An Israeli tank drives near the Israel and Hamas controlled Gaza Strip border yesterday.
Reuters/AFP/Geneva
The top UN human rights official said yesterday she believed Israel was deliberately defying international law in its military offensive in Gaza and that world powers should hold it accountable for possible war crimes.
Israel has attacked homes, schools, hospitals, Gaza’s only power plant and UN premises in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions, according to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“Therefore I would say that they appear to be defying... deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel,” Pillay told a news briefing.
“This is why again and again I say we cannot allow impunity, we cannot allow this lack of accountability to go on.”
Hamas fighters in Gaza have also violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel, Pillay said.
She also criticised the US, Israel’s main ally, for failing to use its influence with the Jewish state to halt the carnage.
“Many of my remarks have been directed to the US since they are a party with influence over Israel to do much more to stop the killing, to bring the parties to the negotiating table. I’ve called also for an end to the (Israeli) blockade (of Gaza)...”
Pillay said she was appalled at Washington consistently voting against resolutions on Israel and the territories in the Human Rights Council, General Assembly and Security Council.
“They have not only provided the heavy weaponry which is now being used by Israel in Gaza but they’ve also provided almost $1bn in providing the ‘Iron Domes’ to protect the Israelis from rocket attacks,” she said. “But no such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said yesterday he would not accept any ceasefire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants’ infiltration tunnels.
Gaza officials say at least 1,410 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed and nearly 7,000 wounded. Fifty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza clashes and more than 400 wounded. Three civilians have been killed by Palestinian shelling in Israel.
“What we are witnessing (in Gaza) is the killing of entire families, and of children in the street either playing or trying to find safety,” Pillay said in a statement.
“Waves and waves of ordinary people continue to flee their homes as the already weak infrastructure in Gaza caves in under the relentless bombardment.”
Israel says it is acting to stop the Hamas rocket attacks.
Pillay said she did not expect Israel to investigate properly violations committed during its air strikes and ground assault on Gaza, now in its fourth week.
“But international law is clear that where a state is unable or unwilling to carry out investigations and prosecutions, the international (criminal justice) system applies,” she said.
Meanwhile, the US said yesterday there was little doubt Israeli artillery was the source of a “totally indefensible” strike that killed 16 people at a UN school in Gaza.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest noted that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said all available evidence pointed to Israeli artillery and that the Israeli government had acknowledged its forces were firing in the area in response to Hamas fire near the school.
“So while we underscore the importance of a full and prompt investigation of this tragic incident, as well as a shelling of other UN facilities and schools that have been hit, it does not appear there’s a lot of doubt about whose artillery was involved in this incident,” he said.
“That is why we have continued to urge Israeli military officials to live up to their high standards that they have set for the protection of innocent civilians. There is clearly more that can and should be done to ensure the safety of innocent civilians.”
An estimated 3,300 civilians had taken shelter in the UN school in northern Gaza when it was hit on Wednesday.
“The shelling of a UN facility that is housing innocent civilians who are fleeing violence is totally unacceptable and totally indefensible,” Earnest said.
Palestinians are “facing a precipice” in Gaza, the top UN refugee official there told the Security Council yesterday in a strongly-worded appeal for action.
With more than 220,000 Palestinians already sheltering in UN facilities - four times the number from the last Gaza conflict in 2008-2009 - Pierre Krahenbuhl said he had reached breaking point.
l Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire in their conflict in the Gaza Strip starting today, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday. The ceasefire will begin at 8am local time (0500 GMT) on Aug. 1, they said in a joint statement.
RAF aid campaign for Gaza today
Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation Humanitarian Services (RAF) is organising today an Eid-al-Fitr festival, the proceeds of which will be donated to support the foundation’s efforts to deliver aid to Gaza.
According to a report in local Arabic daily Arrayah, the aid extended so far include sending of three medical convoys and distribution of supplies to hundreds of the affected Palestinian families in Gaza Strip.
The festival events will be held at the RAF Women Department in Duhail from 4pm to 9pm and will include recreational and cultural programmes for families and children such as henna, children’s face painting, cultural contests, games and selling of handicrafts.
It has been stated by the Director of RAF Women Department that the Eid celebration this year was different due to the suffering of the Gaza people who are facing an barbaric Israeli aggression. “Therefore, most of the events organised for Eid al-Fitr will focus on introducing the case of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank under the occupation of Israeli forces.”
