GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Chief accused Israel on Wednesday of showing an unprecedented disregard for human rights in its military actions in Gaza and said Hamas had violated international law.
“Nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza which consistently breached international law,” said Volker Turk, while presenting a new report on the human rights situation in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also accused Hamas of grave violations since October 7.
“Hamas has indiscriminately fired projectiles into Israeli territory — amounting to war crimes,” Turk said.
Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. An Israeli retaliatory assault laid waste to most of Gaza and killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health officials.
Israel did not send a delegate to take to the floor to share their comments, which the representative of Chile said was regretful.
Israel previously strongly denied allegations of war crimes and breaches of international law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying that its operations targeted Hamas militants and aimed to reduce civilian harm.
“The level of devastation in Gaza is massive — from homes, to hospitals to schools,” Turk said, adding that “restrictions imposed by Israel ... have created a humanitarian catastrophe,” Turk told the Council.
Turk told the 58th Council that the report highlighted grave concerns that Hamas “may have committed other breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza, including the intentional co-location of military objectives and Palestinian civilians.”
He called for all violations to be investigated independently. However, he raised doubts about the will of the Israeli justice system to deliver full accountability — in line with international standards, and said he was unaware of any measures taken by Hamas and other groups to punish those responsible for rights breaches.
The OHCHR report said it had not received a response from Israel to its request for full access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to investigate violations by all parties.
The Palestinian representative at the Council accused Israel of committing war crimes and genocide against Palestinians, as well as denying aid to the enclave. Israel has repeatedly denied such accusations.
“Tents have been denied together with model homes. It has impeded access of food and medicines,” the Palestinian ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi told the council.
He also strongly denounced settler violence and Israeli military operations in the West Bank, mentioned in the report. At least 40,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Jenin and the nearby city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank since Israel began its operation last month after reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza after 15 months of war.
“The litany of unspeakable horrors perpetrated against the Palestinians is unprecedented,” said Frankye Bronwen Levy, the representative for South Africa.
The European Union supported the report’s call for an independent investigation, condemned Hamas’ attack, as well as Israeli escalation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq reiterated calls for an end to the war and the realization of a Palestinian state.
Israel has shown ‘unprecedented disregard for human rights’ in Gaza, UN human rights chief says
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Israel has shown ‘unprecedented disregard for human rights’ in Gaza, UN human rights chief says

- Israel previously strongly denied allegations of war crimes and breaches of international law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying that its operations targeted Hamas militants and aimed to reduce civilian harm
Israeli settlers establish illegal outpost near Palestinian Authority’s administrative city of Ramallah

- Settlers establish site on ruins of displaced Palestinian family’s home
- Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May attempts by settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in West Bank
LONDON: Israeli settlers have established a new outpost on land belonging to Palestinians east of Ramallah, the administrative city of the Palestinian Authority.
The settlers have established the outpost on the ruins of a home belonging to a Palestinian family that was forcibly displaced nearly a year ago following a series of attacks in the village of Al-Taybeh, the Palestine News Agency reported.
Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law and have long been viewed as hindrances to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and to achieving peace.
The PA’s affiliated Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May on attempts by Israeli settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in the West Bank, mainly on agricultural and pastoral land.
These outposts are distributed across several governorates, including six in Ramallah and Al-Bireh; two in Salfit, Tubas, and Bethlehem; and one each in Jericho and Nablus.
Israel defense ministry says arms exports hit all time high in 2024

- “Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024,” the ministry said
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defense agreements,” the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel’s defense industries, said in a statement.
Suspected crypto kidnappings mastermind arrested in Morocco

- France thanks Morocco for arresting 24-year-old after kidnappings targeting French crypto entrepreneurs
PARIS: France’s justice minister on Wednesday said that Morocco had arrested a man suspected of ordering a series of kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs in France.
“I sincerely thank Morocco for this arrest, which demonstrates excellent judicial cooperation between our two countries, particularly in the fight against organized crime,” Gerald Darmanin said on X.
Turkiye’s AJet to start flights to Syria’s Damascus

- AJet said flights from Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16
- Flights to Damascus from Ankara will start from Jun. 17
ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.
AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16. Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added.
Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from Jun. 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.
Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.
Turkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country’s reconstruction. Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria’s airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.
UAE president meets Egypt’s Sisi in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met his counterpart Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
El-Sisi, who is on a visit to the UAE, arrived at the presidential airport and was received by the UAE leader along with a number of senior officials.