Gaza, February 05 (QNA) - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned of what it described as the ongoing “legitimization of genocide” being committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip for nearly two years, through conditioning reconstruction on disarmament. The organization said such linkage constitutes a grave violation of peremptory norms of international law, particularly the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Genocide Crime.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Monitor said that making disarmament a prerequisite for rebuilding Gaza deliberately ignores the serious crimes committed by the occupation against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and turns victims' right to reconstruction and recovery into a tool of political and security coercion. It added that this approach represents a clear breach of the occupying power's obligations under international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Conventions, which require the protection of civilians and the provision of their basic needs without conditions.

The Monitor condemned statements by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas regarding the situation in Gaza, warning that such positions not only deviate from the European Union's obligations to prevent genocide but also amount to legitimizing its continuation by imposing political and security conditions that undermine civilians' right to life and survival.

It noted that these statements reinforce a pattern of systematic European complicity in the Israeli aggression, militarily, security-wise, economically, and politically, amid the continued failure to take any accountability measures or apply effective pressure, despite unprecedented crimes committed against Palestinians. The Monitor also pointed to the continued export by some European states of weapons and military equipment used in the commission of war crimes.

The Monitor stressed that preventing or delaying reconstruction in a territory that has been almost destroyed falls under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention, as it constitutes the deliberate infliction on a population of living conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part. It emphasized that the prohibition of genocide is a peremptory norm of international law that cannot be suspended or diminished under any circumstances.

It further warned that translating these conditions into practical measures, such as suspending funding, restricting the entry of construction materials and essential goods, or obstructing the work of the United Nations, could legally amount to aiding and abetting the ongoing crime of genocide. Conditioning civilians' fundamental rights, including the rights to housing, health, and life, on political or security objectives, it said, constitutes a form of collective punishment prohibited under international law.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the international community to take serious action to compel the Israeli occupation to halt its crimes immediately, activate comprehensive accountability mechanisms, and guarantee victims' rights to remedy and fair compensation, stressing that these are legal entitlements that do not lapse with time. (QNA)