Exclusive Interview with Dr. Salah Abdel Aati, Head of the International Commission to Support the Rights of the Palestinian People
Concerning the continuation of Israeli crimes and the destruction of the conditions necessary for life in the Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip continues to face one of the most severe humanitarian and human rights crises in recent years. The ongoing conflict, widespread civilian casualties, destruction of vital infrastructure, displacement, and limited access to food, water, healthcare, and other basic necessities have made living conditions for the people of Gaza extremely difficult. Beyond its immediate humanitarian consequences, the situation has raised serious concerns regarding the protection of human rights and compliance with international humanitarian law.
Against this backdrop, the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV) conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Salah Abdel Aati, President of the International Commission to Support the Rights of the Palestinian People (HASHD). Dr. Abdel Aati previously served as Director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Gaza and as Director of the Masarat Center for Research and Studies. He is also an author and researcher specializing in international relations. In this interview, Dr. Abdel Aati discusses the current situation in Gaza, the humanitarian and human rights dimensions of the crisis, and the broader developments affecting the Palestinian people.
The views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence.
The full transcript of this interview follows:
Despite the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, Israeli attacks against the people of Gaza have reportedly continued on an almost daily basis, while the Israeli military has refused to fully withdraw from Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has even referred to the establishment of a “new Gaza Strip within Gaza.” How do you assess these statements and actions in terms of a potential permanent annexation or renewed occupation of Gaza, and what impact have they had on the civilian population?
What is happening after the ceasefire cannot be treated as merely temporary security arrangements. The continued Israeli military presence, the expansion of areas under control, the imposition of restricted-access areas, and the prevention of residents from returning to their areas constitute a reproduction of the system of occupation and military control over the Gaza Strip. What is even more dangerous is the transformation of facts on the ground into a permanent reality, resulting in the carving out of parts of the Strip and the imposition of geographical and demographic changes on the ground. From the perspective of international law, an occupying power has no right to annex occupied territory, alter its demographic character, or impose a permanent reality by force. What is happening threatens to turn Gaza into a besieged, fragmented, and uninhabitable area, gradually pushing the population toward displacement. We are facing the risk of a renewed occupation of Gaza in a new form, rather than merely a temporary military presence.
The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have warned that severe restrictions on movement have severely disrupted the delivery of humanitarian assistance and have even placed the lives of aid workers at risk. As a human rights activist, what concrete obstacles do you face in delivering essential supplies such as water, food, and shelter? Have you documented or encountered evidence of aid workers being killed by Israeli forces?
The main obstacle is not merely the shortage of aid itself, but rather preventing its safe and regular delivery to the population. Restrictions on crossings and movement, the prevention of essential materials from entering, shortages of fuel and spare parts, military operations, and the targeting or threatening of humanitarian workers and facilities have all made humanitarian work extremely dangerous. Humanitarian workers themselves have become victims. This is not a theoretical matter; the United Nations and humanitarian agencies have documented the killing of humanitarian workers and water-service workers while they were carrying out their duties. Killing humanitarian workers while they are engaged in saving civilians constitutes a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. Likewise, targeting the capacity to deliver aid means, in practice, targeting the civilians who depend on that aid for their survival.
According to UNICEF, 82% of families in Gaza suffer from inadequate access to water, and many are forced to rely on groundwater or contaminated water sources, resulting in serious health problems. Could you share a concrete example of how this water crisis is affecting children or pregnant women in the area where you operate?
The water crisis in Gaza is a matter of life and death. When a child cannot obtain sufficient water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene, we are not talking about a shortage of services, but rather deprivation of one of the most basic conditions for survival. Children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women are the most exposed to risk because of malnutrition, diseases, and the collapse of healthcare. The crisis is not only about contaminated water; it is about the collapse of the entire water and sanitation system, which multiplies the risks of disease, dehydration, and malnutrition. Therefore, depriving the people of Gaza of water or disrupting water facilities is not an administrative measure or a side effect; it is an assault on a fundamental condition of life.
Despite extensive documentation by organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), UNICEF, and the UN Human Rights Council, what practical steps have international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the International Court of Justice (ICJ), taken to prevent these alleged crimes or hold those responsible accountable? In your view, why has there been no effective deterrence despite substantial evidence concerning the “use of water as a weapon of war”?
The international community does not lack evidence or law. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that they were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare and targeting the civilian population. The International Court of Justice also issued provisional measures requiring Israel to take measures to provide essential services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, fuel, and medical supplies, and to ensure unobstructed access for humanitarian workers. Therefore, the problem is not the absence of law, but the absence of political will to enforce the law. The continuation of violations despite international judicial orders represents a genuine crisis for the international system and for the principle that the law must be applied to everyone without discrimination.
