UN human rights experts on Monday said Israel must answer for “inflicting maximum suffering” on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that Israel was violating international law and receiving asylum from its allies.
The 11 experts said in a joint statement:
“International humanitarian law comprises a set of universal and binding rules to protect civilian objects and persons who are not, or are no longer, directly participating in hostilities and limits permissible means and methods of warfare. Rather than abide by these rules, Israel has openly defied international law time and again, inflicting maximum suffering on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory and beyond. Israel continues to face no real consequences, largely due to protection offered by its allies.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 45,500 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
The experts noted alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israel, “including murder, torture, sexual violence and repeated forced displacement amounting to forcible transfer.”
They also noted alleged war crimes, including “indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects … the use of starvation as a weapon of war” and “collective punishment.” They said civilians were protected and not military targets under international law. The experts added:
“Acts aimed at their total or partial destruction constitute genocide.”
The experts called for an urgent, independent and thorough investigation into the alleged serious violations of international law. they said:
“Israel’s continued impunity sends a dangerous message….. Israel and its leaders must be held accountable.”
The experts said they were particularly alarmed by Israeli operations in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli operations in Gaza have been concentrated in the north since October 6 this year, and officials said their ground and air offensive was aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping. The experts said:
“This siege, coupled with expanding evacuation orders, appears intended to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza’s annexation.”
The UN human rights experts are independent figures authorised by the Human Rights Council.
The 11 experts included special rapporteurs on internally displaced persons, cultural rights, education, physical and mental health, arbitrary executions, the right to food and the protection of rights while countering terrorism.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the United Nations (UN) to send an international mission to investigate the serious crimes and violations Palestinian prisoners and detainees are subjected to in Israeli prisons and detention centres.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that the health care system in northern Gaza had been “destroyed” by Israel and hospitals were “completely out of service.” The ICRC said in a statement:
“Repeated hostilities in and around hospitals have obliterated the health care system in northern Gaza, putting civilians at an unacceptably grave risk of going without lifesaving care.”
It called for health facilities to be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
“This protection is a legal obligation and a moral imperative to preserve human life,” it added, saying hospitals were a lifeline for those sick or wounded in conflict.
Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister, wrote on X:
“They cannot plausibly deny that they were privy to the facts given the contents of the EU’s special representative’s report that they had a duty to take under consideration. The world now knows that they knew they were in breach of international law because they were explicitly told so by the EU’s own special representative on human rights. History will judge them harshly. And perhaps so will the ICC.”
