United Nations experts say there is “evidence of increasing genocidal incitement” against the Palestinians amid Israel’s relentless assaults on the besieged Gaza Strip.
The group of experts, which included several special rapporteurs, said in a statement on Thursday “grave violations” were being committed by Israel against the people across the blockaded Palestinian territory.
“We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire,” the statement read.
“We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilize to prevent genocide.”
The experts had previously warned that time was running out to “prevent genocide and humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
A group of lawyers representing Palestinian victims of the Israeli war filed a complaint earlier this week with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The lawyers say Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
The UN child rights committee says there were “no winners in a war where thousands of children are killed”, as they condemn mounting “grave human rights violations” by Israel” in Gaza. “Massive outbreaks of infectious disease, and hunger, seem inevitable,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said during a briefing in Geneva on Thursday.
He said the depletion of fuel would be “catastrophic” across Gaza, leading to the collapse of sewage systems, healthcare and ending the scarce humanitarian aid being supplied. Turk also said Israel’s bombardment was “of an intensity rarely experienced in this century.”
The UN official also expressed concern about increasing violence against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. “In my view, this creates a potentially explosive situation, and I want to be clear: we are well beyond the level of early warning,” Turk said. “I am ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the occupied West Bank.”
The World Health Organization has warned of “worrying trends” in disease spread in Gaza.
Israel has been targeting hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza in defiance of international condemnations. Attacks on hospitals are against international law and the Geneva Conventions that stipulate medical facilities as civilian infrastructure.
