RAMALLAH: Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in the West Bank on Wednesday to demand legal protection for women after a 21-year-old woman died last month in what rights groups say was a so-called honor killing.
A Palestinian Authority investigation is underway into the death of Isra’a Ghrayeb, a make-up artist who activists say was beaten by male relatives after a video posted on Instagram allegedly showed a meeting between her and a man who had proposed to her.
According to Palestinian media reports, Ghrayeb sustained serious spinal injuries after falling from a balcony in her home in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, while trying to escape an assault by her brothers. She died on Aug. 22.
At least 18 Palestinian women have been killed this year by family members angered at perceived damage to their honor, which may involve fraternizing with men or any infringement of conservative values regarding women, according to the General Union of Palestinian Women and Feminist Institutions.
Ghrayeb’s family has denied the accusations. They said in a statement that Ghrayeb had a “mental condition” and died “after she had a heart attack, following an accidental fall into the (family’s) courtyard.”
The circumstances surrounding Ghrayeb’s death have stirred outrage within the Palestinian territories and on social media, with rights activists demanding action against the alleged perpetrators and legal protection for women under the hashtag #JustceforIsraa.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, female demonstrators held signs reading: “We are all Isra’a” and “My body is my property. I don’t need your supervision, your care, your honor.”
“I’m here to say enough is enough. We’ve lost enough women. Enough victims have died, have been killed, have been tortured, raped, harassed, and still there’s no justice,” said Amal Khayat, 30, an activist from Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said this week that several people had been detained for questioning over Ghrayeb’s death as part of the inquiry by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian penal code dates to the 1960s and has been criticized for inadequate protection for women and lenient penalties for men who kill them in honor crimes.
“The case of Isra’a Ghrayeb shocked our conscience just like those before her. These are women and girls who dream to live in safety in a society free from violence and injustice,” the General Union of Palestinian Women and Feminist Institutions said in a statement.
The group called on the Palestinian government to “develop targeted programs that teach the principle of gender equality” and to reform laws to ensure accountability for perpetrators.
Protesters voiced optimism that Wednesday’s rally and others earlier this week would push the PA to make reforms. “The victims are a part of us, they’re a part of our history,” Khayat said. “We will continue (to protest) until we get justice.”
Palestinian women demand legal protection after suspected ‘honor killing’
Palestinian women demand legal protection after suspected ‘honor killing’
- 21-year-old dies after alleged beating by kinsmen
- Palestinian Authority legal code under scrutiny
‘Unprecedented catastrophe’ unfolding in Gaza despite ceasefire, Palestinian UN envoy says
- Riyad Mansour tells Security Council at least 500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during truce, amid Israel’s continuing obstruction of humanitarian aid efforts
- If world abandons right to self-determination, ban on taking territory by force, and respect for international law in Palestine, it endangers these principles worldwide, he warns
NEW YORK CITY: Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said on Wednesday that the core principles upon which the UN was founded are under grave threat in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He said that although thousands of lives had been saved by the ceasefire agreement in October, at least 500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then amid Israel’s continuing obstruction of humanitarian aid efforts, which is worsening what he described as the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.
Speaking at a packed, high-level meeting of the UN Security Council, Mansour warned that if the right to self-determination, the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force, and respect for international law are abandoned in relation to events in Palestine, it would endanger those principles worldwide.
“Asserting them there (in Palestinian territories) is upholding them everywhere; abandoning them there is jeopardizing them everywhere,” he told council members.
He welcomed the ceasefire deal agreed last year under a US-backed plan, praising the role of President Donald Trump’s administration and other international mediators, and said Palestinians have supported the truce in good faith despite repeated breaches by Israel.
While he acknowledged that thousands of lives had been saved through the resumption of humanitarian aid, and welcomed the release of all Israeli hostages and prisoners, Mansour questioned what justice would mean for Palestinian families whose relatives had been killed or remain missing under rubble, or who had suffered displacement, trauma and long-term injuries.
“The suffering of Palestinian civilians — men, women and children — must end with equal urgency,” he said, as he called for the full implementation of ceasefire obligations, an immediate end to the killing, and unrestricted humanitarian access across Gaza.
He condemned the punitive targeting of humanitarian organizations by Israel, including nongovernmental organizations and the UN’s own Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, citing in particular the seizure and destruction of their facilities and efforts to ban or expel aid groups from Palestinian territory.
Britain’s deputy ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki, echoed the concerns about humanitarian access. He condemned what he described as Israel’s “egregious attacks” against UNRWA facilities in East Jerusalem, and its restrictions on the work of international nongovernmental organizations.
“These are the backbone of the humanitarian response, providing $1 billion of funding annually, and without them Palestinians will face yet more suffering,” he said, as he urged Israeli authorities to honor their humanitarian commitments under the Trump administration’s peace plan, and the wider principles of international law.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic, Kariuki said, with at least nine infants having died of hypothermia so far this winter, including a 3-month-old baby last week.
“This is completely unconscionable, especially when lifesaving shelter and medical supplies remain at the border, blocked by Israeli authorities,” he added.
The decision by Israel to partially open the Rafah border crossing was insufficient; all crossings must be fully opened to allow aid to enter Gaza at scale, he said.
He also called for swift implementation of phase two of the peace plan, as set out in Security Council Resolution 2803, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the disarming of Hamas, deployment of an international stabilization force, and a clear timeline for the transfer of governance in Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority. Hamas must have no role in the future running of the territory, he added.
Mansour accused Israeli authorities of defying an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on its humanitarian obligations and violations of UN conventions, and said Israel had no sovereign rights in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.
Regarding the situation in the West Bank, Mansour warned of escalating Israeli military operations, settler violence and settlement expansions, including the E1 settlement project that threatens to split the West Bank. About 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the territory over the past two years, he added, the highest number since 1967.
Despite all this, Palestinians still see an opportunity for peace, Mansour said. He reiterated calls for a two-state solution, and for international efforts to move forward from the ceasefire deal to the end of the occupation and lasting peace under international law.
Gaza must remain an integral part of Palestinian territory and be reunified with the West Bank under the governance of the Palestinian Authority, he said, and he rejected any plan to divide or exert permanent external control over the enclave.
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people — nobody else,” Mansour said.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told the council his country had achieved its first war aim by securing the return of all Israeli hostages, and was now focused on its second objective: the full disarmament of Hamas.
Progress toward the rebuilding of Gaza and implementation of the next phase of the ceasefire agreement depends on dismantling the military infrastructure of Hamas, including its weapons, command structures and tunnels, he said. No civilian future was possible while the group was still armed, he added.
Hamas continues to delay its disarmament, Danon said, and he warned of what he described as a broader regional threat posed by Iran.
He accused the regime in Tehran of funding and arming militant groups across the Middle East and repressing its own population. Israel believes the Iranian leadership must be confronted and never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, he added.
