The U.N. Human Rights chief has condemned Israel for what he called an unprecedented disregard for human rights in its war on Gaza while also accusing Hamas of violating international law.
"Nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza which consistently breached international law," said Volker Türk, 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 U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also accused Palestinian resistance group Hamas of grave violations since Oct. 7.
"Hamas has indiscriminately fired projectiles into Israeli territory – amounting to war crimes," Türk said.
The Hamas incursion on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, caused around 1,200 deaths and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's genocidal war, in response, killed over 48,500 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health officials. It also laid waste to most of the coastal strip.
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 members and aimed to reduce civilian harm.
"The level of devastation in Gaza is massive – from homes, to hospitals to schools," Türk said, adding that "restrictions imposed by Israel ... have created a humanitarian catastrophe," Türk told the Council.
Türk 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 denies such accusations.
"Tents have been denied together with model homes. It has impeded access of food and medicines," the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. 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 cease-fire 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 and condemned Hamas incursion 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.
