FROM THE WORLD’S LARGEST OPEN-AIR PRISON TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHILDREN’S CEMETERY

The Ombudsman Institution, which is a constitutional institution for seeking legal remedies, has prepared many special reports within a 10-year period. Most recently, in 2021, the special report titled “Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea and ‘Pushback’ of Human Rights” was made public and shared with national and international interlocutors. Because the reports we have prepared as the Ombudsman, are taken into account as expert opinions in human rights proceedings and can be referred by those concerned to prove the allegations of violation of rights.

Israel’s attacks against civilians in Gaza after October 7 have led to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. The Gaza Strip was considered the “world’s largest open-air prison” because it had been under Israeli blockade from sea, land and air for 16 years. Today, Gaza, where one child is killed every ten minutes, has turned into “the world’s largest children’s cemetery“, in the words of the UN Secretary General.

In just four months, Israel dropped 45 thousand bombs and missiles of more than 65 thousand tons that is equivalent to three atomic bombs, on Gaza, which has the world’s highest population density where 2.2 million Palestinians live in an area of only 365 km2. In Israeli attacks, the number of people killed has exceeded 29 thousand and the number of injured has exceeded 69 thousand. At least 12,700 of those killed were children and 8,600 were women. This figure does not include the missing people of more than 7 thousand, out of which 4 thousand 700 women and children whose bodies are thought to remain among the ruins.

Nearly 2 million people who were forcibly displaced in Gaza had to shelter in refugee camps and tents. While the people of Gaza try to protect themselves from Israel’s endless attacks and bombardments, they also struggle with severe hunger, thirst and epidemics, as they prevent the entry of food, water and the most basic human needs. Since Israel has blocked the entry of basic foods, babies and children have begun to die not only from bombs but in the strictest sense of the word, die from starvation.

In our special report titled “Gaza: From The World’s Largest Open-Air Prison To The World’s Largest Children’s Cemetery”, the actions of the Israeli administration and security forces, which caused serious violations of international humanitarian law and which should be investigated as war, genocide and crimes against humanity, are included in detail. The information we provide in our report clearly reveals the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, including the crime of genocide.

The Special Report, which consists of three parts, comprise the detection of violation of rights in 10 areas and legal assessment on the crimes against war, genocide and humanity including the historical background before October 7 of the Israeli attacks that have been carried out against the Palestinian people in the form of continuous destruction, death and displacement for the last 76 years, as well as topics related to mass punishment and mass murder of civilians, 70% of whom are children and women, the killing of healthcare workers, journalists and members of aid organizations who have immunity even in wartime, the forced migration of people within and outside the country, the use of prohibited white phosphorus bombs, the arbitrary detention, the torture and ill-treatment in custody, the withholding of access to food, water and the most basic human needs after October 7, which international humanitarian law clearly prohibits and foresees to be punished as war crimes.

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