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OHCHR / RAFAH CROSSING TURK VISIT
STORY: OHCHR / RAFAH CROSSING TURK VISIT
TRT: 04:03
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 NOVEMBER 2023, EGYPT
1. Various shots, travelling shots
2. Various shots, HC Türk at Rafah Border Crossing
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The Rafah crossing has been the symbolic lifeline for the last month for the 2.3 million people in Gaza. The lifeline has been unjustly, outrageously thin. These are the gates to a living nightmare. A nightmare, where people have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling for water, for food, for electricity and fuel. My colleagues are among those trapped, and among those who have lost family members, suffering sleepless nights filled with agony, rage and despair. On the other side of this gate is Gaza, already described as the world’s biggest open-air prison before 7 October, under a 56-year occupation and a 16-year blockade by Israel. The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October were heinous, they were war crimes - as is the continued holding of hostages. The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians is also a war crime, as is unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians. Even in the context of a 56-year occupation, the situation is the most dangerous we have faced for people in Gaza, in Israel, in the West Bank but also regionally. And I have heard it from so many interlocuters I have met in the last couple of days. I feel in my innermost being the pain, the immense suffering of every person whose loved one has been killed - in a kibbutz, in a Palestinian refugee camp, hiding in a building or as they were fleeing, seeking elusive safety. We all must feel this shared pain and end this nightmare. I call – as a matter of urgency - for the parties now to agree a ceasefire, for three critical human rights imperatives that need to be met at once: First, ee need delivery of sufficient levels of humanitarian need, throughout Gaza. We need all hostages held since 7 October to be released. And, crucially, we need to enable the political space to finally implement a durable end to the occupation, based on the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis to self-determination. They are each other’s only hopes for peace.”
4. Various shots, Rafah Border Crossing
5. Various shots, HC Türk visiting El Arish Hospital, Egypt
“The Rafah crossing has been the symbolic lifeline for the last month for the 2.3 million people in Gaza,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said during a visit to the Rafah Border Crossing and El Arish Hospital in Egypt today (08 Nov).
He said, “The lifeline has been unjustly, outrageously thin. These are the gates to a living nightmare. A nightmare, where people have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling for water, for food, for electricity and fuel. My colleagues are among those trapped, and among those who have lost family members, suffering sleepless nights filled with agony, rage and despair.”
Türk continued, “On the other side of this gate is Gaza, already described as the world’s biggest open-air prison before 7 October, under a 56-year occupation and a 16-year blockade by Israel. The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October were heinous, they were war crimes - as is the continued holding of hostages. The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians is also a war crime, as is unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians.”
He added, “Even in the context of a 56-year occupation, the situation is the most dangerous we have faced for people in Gaza, in Israel, in the West Bank but also regionally. I feel in my innermost being the pain, the immense suffering of every person whose loved one has been killed - in a kibbutz, in a Palestinian refugee camp, hiding in a building or as they were fleeing, seeking elusive safety.”
The Commissioner said, “We all must feel this shared pain and end this nightmare. I call – as a matter of urgency - for the parties now to agree a ceasefire, for three critical human rights imperatives that need to be met at once: We need delivery of sufficient levels of humanitarian need, throughout Gaza. We need all hostages held since 7 October to be released.
He concluded, “And, crucially, we need to enable the political space to finally implement a durable end to the occupation, based on the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis to self-determination. They are each other’s only hopes for peace.”
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