Palestine National Council (PNC) said that the right of Palestinian people to defend themselves in the face of the Israeli occupation and its crimes is a sacred right that cannot be compromised, and it is a right guaranteed by the United Nations Charter and the laws that allow people to resist the occupation in order to gain freedom and independence.

In a statement issued today, Friday, PNC stressed that the valiant struggle and resistance of Palestinian people, which extends over Palestinian historic land in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and within the occupied territories in 1948, confirms once again Palestinian adherence to the national identity that the occupation has failed to erase and confiscate, despite 73 years of the Palestinian (Catastrophe) Nakba.

The insistence of people to strengthen its field unity, cohesion and sacrifices, must be supported by an immediate Palestinian decision to strengthen national unity, and to implement the decisions of Palestine National Council and Central Council, which should lead to dissolve the agreements signed with the Israeli occupation, where the agreements are torn apart by the occupation warplanes, PNC said.

While PNC demands the parliaments of Arab and Islamic countries assume their responsibility, it calls on the Arab and Islamic peoples to continue their solidarity and support for Palestinian people and their legitimate right to resist, struggle and defend their presence on their land, and protect their sanctities, PNC continued.

The inaction of the United Nations, the silence of the major powers, and the equality of the victim and the criminal executioner, who commits war crimes in Gaza Strip and other Palestinian cities, gave the green light to the occupation to continue its aggression, which has so far caused 146 martyrs, including 39 children and 22 women, and wounded about 1,350 Palestinians, most of them are children and women, PNC added.

PNC also said that the positions of the United States and some other complicit countries are unacceptable to consider the bombing of the Israeli occupation planes, cannons and boats against an unarmed people and under the occupation, as self-defense, it means that these countries announced its abandonment of its legal, moral and humanitarian duty to protect the Palestinians who are victims of a criminal occupation.

PNC rejected to ask the people under occupation to stop defending themselves, while the priority is to pursue the occupation, punish and end it, and to take a decision by the UN Security Council under Chapter Seven to implement United Nations decisions, to activate the tools and mechanisms of international and humanitarian law, and to prosecute the Israeli occupation leaders and the Prime Minister before the International Criminal Court for the crimes they commit in cold blood.

According to Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Israel, the occupying power is committing war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Palestine, and violating provisions of the relevant Fourth Geneva Convention, PNC affirmed, and demanded the general protection for Palestinian people under occupation, provided by the Fourth Geneva Convention and its two Protocols of 1977 and the Hague Convention, and implementation of the 2018 United Nations General Assembly resolution on Palestine

Palestine National Council (PNC) said that Israel's military aggression against Palestinian civilians in Gaza Strip and the rest of the occupied West Bank cities, including the occupied city of Jerusalem, is a crime to be added to its criminal record against the Palestinian people.

In a statement issued this evening, Tuesday, PNC indicated that the Israeli occupation air force bombed civilian targets in Gaza, which has so far killed 35 people, including 10 children, and destroyed a large number of civilian buildings and infrastructure.

PNC pointed out that these crimes violate the text of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from destroying any movable or immovable private property, and according to Rome Statute, launching deliberate attacks against the civilian population is a war crime for which Israel must be pursued and held accountable.

International humanitarian law provided general and special protection for civilians and civil objects, which is clearly evident in both the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and Additional Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 and The Hague Convention relating to the Protection of Cultural Objects in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954, PNC continued, this law prohibited all forms of assault against these objects and civilians.

He added that at these times, Israel is deliberately destroying public and private property in Gaza Strip, in flagrant violation of Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that the destruction and usurpation of property in a manner not justified by military necessities, and on a large scale is considered a serious violation, and therefore a war crime, PNC added, Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the occupying power from destroying any movable or immovable private property.

PNC called on the United Nations to bind Israel, the occupying power, to the rules and provisions of these agreements, which are binding on states and their armed forces, and include the right of victims of human rights violations to redress, including justice and reparation.

International criminal law defines individual criminal responsibility for certain violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, which applies to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people since its occupation of Palestine, PNC said.

