Israeli forces may have repeatedly violated the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters in the Gaza conflict, the UN human rights office reported on Wednesday.
Separately, the head of a UN inquiry accused the Israeli military of conducting the “extermination” of Palestinians.
In a report on six Israeli attacks that resulted in numerous casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) stated that Israeli forces “may have systematically violated the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”
“The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimize civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
During a separate meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the head of a UN Commission of Inquiry, Navi Pillay, asserted that Israel was responsible for the most serious abuses under international law, known as “crimes against humanity.” She stated that the scale of Palestinian civilian losses amounted to “extermination.”
“We found that the immense numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza and the widespread destruction of civilian objects and infrastructure were the inevitable result of an intentional strategy to cause maximum damage,” she said.
