ATO Position Statement of Condemnation on the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza, Palestine

As an organization that stands by its principles of advancing human dignity and equal rights, we express our strong condemnation of the unacceptable atrocities being conducted in Palestine, specifically with the humanitarian crisis happening in Gaza. 

Several United Nations (UN) resolutions have been issued but have yet to be implemented. Several peace accords have been initiated, but they have yet to be successful. These failed resolutions and peace accords fail, they do not solve the root causes of the Palestinian problem. 

They do not offer Palestinians their basic rights, including the right to return and the right to establish an independent state. Therefore, the potential for a sustainable and just peace is not realized. Thus, innocent civilians in Palestine continue to die, with women and children the most affected.
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In the initial days of October 2023, following nearly 18 years of Gaza enduring a full-scale blockade where 2.2 million residents face conditions widely deemed intolerable and inhumane, coupled with a poverty rate exceeding 60%, Israeli forces, supported by powerful countries, engaged in a clear act of genocide against the people of Gaza (Relief Watch, 2024). This entails deliberately destroying crops and farmland, depriving them of essential basic food supplies to sustain them.

Through confirmed reports from international humanitarian organizations, Israeli forces have been striking civilians with phosphorous bombs and using other banned weapons that have killed over 36,000 people, 70% of whom are women and children. More than 10,000 are missing and more than 81,000 are injured. Israel has bombed religious sites, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure in Gaza and continues to deny Gazans electricity, fuel, and water - affecting thousands of already suffering civilians (HRW, 2023).

Although this situation has persisted for over 238 days, no change has occurred. As we write this statement, around 600,000 children are taking refuge in Rafah declared to be a safer place for refugees, yet the bombing continues. (UNICEF, 2024)

As shared in our previous statement, the impact of the war on Palestinians and many other countries has been the most devastating on women, children, and the environment. This conflict has damaged approximately 42% (6,694 hectares) of cropland in Gaza. The agricultural lands, trees, greenhouses, and other production infrastructure have been severely damaged, and it will take years to rebuild the damage (FAO, 2024).

The continued offensive in Rafah caused the imminent loss of their last lifeline and hampered humanitarian lunes. Acknowledging this dire situation as a grave crime, the Alpha Team Organization, in collaboration with its counterparts in civil society, vehemently urges the international community to undertake the following actions:

1. Pursue diplomatic dialogue which means to satisfy the demands of each, to have a lasting cease-fire immediately, and to allow the secured flow of humanitarian aid into Palestine. 
2. Demand those in power to implement their obligations by complying with the International Court of Justice,  and protect civilians and non-belligerents against war crimes and genocide.
3. Call for the end of the occupation/blockade on Gaza and all Palestinian territories and work towards a just settlement that offers Palestinians their sovereign rights for the establishment of their state on their historic land.
4. Demand the prosecution of all the actors for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

By this act and through the strongly affirmed consensus of its members and volunteers in its organization’s like-minded community, the Alpha Team Organization officially recognizes that these acts in Gaza are war crimes and shall be recognized as genocide being committed against civilians.


Date Released: 4 June 2024

References:
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• There is “nowhere safe to go” for the 600,000 children of Rafah, warns UNICEF. (2024, May 6). www.unicef.org.https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/there-nowhere-safe-go-600000-children-rafah-warns-unicef

 

• United Nations. (2024). Security Council adopts resolution 15564 (2024) [Press release]. United Nations. Retrieved from https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm

 

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2024). Overview of the damage to agricultural land and infrastructure due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip as of 31 December 2023. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/geospatial/resources/detail/zh/c/1676364/

 

• Human Rights Watch (2023). Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/israel-white-phosphorus-used-gaza-lebanon 

 

• Relief Watch (2024). Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #100 [EN/HE]. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-100-enhe 

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