GENEVA, June 16, 2025 (WAFA) - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk sharply criticized Israel’s means and methods of warfare in Gaza, stating that they are causing “horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza.”

Opening the latest session of the Human Rights Council, Türk said: “The facts speak for themselves. Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza.”

He emphasized that all those with influence must apply maximum pressure to end this “unbearable suffering.”

“Israel has weaponized food and blocked lifesaving aid. I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians trying to reach food distribution centers. Disturbing, dehumanizing rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes.”

Türk described the situation as “deeply worrying,” adding that “only an immediate ceasefire leading to a two-state solution, with Gaza as an integral part of a Palestinian State, can offer sustainable peace.”

Regarding the West Bank, he stated that not a day passes without attacks by Israeli forces and settlers, who kill, detain, and forcibly displace Palestinians. He reaffirmed that “settlements are illegal; annexation is illegal.”

T.R.