Al-Haq welcomes the 15 January 2025 announcement of a ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas. The Palestinians of Gaza, the children of Gaza, have been slaughtered and traumatised while the world watched on. The effectiveness of the proposed ceasefire must be a priority for the international community which owes an obligation to the Palestinian people to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign. It is imperative that this announcement lays the basis for a rapid end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine, accountability for the continuing crimes of the Israeli occupation forces, and the realisation of a just and lasting peace based on the enforcement of international law and Palestinian self-determination.

We emphasise, that as affirmed by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of July 2024, no agreement, between Israel as the unlawful occupying power, and authorities in occupied territory, can have the effect of depriving Palestinians of their rights and protections under international law. (para 102) Such protections include the pursuit of accountability against Israeli nationals, including the enforcement of the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for their alleged responsibility for perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinians of Gaza.

As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, the right of the Palestinians to self-determination includes the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development (para 233). Given the vast scale of destruction, death, and displacement caused by Israeli forces, it is imperative that international organisations and third states immediately ensure the unimpeded provision of all material, logistical, financial, and social support required by the Palestinians of Gaza.

As the occupying power, Israel has the duty to ensure the adequate provision of food and medical supplies, as well as other supplies essential to the survival of the civilian population of the occupied territory. It is also bound to allow access to humanitarian protective organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNRWA.  (Arts. 30, 55, 69-71, and 143 Fourth Geneva Convention).

On 26 January 2025, as part of its continuing genocidal campaign and starvation tactics, Israel intends to escalate its violation of these fundamental humanitarian provisions by cutting off all access to UNRWA, completely crippling and shutting down humanitarian aid and supports to Gaza. The situation has never been more urgent or critical. Over the 75 years of its existence, UNRWA has assumed many functions normally performed by a national state. Because of its vital role, UNRWA is facing physical, legal, political, and rhetorical attacks from Israel –– all of which put the power and position of the Agency, and that of the United Nations itself, as well as people’s trust and faith in their processes, in serious jeopardy.

All states, including High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, must immediately, through individual and collective action, ensure that the terms and provisions of international humanitarian law are respected and enforced across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ’s 2024 Advisory Opinion, as endorsed by resolution of the UN General Assembly, provide adequate clarity and direction to states parties as to their obligations vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine under international law, including under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The terms of the proposed ceasefire include the release of Palestinians detained, imprisoned, or disappeared by Israeli forces.  Al-Haq urgently appeals to the ICRC to enhance its role in monitoring the conditions of detention of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons. The deaths of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces, including by means of torture, ill-treatment, and extrajudicial executions must be immediately investigated, and detainees released. The overall death toll in Gaza may never be truly known or comprehended. Many areas of Gaza have been turned into mass graves, the result of arbitrary killings, unlawful disappearances, and prolonged and indiscriminate military assault.

Israel has given no indication that it will ever abide by the fundamentals of international law nor respect the human rights of Palestinians. In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israel’s violence against Palestinians is consistently intensifying. We welcome the ceasefire proposal as a significant step towards the protection of the Palestinian people in Gaza, but we strongly affirm that it is not enough in itself to end this genocide nor to preclude further genocidal acts across the occupied Palestinian territory. Third states must combine in supporting Palestinians to address the underlying root causes embedded in Israel’s settler-colonial and apartheid regime.

 In light of the above, we call on all Third States and on the international community:

• To ensure that Israel complies with this ceasefire agreement and to protect the Palestinian people from further irreparable harm by imposing a two-way arms embargo and economic sanctions on Israel;
• To ensure the entry into Gaza of competent investigative bodies or forensic experts for the purpose of conducting impartial investigations and collecting evidence;
• To ensure the entry into Gaza of national and international media, diplomatic missions, and representatives of international humanitarian organisations;
• To ensure the preservation of evidence of genocidal acts, as per the 26 January 2024 Provisional Measures Order handed down by the ICJ;
• To support the reconstruction of Gaza by Palestinians;
• To compel Israel to rescind its legislation banning UNRWA, and to ensure the unimpeded provision of all necessary humanitarian support to Palestinians;
• To provide UNRWA with adequate financial capabilities in order that it can comprehensively fulfill its mandate to assist Palestinian refugees;
•  To ensure that Israel release all Palestinian political prisoners, and to end its widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention, including administrative detention, and the commission of torture and other ill-treatment against Palestinian detainees and prisoners;
• To ensure that Israel discloses the names, locations, and details of detention of Palestinian residents of Gaza, ensure their rights are respected, including their right to legal representation, and refrain from ill-treatment and torture against them;

• To use all means at their disposal to force Israel to comply with international law by dismantling its settler colonial apartheid regime, guaranteeing the right of return of refugees, and ceasing the closure of the Gaza Strip;
• To protect the ICC from threats, intimidation, and sanctions resulting from its investigation in the situation in the State of Palestine, and to comply with the enforcement of the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.