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21 سبتمبر

Every year on this date, 21 September 2024, the world commemorates the International Day of Peace, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 55/282 of 7 September 2001, “as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day”.
Alkarama affirms that peace is a basic human need for individuals and peoples and a fundamental human right, and emphasizes that global peace can only be achieved by respecting the values of justice, dignity and equality before international law for all individuals and peoples.
‏This year's International Day of Peace comes about two weeks before the completion of one year of full-scale war waged by the Israeli occupation army on the Gaza Strip, which, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, has left more than 40,000 people dead, more than half of them children and women, including nearly a thousand medical personnel and nearly 200 journalists. The number of victims is believed to be much higher, as the scientific journal The Lancet estimated on 10 July 2024 that the number of victims was 186,000 or more. The war left more than 100,000 wounded and two million displaced people living in inhumane conditions. The Israeli occupation army also destroyed most of the infrastructure and vital facilities in Gaza, including residential neighbourhoods, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, shelters, and the headquarters of international organizations such as the UNRWA.
The Israeli government has systematically rejected the cease-fire, relying on the support of its Western government allies and the use the US veto power to thwart every Security Council resolution on the matter. The Israeli government has also ignored all international resolutions condemning its criminal practices against the Palestinians, especially those issued by the International Court of Justice: The 26 January 2024 Order on the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip, the 24 May 2024 Order to “Stop the Israeli Attack on Rafah and Open the Rafah Crossing”, and the 19 July 2024 Advisory Opinion on the “Legal Consequences of Israel's Policies and Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.
These practices, in flagrant violation of international law, once again demonstrate the inability of the United Nations to achieve its primary objective, as stated in Article 1 of its Charter, “to maintain international peace and security”, and reaffirmed in Declaration 39/11, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 12 November 1984, which states that “the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace”.