The protection provisions of international law, including the Geneva Conventi...

The protection provisions of international law, including the Geneva Conventions — in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention, which includes provisions explicitly aimed at ensuring the safety of civilians in armed conflict, including specific provisions for civilians under foreign occupation — the Additional Protocols to the Conventions, the international covenants on human Rights, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the relevant United Nations resolutions are all clear and are applicable to the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. Nevertheless, not a day has gone by in which our situation has not been characterized as extremely volatile and in which grave transgressions of international humanitarian law and the protection provisions have been committed by the occupying Power. That includes the period covered by the Secretary-General's report, which witnessed a significant increase in Palestinian civilian causalities, including among women, children and the elderly.