The attacks against human rights defenders and the erasure of civic space in Gaza are “unacceptable,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor.
In a statement on Monday, reported by the United Nations website, Lawlor said that Israeli forces “continue to starve and deliberately kill civilians, while human rights defenders face enormous challenges in carrying out their peaceful work.”
“This horrific situation continues despite the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice aimed at preventing genocide in Gaza and the illegal occupation of Gaza,” Lawlor added.
The rapporteur called for the physical integrity of human rights defenders to be protected “from attacks and harassment”, and for “unlawful killings to be investigated promptly and independently in accordance with international law, and for measures to be taken to protect them from serious violations in the future”.
The site pointed out that the oldest human rights organization in Gaza, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, has witnessed in recent months the killing of employees and the irreparable damage to its offices due to air strikes and ground attacks launched by Israeli forces.
According to the Special Rapporteur, “There is no longer room for human rights defenders and civil society activists to continue documenting the long list of human rights violations imposed by Israel on the people of the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli forces killed lawyer Nour Abu al-Nour, her two-year-old daughter, her parents and five siblings in an airstrike on her home in Rafah on February 20, 2024. Two days later, Dana Yaghi and 37 members of her family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house they had moved to for safety in Deir al-Balah, 14 kilometres south of Gaza City.
“It is a terrible tragedy that justice for these two human rights defenders, their family members and their children seems so far away,” the rapporteur said.
The Rapporteur noted that the headquarters of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza City and its branches in Jabalia, Khan Younis and Rafah had been damaged by air strikes and ground attacks, forcing staff to relocate and rent office space and logistical support at exorbitant prices, while some international funding had been suspended.
They were also subjected to a virulent online smear campaign by Israeli civil society organizations who falsely accused the Palestinian Center for Human Rights of being linked to “terrorists.”
“Human rights defenders told me they will continue their work despite this online smear campaign, which is designed to drain international support and intimidate them,” Lawlor said.