GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center ) The Gaza Center for Human Rights strongly condemned Israel for coercing Palestinian civilians in the besieged enclave to listen to a political speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through loudspeakers, describing it as a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and basic human rights.
In a statement issued on Friday, the center expressed deep outrage over reports in Israeli media that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) deployed trucks equipped with loudspeakers to broadcast Netanyahu’s speech to Palestinians enduring nearly two years of genocide in Gaza.
The center stressed that compelling civilians to hear a political propaganda speech by the occupying power constitutes psychological coercion and a direct violation of their dignity and personal freedom.
It noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights safeguard freedom of thought, opinion, and conscience, and explicitly prohibit imposing political messages on civilians by force.
According to the rights group, such actions represent systematic use of coercive propaganda and psychological warfare by the IOF, unrelated to any so-called “military necessity.” Instead, the tactic seeks to humiliate civilians and strip them of their intellectual and moral freedom at a time when they are suffering from extreme siege, starvation, displacement, and mass killings.
The center emphasized that international law obligates the occupying power to fully respect the dignity, lives, and fundamental rights of civilians.
It highlighted that the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly bans humiliating or degrading treatment, while Article 8(2)(b)(21) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment” as war crimes.
The statement further asserted that this act is part of a broader systematic policy that includes siege, starvation, forced displacement, and military assaults, all of which fall under the categories of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The center concluded that forcing Gazans to listen to a political speech by the leader of the occupying power amounts to cruel and degrading treatment intended to entrench control over the population’s consciousness, intimidate them, and subject them to the occupier’s coercive political will.
The rights group called on the international community to denounce this practice as a flagrant breach of international law and to pressure Israel to halt the use of psychological warfare and coercive propaganda against civilians.
It also urged accountability for those responsible, stressing that such actions constitute war crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
The center warned that Israel’s continued policies reflect its disregard for obligations as an occupying power and prove that protecting Gaza’s civilians requires urgent and decisive international intervention.
