The UN’s top human rights official condemns the ‘brutality’ of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The top human rights official at the United Nations condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in a particularly strong statement on Thursday, warning that an attack on Rafah would add a new level of horror to the war.
The terror attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups on October 7 were “terrible and completely wrong,” said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. But, he added, “so is the brutality of the Israeli response.”
He announced the toll of the military campaign: the United Nations estimates there are 100,000 dead, wounded or missing Palestinians, equivalent to one in twenty Gazans; the unprecedented number deaths among UN workers And journalists; approximately 17,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned or separated from their families.
“There seem to be no borders, no words to capture the horrors unfolding before our eyes in Gaza,” he said in a speech to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “This is a massacre.”
Mr Türk opened a council discussion on a report from his office on developments in Gaza and the West Bank, in which he described the human and physical devastation of the war in Gaza and the “deeply discriminatory control systems” and “endless humiliation” of Israel’s land emphasized. policy in occupied territories.
His statement drew a rebuke from Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, who condemned it as “an insult” to the victims of the October 7 attack.
Ms Eilon Shahar said the United Nations and the Council had ignored Israel’s security problems for years, noting that Mr Türk’s statement made no mention of the hundreds of Israelis killed in attacks before and after October 7. ?” she asked.
Ms. Eilon Shahar defended Israel’s campaign, saying its approach to tackling terrorist groups that used civilians as human shields was in line with international law. Turning to the two former hostages behind her, Aviva Siegel and Raz Ben-Ami, whose husbands are still held in Gaza, she said the high commissioner had reduced them to “a mere footnote” in the council’s discourse.
Mr Türk said that the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza amounted to collective punishment of the population, which is a war crime, and could amount to the use of starvation as a weapon of war, also a war crime. “All people in Gaza are at immediate risk of famine,” he said, adding many in the north of the territory International aid organizations have difficulty reaching these countries had reportedly been starving for weeks.
Israel’s planned ground attack on Rafah “would add a new, dystopian dimension to the nightmare inflicted on the people of Gaza,” he added, urging states with influence to try to avert it.
The UN Human Rights Office has recorded many incidents that could amount to war crimes by Israeli forces, Mr Türk said, warning of a real risk that weapons supplied to Israel could be used in violations of international law. In comments directed at Israel’s main arms suppliersa list led by the United States, he said countries must stop allowing such violations.
The United States has said it supports Israel’s right to self-defense and U.S. officials have made clear that Israel must comply with international humanitarian law, including taking steps to minimize harm to civilians. Israel has rejected accusations that it committed war crimes during its operations.