UN rights chief condemns Israeli ‘siege’ of Gaza

Volker Turk, the head of the UN Human Rights department, said on Tuesday that Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes on the Hamas movement hit homes and schools throughout the Gaza Strip and emphasised that “sieges” were against international law.

UN chief condemns Israeli ‘siege’ of Gaza: Additionally, Turk denounced the “horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups” and claimed that the militants’ hostage-taking was also against international law.

In an indication it may be preparing a ground assault in reaction to the devastation caused by the weekend strikes by Hamas terrorists, the Israeli military announced on Monday that it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was enforcing a complete embargo of the Gaza Strip.

In addition to hitting “premises of the UN relief and works agency, UNRWA (UN Palestinian refugee agency),” Israel’s airstrikes, which were the worst in the 75-year history of its confrontation with the Palestinians, also claimed civilian lives.

Israel pledged to exact “mighty revenge” after the Hamas strike left its streets littered with dead people. Nearly 700 Gazans were reportedly murdered in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza officials, while entire districts in Gaza were completely destroyed. Israeli media said that 900 persons were killed in the attacks, the most of whom were civilians.

On the social media site X, Israel’s defence forces said that planes had struck military targets, including warehouses and factories that produce and store weapons.

“Israel’s Siege in Gaza Violates International Humanitarian Law,” Warns Turk

Turk asserted that international humanitarian law prohibits Israel from imposing sieges that endanger civilians’ lives by depriving them of essential survival goods.

“This risks seriously compounding the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities to operate, especially in light of increasing numbers of injured,” he added. He went on to say that a siege may “collective punishment” .

Later, UN Human Rights spokesman Ravina Shamdasani explained that such actions may constitute a war crime. The UN rights office reached its conclusions after studying available information, including data from its own on-the-ground monitors, she explained.

A UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry has stated that all parties to the conflict may have committed war crimes, and it has collected clear evidence to ensure eventual legal accountability.

A representative for the UN humanitarian office revealed at the same briefing that 187,500 people had evacuated their homes in Gaza due to water and energy shortages.

The organization expressed its particular concern about the actions taken to cut off Gaza’s access to gasoline, food, and electricity. According to James Elder, spokesman for the UN agency for children, “this will add yet another layer of suffering to the existing catastrophe faced by families in Gaza.” Without providing further information, he continued by saying that “hundreds” of Israeli and Palestinian children have died since the weekend.

Tarik Jaarevi of the World Health Organisation reported that since hostilities started, its monitoring service had identified 13 strikes on healthcare facilities in Gaza.

He asserted that although work was underway to establish a humanitarian corridor for the Gaza Strip, supplies of medicine had already run out.