The battle that broke out a little more than a month ago has resulted in war crimes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who made this announcement on Wednesday. At the Rafah gate in egypt on the border with Gaza, Volker Turk declared, "The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on october 7 were heinous, they were war crimes - as is the continued holding of hostages."

"The collective punishment by israel of Palestinian civilians is also a war crime, as is unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians," he stated. With regard to the aid that has been sent via Rafah, Turk stated: "The lifeline has been unjustly, outrageously thin." Following a cross-border Hamas incursion on southern israel on october 7, during which militants murdered 1,400 people and captured around 240 prisoners, israel has been relentlessly bombarding Gaza. Over 10,500 people have died as a result of Israeli shelling, the majority of them were women and children.

"I call – as a matter of urgency - for the parties now to agree a ceasefire," Turk said. He went on to say that there are three pressing issues related to human rights: getting enough humanitarian help to Gaza; freeing the captives; and "implementing a durable end to the occupation." "We have fallen off a precipice and this cannot continue," he stated. "Actions of one party do not absolve the other party's actions."

Israel has refused to agree to a truce until the prisoners are freed, despite requests from the G7 and the UN for a humanitarian halt in the fighting to ameliorate the suffering in Gaza. As long as Gaza is being attacked, Hamas claims it will not give up the battle. "Even in the context of a 56-year occupation, the situation is the most dangerous we have faced for people in Gaza, in israel, in the West bank but also regionally," Turk stated.
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SIBY JEYYA

09/11/2023 08:14 AM