Chapter 3: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT (pp. 47-69)

This chapter establishes the historical and immediate context crucial for understanding the events post-7 October 2023 and the report’s allegations.

3.1 SITUATION IN GAZA PRIOR TO 7 OCTOBER 2023 (pp. 47-55)

This section details the dire conditions in Gaza before the current offensive.

  • Demographics & Refugee Status (p. 47): In 2023, nearly 5.5 million Palestinians lived in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), with approximately 2.2 million in the Gaza Strip (p. 47). A significant majority, around 70% of Gaza’s population, were Palestine refugees displaced during the 1948 Nakba, continuously denied their right of return by Israel (p. 47).
  • 3.1.1 Dispossession, Prolonged Occupation and Apartheid (pp. 47-49): The report traces the historical dispossession of Palestinians, noting that the Gaza Strip became home to a vastly increased refugee population after 1948 (pp. 47-48). Israel’s military occupation of the OPT since 1967 is described as one of the “longest, and one of the most brutal, military occupations in modern times” (p. 48). Even after the 2005 “disengagement” where Israeli troops and settlers were withdrawn from Gaza, Israel retained significant control over Gaza (airspace, territorial waters, population registry, movement of people and goods), meaning Gaza remained occupied under international law (p. 49). Israel’s policies and practices are framed as part of a system of apartheid against Palestinians, aimed at maintaining Jewish demographic hegemony and control over land and resources, fragmenting the Palestinian people (p. 49).
  • 3.1.2 Blockade (pp. 50-52): Following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel declared Gaza a “hostile entity” and imposed an air, land, and sea blockade (p. 50). This blockade, tightening existing restrictions, severely limited the movement of people and goods, including “dual-use” items essential for civilian life, construction, and infrastructure (p. 51). The blockade devastated Gaza’s economy, healthcare, and essential services, leading to a chronic humanitarian crisis where 80% of the population depended on international aid before October 2023 (p. 52). Amnesty International and others have concluded this blockade amounts to collective punishment and is a key tool in maintaining Israel’s apartheid system (p. 52).
  • 3.1.3 Impunity for War Crimes and Violations (pp. 53-55): The report highlights a pattern of impunity for war crimes and other violations of international law committed during previous Israeli military offensives on Gaza (2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and smaller escalations in 2022, 2023), where thousands of Palestinian civilians were killed (p. 53). Despite UN-mandated commissions of inquiry, Israeli authorities consistently failed to conduct genuine, effective investigations into these violations (p. 54). The Israeli military’s internal Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism is described as a “tool to whitewash abuses” (p. 54). Impunity also persisted for serious violations by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, including indiscriminate rocket fire and summary executions (p. 55).

3.2 EVENTS SINCE 7 OCTOBER 2023 (pp. 56-69)

This section outlines the key events that triggered and characterized the current conflict.

  • 3.2.1 Hamas-led Attacks on 7 October 2023 (p. 56): Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups breached the Gaza border fence, attacking civilian and military targets in southern Israel. They carried out deliberate mass killings, summary killings, abuses, property destruction, and took scores of hostages, including civilians and soldiers (p. 56). Approximately 1,200 people were killed, over 800 of them civilians (including at least 36 children), making it the deadliest attack in Israel’s history (p. 56). Some of these actions constituted war crimes (p. 56).
  • 3.2.2 Israel’s Offensive on Gaza (pp. 57-60): Israel launched a military offensive (“Swords of Iron”) of unprecedented intensity and duration (p. 57). A “total siege” was announced on 9 October (p. 58). By 13 October, Israel issued a mass “evacuation” order for 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south, leading to mass displacement and a humanitarian crisis (p. 59). The Israeli military established the “Netzarim Corridor,” effectively cutting Gaza in two (p. 59). The offensive resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and widespread destruction by early 2024 (figures for later periods cited elsewhere in the report) (p. 60).
  • 3.2.3 Rocket and Mortar Fire by Palestinian Armed Groups (pp. 60-61): Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continued to fire unguided rockets and mortars towards populated areas in Israel and from within Gaza, which are inherently indiscriminate (p. 60). These attacks caused civilian casualties in Israel and contributed to the displacement of Israelis (p. 60). Hamas acknowledged the difficulty of minimizing harm to civilians in Gaza due to Israeli attacks but claimed a governmental body independent of Hamas took some protective measures (p. 61).
  • 3.2.4 International Response (pp. 61-66): The initial international response included a UN General Assembly resolution for a humanitarian truce in late October 2023 (p. 61). The US vetoed several UN Security Council resolutions calling for humanitarian pauses or ceasefires (p. 62). In December 2023, South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging violations of the Genocide Convention (p. 63). The ICJ issued provisional measures in January, March, and May 2024, ordering Israel to, among other things, prevent genocidal acts and enable humanitarian assistance (pp. 63-64). Several states filed declarations of intervention in the ICJ case (p. 65). In May 2024, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity; warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif were issued in November 2024 (p. 65).
  • 3.2.5 Israeli Settlement Expansion and Settler Violence (pp. 67-69): Since 7 October 2023, Israeli authorities rapidly advanced unlawful Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, through new seizure orders, demolition of Palestinian homes, and by backing or failing to prevent a dramatic increase in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian farming and herding communities (p. 67). This led to significant Palestinian displacement (p. 67). The report notes the influence of ultra-nationalist, anti-Palestinian religious Zionist parties within the Israeli coalition government, led by ministers like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who advocate for settlement expansion and have made inflammatory statements (pp. 67-68). Measures were taken that further consolidated de facto annexation and entrenched the apartheid system (p. 68-69).