14 October 2023; MEMO: Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in an urgent letter to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, called for him to exercise his political and moral influence to prevent a new war crime Israel plans to commit. The crime referred to by Aboul Gheit is the demand by Israel for residents of the northern areas of Gaza to immediately evacuate to the south.
According to reports by the Palestinian News Agency (Wafa), Aboul Gheit stressed: “This new crime has exceeded all reasonable limits and will lead to immeasurable suffering for our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the flagrant violation it constitutes of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from deporting or transferring protected persons from occupied territory.”
Aboul Gheit asserted that Israel’s actions are not considered a planned or deliberate military operation but rather a horrific act of revenge using brutal military force to punish civilians and the defenceless population in the Gaza Strip by targeting them arbitrarily, without discrimination.
Aboul Gheit appealed to Guterres to condemn this: “Insane Israeli endeavour to forcibly transfer the population and condemn it decisively and clearly,” and to work diligently with all influential parties to stop its implementation.
He urged that allowing this “insane” policy to be carried out would “forever tarnish the international community’s reputation.”
