United Nations: Israel not protecting civilians in Gaza enough
Published: Wednesday, Jun 19th 2024, 12:00
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According to the UN Human Rights Office, Israel did not adequately protect civilians in the Gaza war when using precision-guided bombs. "The requirement to choose means and methods of warfare that avoid or at least minimize civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel's bombing campaign," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in Geneva on Wednesday. He presented a report entitled "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks during the conflict in Gaza". Israel rejected the report.
Statements prove that Israel ignored the required protection of civilians, according to the report. The UN office quotes from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, for example, which cited statements by a military spokesperson in October 2023. He said that although the accuracy of the targets and the extent of the damage were being weighed up, "at the moment we are concentrating on what will cause the maximum damage".
Another representative of the armed forces, addressing the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, said: "Human beasts are treated accordingly. Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza. No electricity and no water, only damage. You wanted hell, you will get hell."
The office investigated six Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip between October 9 and December 2, 2023. It assumes that GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39 bombs were used, which can penetrate concrete and destroy several floors of a building. They were used to attack residential buildings, a school, a refugee camp and a market. At least 218 people were killed, probably more. In an attack with probably nine GBU-31 bombs on December 2, the destruction affected a circle with a diameter of 130 meters. It destroyed 15 residential buildings and damaged 14 others.
According to the laws of war, a part of international humanitarian law, civilian facilities must be spared as far as possible in the event of attacks. If combatants are suspected there, it must be weighed up whether the damage caused by the means used could be greater than the hoped-for targets. Among other things, this involves the principles of distinction, necessity and proportionality.
Even if one or more terrorists or those involved in the massacres in Israel on October 7 and 8 were in one building, this does not make an entire neighborhood a legitimate target for an attack, the report says. Regarding the bombs, the head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Israeli-occupied territories, Ajith Sunghay, said in Geneva: "Using such weapons in a densely populated area like Gaza makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to adhere to the principles. It is advisable not to use these weapons."
"Israel's methods and means deployed in the Gaza Strip since October 7, including the extensive use of explosive weapons with large-scale effects in densely populated areas, have not ensured that they effectively distinguish between civilians and combatants," the report states. It could also be crimes against humanity.
The report also criticizes armed Palestinian groups that fire projectiles at Israel that can hit civilians. The UN Office for Human Rights reminds us that military equipment or personnel should not be stationed in densely populated areas.
Israel accused the UN Human Rights Office of having an anti-Israeli stance, as it has often done. "There is therefore no doubt that the sole aim of this thematic report is to pillory and condemn Israel while continuing to protect Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip," the embassy in Geneva said in a statement. Israel is fighting Hamas and other armed groups, not the civilian population. However, Hamas is deliberately hiding among civilians in order to cause as much damage as possible.
Israel had previously repeatedly accused Hamas of operating in schools, mosques and hospitals and abusing civilians as human shields. It also deliberately accepts the death of civilians in order to influence public opinion worldwide. Israel has also repeatedly pointed out that Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip have fired thousands of rockets towards Israel - without any consideration for the Israeli civilian population.
©Keystone/SDA
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