UN: Bombs used by Israel violate the laws of war
Published: Wednesday, Jun 19th 2024, 10:20
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According to the UN Human Rights Office, Israel did not pay sufficient attention to the protection of civilians during the Gaza war when using precision-guided bombs.
"The requirement to choose the means and methods of warfare in such a way that civilian harm is avoided or at least minimized was apparently consistently violated in the Israeli bombing campaign," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in Geneva on Wednesday.
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. In an attack with presumably 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 fighters are suspected there, it must be weighed up whether the damage caused by the means used is not greater than the hoped-for targets. The fact that one or more terrorists or those involved in the massacres in Israel on October 7 and 8 are in a building does not make an entire neighborhood a legitimate target for an attack, the report states.
"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 regularly criticizes the UN Human Rights Office and Türk because, according to the government, it does not condemn Hamas crimes in the same way.
©Keystone/SDA
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