AA / Ankara / Nur Asena Ertürk
The situation in Gaza may amount to a “war crime”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday.
“Intent always has to be proven, but as I said, the collective punishment that was announced during the siege is in fact a war crime and it should be treated as such,” Volker Turk told the BBC.
Turk added that “Israel bears a significant responsibility” for the situation in Gaza, claiming that there is “credible” evidence of Israel’s use of hunger as a weapon.
“The ferocity of the Israeli attack and the method of warfare raises the question of the proportionality of the response,” the UN official added.
He emphasized that Israel, as an occupying power, “has an obligation to provide humanitarian aid.”
“And if this humanitarian aid is not delivered in the necessary scale, speed and predictability, yes, very serious questions will arise,” Turk said.
Israel has launched a deadly military offensive in the Palestinian territories of Gaza following an October 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas that reportedly killed up to 1,200 people.
Since then, at least 32,552 Palestinians have been killed and at least 74,980 injured in the context of massive destruction and shortages of basic necessities.
Israel’s war has led to the internal displacement of 85% of Gaza’s population due to acute shortages of food, drinking water and medicine, and 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Israel will be brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide. An interim ruling issued in January ordered Tel Aviv to end acts of genocide and take steps to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
Source: AA
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