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Nour Naser Abu al-Nour (left) and Dana Yaghi (right), both tragically murdered by Israeli airstrikes within days, worked with Trócaire's partner, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Photo: PCHR
Trócaire is calling for justice for Palestinian lawyers Nour Naser Abu al-Nour and Dana Yaghi, and their families, following their killing by the Israeli military within two days of each other. Both lawyers worked with Trócaire’s partner Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
Palestinian lawyer, Nour Naser Abu al-Nour, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on her family home in Rafah, Gaza Strip on Tuesday night (20 February), alongside seven members of her family, including her two-year-old daughter, Kenzi Jumaa. Nour had worked with Trócaire partner Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in its Women’s Rights Unit since 2019.
🚨Breaking: @pchrgaza ‘s Lawyer, Nour Abo Nour, was killed last night along seven of her family members, including her daughter, by an Israeli airstrike on her family home in #Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.More details will follow in our press release. pic.twitter.com/7o4qPslWat
— Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR (@pchrgaza) February 21, 2024
According to PCHR, Israeli war planes targeted Nour’s family home without providing any warning, resulting in the killing of three generations of the family and injuring many more.
Just two days later, Dana Yaghi, also a lawyer with PCHR’s Women’s Right Unit, was killed along with family members by an Israeli airstrike on Dana’s family home in Deir Al- Balah, Gaza.
🚨PCHR expresses its shock at the killing of our second colleague, Dana Yaghi, as Israel continues to commit genocide against Palestinians in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YiP86mbAg2
— Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR (@pchrgaza) February 24, 2024
Trócaire’s CEO Caoimhe de Barra, said: “What a shocking and brutal loss of life. We are devastated to hear the appalling news that our colleagues and friends Nour and Dana and members of their families have been killed by the Israeli military. We express our heartfelt condolences to Nour and Dana’s surviving family members, and colleagues at PCHR at this incredibly difficult time.”
“Nour and Dana’s work documenting human rights violations committed by the Israeli occupying authorities against women and children, and providing legal and self-care advice to women was characterised by selflessness, dedication and commitment to the very end.”
“Nour and Dana tragically join the over 29,000 Palestinian women, children and men killed by Israel since it began its assault on Gaza in October last year. This includes hundreds of medics, UN and NGO staff, journalists, and human rights defenders, who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. This appalling violence must stop and there must be justice for Nour and all civilians who have lost their lives in this bloody and brutal conflict.”
Trócaire calls on the Irish government, European Union and international community to ensure that all perpetrators of war crimes and violations of international law in Palestine and Israel are held to account for their actions. This is all the more urgent given the ICJ’s preliminary ruling in January that ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.
Amid the ever-growing number of Palestinians killed in Gaza and critical need for life-saving assistance, Trócaire re-issues its call on the Irish government to ensure that Israel complies with all of the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ and that Ireland engages with its partners in the European Union and the United States to achieve this.
Ms De Barra said, “With the head of WHO describing Gaza as a ‘death zone’, once again we’re asking the Irish government to join the substantive ICJ case with South Africa as soon as possible. We continue to call for a full ceasefire and a political resolution that respects the legitimate rights of Palestinians and which achieves a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians.”
“One in four people in Gaza are now at risk of starvation, and almost the entire population have been forced from their homes. Amid this desperate situation, we commend the Irish Government for increasing Ireland’s support to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, and call on the European Union to ensure that funds are disbursed to UNRWA at the end of February as planned.”
“Despite the high risk of death or injury to their staff, Trócaire partners are on the ground in Gaza helping survivors access the most essential, lifesaving humanitarian relief including food, safe water, hygiene supplies, blankets, and shelter in order to rush help to hungry and injured families in Gaza. Urgent medical missions are also being conducted to procure and deliver stocks of desperately needed drugs and medical supplies, a lifeline with more than half of hospitals in Gaza no longer functioning.”