PNC rejected the double standard policy pursued by international institutions and major countries claiming their keenness to uphold the provisions and principles of international law, when it comes to the aggression of the occupying perpetrator, Israel, on the victims under its occupation. Those countries and the UN Security Council should review their policy towards the crimes and aggression of the Israeli occupation.

For the thirteenth consecutive day, the Israeli occupation and the settlers continue their grave attacks on Palestinian citizens in occupied Jerusalem and the vicinity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli occupation forces and hundreds of settlers participate in attacks on worshipers and their holy sites, preventing worshipers from accessing the holy sites, attacking and abusing Palestinian civilians, and attacking their homes, resulting in about 140 injured Palestinians and about 100 arrested Palestinians.
PNC would like to clarify that the violations came after racist incitement campaigns by Jewish terrorist groups such as "Lahava" against the citizens of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the occupation did not move a finger to stop it, but rather provided protection for them.
The Israeli acts coincide with the continuing implementation of the ethnic cleansing scheme for Jerusalemites and displacement from their properties in Sheikh Jarrah, Al-Bustan and Batn Al-Hawa in the town of Silwan, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 2334 of 2016.
Due to this escalation and serious violations against Palestinians, PNC urges you to shoulder your legal and moral responsibilities by declaring your frank positions regarding these repeated crimes and targeting unarmed civilians in the city of Jerusalem.
Therefore, we ask you to make your efforts to pressure your governments to provide urgent protection for Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian territories, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10 / L.23 of 2018.
PNC calls on you to send a clear message to the Israeli occupation that its criminal violations fuel violence and hatred, and will drag the region into a religious war, in light of direct targeting and blatant abuse of religious beliefs and places.
We also urge you to commit the Israeli occupation to its responsibilities towards Palestinian civilians in accordance with the rules of international law, not to target their property, the holy city and its Palestinian Arab, Islamic-Christian identity, or to change the historical and legal status.
We would like to emphasize activating the principle of accountability, imposing penalties and not impunity is sufficient to deter the crimes and violations of the Israeli occupation, and that the fundamental solution to stop violations is to end the occupation of the lands of the State of Palestine and its capital, Jerusalem.

Palestine National Council (PNC) said that the battle of Jerusalem, which was sparked by the heroes of this Holy City, came in response to the daily racist crimes committed by the occupation and its terrorist groups of settlers against the citizens of Jerusalem, and these crimes have escalated, especially since the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan.
In a press statement issued today, PNC indicated that the Israeli occupation authorities have transformed the city of Jerusalem, the capital of our eternal state, as well as the neighborhoods of Jerusalem into military barracks, chased their sons, erected iron barriers in squares and yards, and attacked worshipers and prevented them from reaching the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
PNC called for the unification of all Palestinian energy and capabilities, and to reject and abandon all that leads to weakening the front of confrontation and facing the Israeli occupation and its crimes, and to engage in this honorable national battle that the people of Jerusalem are waging with courage and valor on behalf of the Arab and Islamic nations.
History will not show mercy to the delinquents in defending the first Qibla and the third of the two Holy Mosques, PNC said, and called for a practical Arab and Islamic position to support and back the defenders of the city of Jerusalem, to keep its Arabic and Islamic identity, in the face of the machine of Israeli terrorism, Judaization and aggression of terrorist organizations protected and supported by the government of the extreme right-wing Israeli occupation.
PNC also called on the international community to provide urgent protection to the Palestinian people from the crimes of the occupation and settler terror, especially in the city of Jerusalem, which is subjected to organized aggression, incursions and continuous attacks on Christian and Islamic holy sites, foremost of which is the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of Jerusalem citizens from their city.
PNC praised the steadfastness of the people of Jerusalem and its youth who adhered to their Arab Palestinian identity, and refused to submit to the policies of the Israeli occupation, or surrender to the imbalance of power with it and its criminal gangs.

