Israeli attacks on Gaza could be war crimes, says UN human rights chief
GENEVA: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said that Israeli attacks on Gaza could fall into the category of war crimes.
According to foreign media, addressing a special meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said that if Israel indiscriminately and indiscriminately carried out bombings and airstrikes on Gaza, it could be a war crime. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians were killed and much devastated.
He pointed out that government buildings, residential houses, international aid organizations, medical centers and media offices were also targeted in Gaza, a small area with a population of 2 million.
“I have found no evidence that the buildings destroyed in the Israeli attacks in Gaza were being used for military purposes. If these attacks were carried out indiscriminately, they would fall under the category of war crimes,” he said.
He also called on Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, not to launch indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel. He said that although Israel had allegedly targeted armed groups and their military apparatus in Gaza, the attacks had killed and injured scores of civilians, wreaked havoc and severely damaged civilian equipment. Damaged, just as Israel has a right to defend its citizens, so do the Palestinians.
This special meeting was convened at the request of Pakistan and Palestine at the behest of the OIC.
The recent Israeli bombardment of Gaza killed 253 Palestinians, including 66 children, and injured more than 1,900. Meanwhile, Hamas rocket attacks on Israel killed 12 people, including two foreigners and two children. The United Nations has called Gaza the world’s largest prison.
