressed frustration in having to vote for yet another pro-Israel resolution, the House is expected to vote again this week to declare anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, in a new bill which critics say will further undermine free speech protected by the US constitution.

5 December 2023; MEMO: Google has removed a mobile app from its store that helps people boycott companies linked to Israel.

The @NoThanks boycott account on social media confirmed that its NoThanks app was temporarily removed because its description contained a sentence about determining if “your hand supports killing children in Palestine or not.”

5 December 2023; MEMO: The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a major global rights group operating in Palestine, said Tuesday that civilian deaths in Gaza are a stain on Israel and its allies, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell,” NRC’s Secretary-General, Jan Egeland, said in a statement.

5 December 2023; MEMO: The head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), on Monday, said the Israeli resumption and expansion of its military operation across Gaza repeats “the horrors from past weeks”, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The resumption of the military operation and its expansion further in southern Gaza is repeating horrors from past weeks,” UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement.

5 December 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would eventually be tried as a war criminal over Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, while slamming Western countries supporting Israel, Reuters reports.

28 November 2023; MEMO: Muhammad Nezzal, a Palestinian child released as part of a prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, said some prisoners lost consciousness due to beatings by Israeli forces in prison, Anadolu Agency reports.

Nezzal, who was arrested three months ago in Kabatiye, affiliated with Jenin in the West Bank and placed under “administrative detention” for six months, spoke to Anadolu after being released in the fourth group of the agreement.

28 November 2023; MEMO: The leaders of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Israel’s Mossad met Qatar’s prime minister in Doha today to build on the two-day extension of a truce between Israel and Hamas, a source briefed on the visit said.

The meeting was “to build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal,” the source told Reuters.