GENEVA
The UN’s head of human rights warned on Friday that Israel’s activities in the northern part of the Gaza Strip may be tantamount to “murders and genocides.”
Referring to the ongoing bombardment in the northern region of the strip, where the situation is the worst ever in the course of the Gaza conflict, Volker Turk urged global leaders to do something in the prepared speech.
“The bombardment in North Gaza is continuous,” he stated. “The Israeli army has asked and in many cases given orders to move hundreds of thousands of people without any coherent plans as to how these people will be able to return. There is no possible way out safe from the falling bombs; military forces are ripping apart families, and a good number of people have been detained; those running away have been shot at.”
“Shocking as it may seem, conditions are deteriorating exponentially. What is happening as regard the policies and actions of the Israeli Government in northern Gaza constitute a threat of complete evacuation of all Palestinians from the region,” he explained, and cautioned: “We are dealing with an escalation that could amount to extreme violence, including serious crimes that border on being against humanity.”
Pitifully ‘access to northern Gaza is very, very scant’, the high commissioner said, ‘almost no assistance has been sent into the region for weeks because of unjustified conditions, with assistance, and most are now hungry.’
He pointed out that currently, it is said that over 150,000 individuals have been killed, injured, or gone missing in Gaza.
“My gravest fear is, given this great degree of intensity, breadth and scale and the openness of the Israeli operation that is taking place in North Gaza, that number will increase significantly,” he further said.
Turk stated that it is the responsibility of the states under the Geneva conventions to guarantee the enforcement of the international humanitarian law.
“I would like to remind all of you, world leaders, of your obligation to impose and enforce in your respective territories, the principles of international humanitarian law as found in the Geneva Conventions. These are principles that all nations recognize and exist for the protection of peace and civilization”
Israel’s practices in northern Gaza could amount to ‘atrocity crimes, crimes against humanity’: UN rights chief
