Gaza: Atrocity crimes possible, new UN report warns

The report details the horrific reality facing both the people of Israel and the people of Gaza since October 7, 2023, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stressed the need for Israel to fully and immediately comply with its obligations under international law and norms. war.

“It is vital that allegations of serious violations of international law are properly dealt with by credible and impartial judiciary authorities, and that in the meantime all relevant information and evidence is collected and preserved,” he said.

The UN High Commissioner said this is even more critical and urgent given the range of actions outlined in the report and taking into account the most recent developments, including Israel’s ongoing operations in the northern Gaza Strip and its adoption of legislation affecting the activities of the UN agency. for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Possible genocide, crimes against humanity

The detailed analysis of violations covers a six-month period from November 2023 to April 2024 and takes a broad look at the killing of civilians and violations of international law, which in many cases may amount to war crimes.

According to the report, if these violations are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against civilians, in accordance with the policy of a state or organization, they may constitute crimes against humanity.

The report warns that if these violations were committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, they may also constitute genocide.

” International Court of Justice (International Court of Justice), in his series of temporary measures orders, emphasized Israel’s international obligations to prevent, protect and punish acts of genocide and related prohibited conduct,” the report said.

Crimes of armed groups

According to the report, Palestinian armed groups also engaged in fighting that likely contributed to harm to civilians.

The report states that on October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militants committed serious violations of international law on a wide scale, including attacks targeting Israeli and foreign civilians, killing and ill-treatment of civilians, sexual violence, destruction of civilian objects and hostage taking.

According to the report, which noted that Hamas and other armed groups celebrated these attacks and violations after October 7, these actions may have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were “deeply troubling and completely unacceptable.”

States must prevent atrocities

Mr Turk recalled the obligations of States to act to prevent atrocity crimes, calling on them to support accountability mechanisms, including International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the current conflict.

The report also points to repeated statements by Israeli officials that the end of the conflict will depend on the complete destruction of the Gaza Strip and the exodus of the Palestinian people.

In addition, efforts to rationalize discrimination, hostility and violence against Palestinians, and even their destruction, have been documented.

Most deaths among children

The report shows how civilians bore the brunt of the attacks, including the initial “total siege” of Gaza by Israeli forces, as well as the ongoing unlawful failures of the Israeli government to authorize, facilitate and secure the flow of humanitarian aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and repeated massacres. movement.

This behavior by Israeli forces has resulted in unprecedented levels of killing, death, injury, starvation, disease and illness, the report says.

UN Human Rights Office, OHCHRreviewed the identities of those killed in the Gaza Strip by strikes, shelling and other fighting and found that nearly 70 percent of them were children and women, indicating a systematic violation of fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.

The continuation of these attacks, which kill uniformly throughout the population, “demonstrates a clear indifference to the loss of civilian life and the impact of the chosen means and methods of warfare,” the report says.

Among the confirmed dead, children are most represented.

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