Refugees International Mourns a Year of Devastation; Calls on Hamas and Israel to End This War

Statement from Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk:

"One year on from the October 7th attacks, we remember and we mourn the victims killed by Hamas' brutal and senseless attack on Israel. We remember and we mourn the victims killed by Israel's indiscriminate and unrelenting war on Gaza since. The attacks and taking of hostages by Hamas on October 7, 2023 were clear crimes against humanity. The conduct of the ensuing Israeli military campaign in Gaza has also amounted to grave crimes against humanity. And the continuation of this war now threatens the very foundations of international humanitarian law. It is time for the war to end.

Neither side's crimes justify the other's. The obligations of international humanitarian law are not contingent upon the conduct of one's opponents. Both Hamas and the Israeli government are manifestly violating their obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and perpetrating war crimes. Both must stop. Both must cease fire.

The continued holding of hostages abducted on October 7th is completely unjustified and is an unambiguous war crime. Refugees International reiterates our repeated calls for their unconditional and immediate release.

The continued indiscriminate bombardment, besiegement, forced displacement, starvation, and collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel are likewise unjustified and constitute clear war crimes. Israel is imposing a humanitarian crisis on Gaza that advances no valid military objective and serves only to deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Refugees International reiterates our repeated calls for Israel to halt this lawless and indefensible conduct.

The Biden administration's de facto unconditional support for this Israeli military campaign has been a moral and strategic disaster. As Israel has used the incessant flow of U.S. arms to punish and devastate Palestinian civilians, the administration has resisted any meaningful conditions or accountability and instead issued increasingly hollow calls for Israeli adherence to IHL. This approach has not freed the hostages, protected Palestinian civilians, or advanced a cease-fire. This dynamic may now be extending to Lebanon. That risks a regional war-a war the Biden administration claims it does not want, but seems unwilling to actually deter. We call on the Biden administration to faithfully apply U.S. law on arms transfers by halting offensive military support to Israel until the Israeli government upholds its IHL obligations to sincerely protect civilians and stop obstructing humanitarian aid.

The net effect of the past year has been devastating for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages-but it has also made a casualty of international humanitarian law. The tactics used by Russia in Chechnya and Ukraine, or the Syrian regime in Aleppo-rightly condemned in those instances by the United States-are now deployed by a U.S. ally equipped with U.S. arms and protected by U.S. diplomatic cover. The world listens skeptically to contorted U.S. rationales for why leveling apartment blocks is wrong in Ukraine or Syria but acceptable in Gaza or Lebanon. They simply see total impunity-and IHL reduced to ashes.

This war must end."

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Etant Dupain at [email protected].

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