Swathes of the Gaza Strip have been reduced to rubble as a result of Israel’s offensive [Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut/Anadolu via Getty]
A UK-based human rights organisation has called for an urgent international conference to provide desperately needed aid for Gaza and to rebuild the devastated enclave after 15 months of Israel’s offensive.
In a statement shared on their website, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in UK (AOHR UK) said the Gaza Strip “has been subjected to relentless destruction as part of an ongoing genocide, rendering it uninhabitable”.
“Urgent action is required to implement a comprehensive international plan that addresses immediate humanitarian needs – ensuring access to shelter, food, medicine, and fuel – while also laying the foundation for long-term reconstruction,” it said.
With over 47,000 people killed, rights groups including Human Rights Watch, MSF, and Amnesty International have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Throughout the war, Israel decimated the enclave’s healthcare system and infrastructure, whilst hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid, leaving several children to die as a result of famine or hypothermia.
The cost to rebuild what was destroyed is estimated to cost tens of billions of dollars and will take many years.
AOHR UK stressed that efforts by the UN and other humanitarian organisations were not enough to meet the growing needs of Gaza’s population, most of which were displaced, some of them more than once.
“The scale of this unprecedented disaster demands a unified and intensified response, with substantial financial resources allocated through a central reconstruction fund. Such measures can only be effectively realised through an international conference where states commit to the necessary steps for relief and rebuilding,” AOHR UK said.
The organization raised concerns as to why no government or international body has yet called for such a conference despite Gaza’s situation and the aftermath of the war, criticising the global community’s lack of action.
“The dire conditions in Gaza have become even more evident since the ceasefire took effect, yet the international response remains passive – just as it was throughout the genocide,” it said.
It called on the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the European Union to work with the UN to immediately organise a conference to foil any attempts to displace the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, to avoid using the destruction there as any pretext to move civilians out, warning about US President Donald Trump’s proposed displacement plan.
“The priority must be rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure, restoring essential services, and delivering immediate humanitarian assistance.”
Trump last week suggested Palestinians could move to Egypt and Jordan, calling to “clean out the whole thing” – in reference to the Gaza Strip.
His controversial remarks were quickly shut down by Cairo and Amman who said they outright refused in any way or form to expel the Palestinian population.
AOHR UK urged global powers to secure the ceasefire deal and reject Trump’s displacement plan, stressing that “Gaza and the West Bank must not be left at the mercy of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Trump’s aggressive policies, which threaten to ignite a wider regional war and destabilise international peace and security”.
The organisation also called on global powers to pay attention to Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank, where there are fears that Israel could now shift its focus after the Gaza ceasefire, despite killing and arresting hundreds of Palestinians there since before the war began.
“It is imperative to take decisive action and implement concrete measures to protect the Palestinian people and uphold their fundamental rights to freedom, security, and dignity, like all other nations of the world.”
