Israeli forces have committed war crimes and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and there are “reasonable grounds” to conclude Hamas and loyalists have done the same, a UN inquiry concluded in a report released June 12. The report, which covers Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians and the initial phase of Israel’s retaliatory invasion and bombardment of Gaza, was produced by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, & Israel (Commission). The UN Human Rights Council established the Commission in 2021 to monitor human rights and humanitarian concerns in the region.
In the course of Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza, which began days after the Oct. 7 attacks, the Commission found that Israel committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law:
[T]he immense numbers of civilian casualties and widespread destruction of civilian objects and crucial civilian infrastructure are the inevitable results of Israel’s chosen strategy for the use of force during these hostilities, undertaken with intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions.
The report also accused Israel of using “starvation as a method of war” against the people of Gaza. In February of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a surge in malnutrition cases among children and pregnant or breastfeeding women in the territory.
On its findings against Hamas and supporters, the Commission reported:
In relation to the attack of 7 October in Israel, the Commission concludes on reasonable grounds that members of the military wings of Hamas and of other Palestinian armed groups, as well as Palestinian civilians who were directly participating in the hostilities, deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, took hostages and committed SGBV [sexual and gender-based violence] against civilians… These actions constitute war crimes and violations and abuses of IHL [international humanitarian law] and IHRL [international human rights law].
Following the report’s release, Israeli diplomats accused the Commission of “systematic anti-Israeli discrimination.”
The Commission’s findings come amid an ongoing genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
From Jurist, June 12. Used with permission.
See our last reports on genocide accusations against Israel.
Photo: badwanart0/Pixabay via Jurist
Gaza health ministry death tolls questioned
Zionist propaganda sites like FLAME are making much of an Associated Press report casting doubt on the Gaza health ministry’s death tolls, which it said “are provided without supporting data.” The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the war appears to have declined sharply, an AP analysis of ministry data found, a trend that “contradicts the ministry’s own public statements.”
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office released a report finding that Israel may have committed multiple violations of international humanitarian law and potential war crimes in its campaign in the Gaza Strip. The report scrutinized six IDF attacks that resulted in high civilian casualties and destruction of civilian property.
The IDF allegedly used various types of munitions in densely populated areas, including residential buildings, a school, refugee camps and a market. The report stated that the extensive use of high-explosive weapons in such areas likely constitutes a prohibited indiscriminate attack under international law. (Jurist)
Israeli air-strike in Rafah kills dozens in tent camp —again
Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians outside Gaza’s southern city of Rafah on June 21, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50, according to the territory’s health officials and emergency workers. (AP)
This comes nearly a month after similar air-strikes on a tent camp in Rafah.
North and south Gaza both under evacuation orders
Israel is again bombing Gaza’s south just days after resuming air-strikes on Gaza City in the north—with orders for the populace to flee to the south. Some 84,000 have fed Gaza City’s eastern districts since Israel issued the evacuation orders June 27. Israel as now issued similar evacuation orders for the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the territory’s last standing hospitals, is within the evacuation zone. (UN News, CNN, BBC News, NYT, Reuters)
HRW report accuses Hamas of war crimes
The armed wing of Hamas and allied Palestinian militant groups committed “numerous” war crimes and crimes against humanity in their October 7 attack on southern Israel, Human Rights Watch said in a 236-page report released July 17. (Jurist)