UN human rights experts on Friday appealed to countries to halt arms exports to Israel, arguing that military supplies could violate international humanitarian law, The Washington Post reported.
In a statement, the experts said that “the arms embargo on Israel is heightened by the International Court of Justice’s ruling on 26 January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories and one of the signatories of the statement, said that sending Israel weapons that could be used in Gaza “could amount to complicity in atrocities.”
The attention to Israel’s actions is not the first time Israel has come under scrutiny. On 26 January, the UN International Court of Justice ordered Israel to prevent the possibility of genocide, allow more aid into Gaza and punish officials and soldiers for comments. The UN court gave the country a month to submit a report on how it is complying with the orders.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, is facing some pressure over aid to Israel. In a letter to President Biden, senators from four states (Maryland, Hawaii, New Mexico) expressed their concern in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s promised attack on Rafah, the southern city where nearly 1.5 million refugees are now crowded together.
Around 30,000 people have been killed and 69,737 injured in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
