Paris, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, 18 March 2025. Last night large scale killing and destruction resumed in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government ordered strikes that killed over 404 and injured more than 560, including many women and children. Although the ceasefire agreement signed on 15 January had been repeatedly violated by Israel, this scale of violence had not been seen in weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared that Israel would persist with military operations, citing Hamas’ alleged rejection of Israel’s proposals for a renewed ceasefire as justification for the strikes. The attacks of last night and this morning were carried out with the approval of the United States (US) administration, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The attacks happened while the three directors of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq, and Yuli Novak, Executive Director of B’tselem were leading a joint advocacy mission in France with FIDH.
"The world has been watching this ongoing genocide happen for the last 18 months. Governments such as those of France and the United Kingdom are not just complicit, they are partners of this historic crime. When they don’t act or react, they give licence to Israel to commit genocide. When they keep protecting Israel politically, and providing it with arms to target women and children, they actively aid and abet it. These so called pro-human rights governments jeopardise fundamental values and principles, and the rule of Law for the entire world", said Raji Sourani, Director of the Gaza based organisation PCHR.
"Last night’s attacks are the continuation of the genocide. The normalisation of killing of civilians, children, elders, and women should be a big stain on the mind of everyone around the world. To stay silent, and not take action in the face of genocide undermines our shared humanity", said Shawan Jabarin, General Director of the Palestinian organisation Al-Haq, and former Secretary General of FIDH.
"The Israeli government last night consciously chose to sacrifice the lives of Gaza’s residents and the lives of the Israeli hostages on the altar of its total war against the Palestinian people and Netanyahu’s political survival, with the support of the US administration. Given the complete failure of the international community to require Israel to bear responsibility for the countless crimes it has committed over many months in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, this latest development sadly should not surprise anyone. As long as Israel is allowed to crudely trample international law and the most basic human rights, the destruction and killing it seeks to continue imposing on the Gaza Strip will persist without hindrance", said Yuli Novak, Executive Director of the Israeli organisation B’Tselem.