Israel commits ‘war crimes’ in Gaza: UN commission of inquiry
Last Updated on October 11, 2024 5:34 am
Israel is deliberately targeting health care facilities in Gaza and killing and torturing medical workers. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry has accused this incident as a ‘crime against humanity’.
The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in a statement on Thursday that “Israel has adopted an organized policy as part of a wider attack on Gaza, aimed at destroying Gaza’s health care system.”
The commission also stated that “Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by its sustained and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and health care facilities.”
This three-member UN commission of inquiry was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021. whose job it was to investigate alleged violations of international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Their second report was recently published, against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
The report cited torture of Palestinian prisoners and abuses, including “sexual and gender-based violence” against detainees in Gaza. It accuses both Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas of torture and war crimes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has described the Commission’s investigation as ‘systematically discriminatory against Israel’ and has rejected this report as well as previous reports. Earlier reports also accused Israel of crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Destroying healthcare
Former UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillai, chairman of the commission of inquiry, said, “Israel is targeting the health care system in Gaza and attacking the right to public health, which is having a significant long-term detrimental effect on the civilian population.” Therefore, this unprecedented destruction by the Israeli forces on health care institutions in Gaza must be stopped immediately.
The report highlighted the ‘deliberate killing, detention and torture of medical personnel’ and targeting of medical vehicles in Gaza by Israeli security forces. Restrictions have also been imposed on permits to leave Gaza for medical treatment.
Such actions have been termed war crimes and ‘genocide against humanity’ by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry.
The commission said Israel’s actions were causing “irreparable suffering” to the injured children and “plunging a generation of Palestinian children to destruction”.
The report mentions the death of a child named Hind Rajab in January this year. After being shot in Gaza City, the child fled and called the Palestinian Red Crescent for help. But eventually his body was recovered along with 6 relatives and two Red Crescent rescue workers.
The commission said Israel’s 162nd Division was responsible for the killings, which amounted to war crimes.
Torture on prisoners
The Commission of Inquiry’s report also shed light on the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli military camps and detention camps.
According to the report, thousands of prisoners have been subjected to physical and mental torture as well as sexual and gender-based violence. The death of a prisoner due to such torture and neglect is also a war crime, the commission said.
According to the commission, this “institutional torture” was carried out under the direct orders of Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gavir. This was directly provoked by Israeli government statements calling for violence and retaliation.
Torture of prisoners
Meanwhile, the investigative report also shed light on Israelis and other prisoners held by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. It said many prisoners had to endure physical hardship and severe mental anguish. These included violence, abuse, sexual abuse, humiliation and limited access to food and water.
“Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have also committed torture, inhumane treatment and crimes against humanity,” the report added.
Along with this, Commission Chairman Navi Pillai called for the immediate and unconditional release of all the prisoners.
Meanwhile, another 70 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours in the Israeli attack on Gaza. The death toll has reached 42,065 since October 7 last year. The number of injured is about one lakh. Most of them are women and children.
Source: Al-Arabiyah