Humanitarian initiatives such as “Sake For Gaza,” despite facing severe risks, reportedly delivered a water tanker to high-risk areas on a daily basis. However, following an attack on a water distribution station, the project was forced to suspend its operations. In your view, could deliberate attacks on such humanitarian projects constitute “collective punishment” and/or a war crime? What has been the international community’s response to the forced suspension of such humanitarian initiatives?
Yes. Targeting water facilities on which civilians depend, as well as humanitarian workers while they are carrying out their duties, constitutes war crimes and grave violations of international humanitarian law. Water is not a lawful military target when it is intended for the survival of the civilian population, and a humanitarian worker providing water, food, and medicine to civilians is protected. Article 54 of Additional Protocol I prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and prohibits attacking, destroying, or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including drinking-water supplies. When targeting a water station or killing water-truck drivers and humanitarian workers leads to the suspension of a humanitarian project, the result is the deprivation of thousands of civilians of water. This is a war crime, and it is also part of a broader system of collective punishment, starvation of the population, and destruction of the conditions necessary for their survival.
Following the expansion of areas under Israeli control in Gaza after the ceasefire, we have witnessed an increase in attacks on civilian gatherings and critical infrastructure. As a human rights activist, do you observe any particular pattern in these attacks that would indicate an objective of destroying civilian and life-sustaining infrastructure and further demilitarizing or depopulating Gaza? Please provide details of any documentation or evidence you have gathered.
Yes, there is a clear pattern in terms of the outcomes and accumulated facts: widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, water and sanitation networks, and electricity, alongside repeated displacement, restrictions on movement, and denial of access to large areas. When infrastructure is destroyed and then its repair is prevented; when water sources are destroyed and then their operation is prevented; and when residents are displaced from one area to another without providing safe living conditions, the result is the destruction of the capacity to sustain life in that place. Here lies the danger of the project: the population does not necessarily have to be told, “Leave.” Rather, life itself can be made impossible so that leaving becomes the only available option. This is what makes the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza an issue that goes beyond military damage to the reshaping of the place and the pushing of the population toward permanent emptying and displacement.
According to reports by international organizations such as UNRWA, UNICEF, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israel has not only restricted access to water, food, and medicine, but has also repeatedly attacked schools, hospitals, shelters, and water and electricity facilities, thereby severely damaging critical civilian infrastructure. With reference to Articles 53 and 54 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibit the destruction of civilian property and the use of starvation as a method of warfare, have you, as a human rights activist working in this field, observed evidence of systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure that goes beyond what could be justified by military necessity? Given the investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC), what do you consider to be the most significant legal and political obstacles to prosecuting those responsible for these alleged crimes? Furthermore, could such actions be characterized as a form of “gradual genocide” through the destruction of the conditions necessary for civilian life, including access to water, food, healthcare, and education? Please describe any field-based evidence or documentation you have in this regard.
Yes, there is a clear pattern in terms of the outcomes and accumulated facts: widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, water and sanitation networks, and electricity, alongside repeated displacement, restrictions on movement, and denial of access to large areas. When infrastructure is destroyed and then its repair is prevented; when water sources are destroyed and then their operation is prevented; and when residents are displaced from one area to another without providing safe living conditions, the result is the destruction of the capacity to sustain life in that place.
Here lies the danger of the project: the population does not necessarily have to be told, “Leave.” Rather, life itself can be made impossible so that leaving becomes the only available option. This is what makes the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza an issue that goes beyond military damage to the reshaping of the place and the pushing of the population toward permanent emptying and displacement.
Finally, given that many families have access to less than six liters of water per person per day – while the minimum requirement is estimated at approximately 50 to 100 liters – and considering the suspension of water-supply projects, what message would you like to convey to the global public and human rights organizations? In your view, what is the most urgent action that must be taken to save the lives of the people of Gaza?
My message is clear: Gaza does not need more statements of concern; Gaza needs protection. What is immediately required is international action to stop the Israeli aggressive attacks and the genocidal war, protect civilians, protect humanitarian workers and facilities, open the crossings, bring in water, food, medicine, fuel, and shelter materials without restrictions, and ensure that aid reaches all areas of the Strip. The destruction of the conditions necessary for life in Gaza must be stopped, displacement must be stopped, the blockade and occupation must be ended, international accountability mechanisms must be activated, and those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide must be prosecuted. I want to say to global public opinion and human rights organizations: do not allow genocide to be transformed into a humanitarian crisis that is managed through aid.
What is required is to stop the crime, not to manage its consequences. Gaza does not need pity; Gaza needs justice, protection, freedom, and dignity. The world is facing a historic test: either it proves that international law protects all human beings without discrimination, or it allows Gaza to become the clearest example of the collapse of the system for protecting civilians and ending impunity. What is happening in Gaza is an ongoing genocide, targeting water and humanitarian workers constitutes war crimes, and what is required now is not merely more documentation, but the use of international legal and political power to stop the crimes and hold their perpetrators accountable.
