GENEVA, November 8, 2024 (WAFA) - The UN Human Rights Office said close to 70 percent of the victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip are children and women, indicating a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.
The UN Human Rights Office today published a report covering the six months from November 2023 to April 2024, broadly examining the killing of civilians and breaches of international law that in many instances could amount to war crimes.
“The International Court of Justice, in its series of orders on provisional measures, underscored the international obligations of Israel to prevent, protect against and punish acts of genocide and associated prohibited conduct,” said the report.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk stressed the imperative for Israel fully and immediately to comply with those obligations. This is even more critical and urgent, given the totality of conduct set out in the report and taking into account most recent events, including Israel’s operations in North Gaza and its adoption of legislation affecting UNRWA’s activities, he said.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” he said.
Türk recalled States’ obligations to act to prevent atrocity crimes, and urged them to support the work of accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, in relation to the current conflict; exercise universal jurisdiction to investigate and try crimes under international law in national courts, consistent with international standards; and comply with extradition requests pertaining to suspects of such crimes to countries where they would receive a fair trial.
The report points to repeated statements from Israeli officials positing the end of the conflict as contingent upon Gaza’s entire destruction and the exodus of the Palestinian people. Furthermore, it documents efforts to rationalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards, and even the elimination of, Palestinians.
The report shows how civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks, including through the initial “complete siege” of Gaza by Israeli Forces, as well as the Israel Government’s continuing unlawful failures to allow, facilitate and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and repeated mass displacement.
This conduct by Israeli Forces has caused unprecedented levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness and disease, the reports said.
The High Commissioner calls on Member States, consistent with their obligations under international law, to assess arms sales or transfers and provision of military, logistical or financial support to a party to the conflict, with a view to ending such support if this risks serious violations of international law.
The report also raises concerns with respect to forcible transfer, attacks on hospitals, in an apparent systematic fashion, and journalists. It also points to the reported use of white phosphorus munitions.
“Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law – namely the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack,” Türk said. “Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war.”
“The violence must stop immediately,” he said, urging focus on flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid.
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