The Palestinian people and freedom advocates around the world celebrate the "Palestinian Prisoner's Day", which is April 17 of each year, after it was approved by Palestine National Council (PNC) in 1974 in fulfillment of the prisoners' struggle and sacrifices, in support of their right to freedom, and ensuring a decent standard of life for them and their families.
Since that date, the "Palestinian Prisoner Day" has been a national occasion to remember the prisoners' issue, highlight their social and human suffering, and the grave violations they are subjected to inside the prisons of the Israeli occupation.
PNC indicated that since 1967, the Israeli occupation has arrested about one million Palestinians, which is the highest in the world, and about 4,500 Palestinians are still being held in its prisons, including (140) children, (41) girls and women, and more than (700) Prisoners suffer from various diseases, including (440) administrative detainees without charge or trial, divided over about (22) prisons and detention centers.
The prisoners are subjected to grave violations, most notably physical and psychological torture, solitary isolation, deliberate medical neglect and visits rejections, in violation of relevant international and humanitarian conventions and covenants, PNC clarified.
The spread of CORONA-19 pandemic caused the prisoners' infections rose to (368), as a result of poor health care and protection measures, and a scarcity of protective tools, which led to the death of 4 prisoners inside the Israeli occupation prisons during the year 2020, PNC added.
The occupying power is targeting the legitimacy of the prisoners 'struggle, in an attempt to mark their just struggle as "terrorism". PNC continued, Israel targeted the Palestinian families' funds that guarantee them the minimum living requirements.
The states parties contracting to Geneva Conventions in 1949 must bear their responsibilities and pressure the occupation to release prisoners, especially the sick and the elderly, women, minors, and old prisoners, PNC said.
PNC called on the international community to intervene urgently and take measures to ensure that the Israeli occupation implements its obligations in accordance with the rules of international law and the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, including the best practices for the treatment of prisoners.
PNC urged the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization to visit Israeli prisons, and closely examine the reality of the difficult health conditions of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
PNC also called for unifying the efforts of Palestinian and Arab human rights organizations regarding documenting violations and crimes committed against prisoners, and employing international mechanisms by referring to international institutions and courts.
PNC concluded its statement by directing a proud salute to the souls of the martyrs of the captive national movement, to all male and female prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons and their families, and to everyone who passed through those prisons from among the Palestinians, Arabs and free people of the world.
Free Palestinian prisoners.

Palestine National Council (PNC) called on the parliaments of the world to protect Palestinian democracy from the arbitrary measures of the Israeli occupation that violate international law and international human rights charters.
PNC urged parliaments to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation to enable Jerusalemites to exercise their Palestinian electoral right to nominate and vote in their occupied city, Jerusalem, and not to allow Israel to deprive them from this constitutional and legal right.
In a statement addressed today to a number of parliaments and parliamentary unions around the world, PNC indicated that Israel has not yet given approval for elections in the occupied city of Jerusalem, nor has it agreed to grant visas to international monitoring missions to enter the lands of the State of Palestine under the Israeli military occupation.
PNC indicated that the occupation authorities began to interfere in the Palestinian elections by using force to prevent electoral meetings for Jerusalemites, as happened in the Ambassador Hotel in occupied Jerusalem, as well as arresting a number of candidates on the lists approved by the Palestinian Central Elections Commission.
In its statement, PNC demanded to interpret the goals and principles of democracy, into rejection of all occupation measures that hinder the electoral process in Palestine, so that Palestinian democracy would not be held hostage by the Israeli occupation.
PNC called on parliaments to invest parliamentary diplomacy and to use the tools of pressure through their governments to remove the obstacles that the Israeli occupation is trying to impose to prevent elections in the city of Jerusalem, and to oblige Israel to implement the agreements and protocols on the basis of which the elections were executed during the years: 1996, 2005 and 2006.
PNC affirmed its keenness to execute elections on 22nd of May 2021 as a democratic entitlement in full freedom and transparency, but with ensuring the participation of Jerusalemites as candidates and voters in the city of Jerusalem, which is considered a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and is the capital of the Palestinian state in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions.