Israel may have ‘systematically violated’ laws of war, UN human rights office says
Israel’s military may have repeatedly broken the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters, according to the UN.
The body’s human rights office said Israeli forces “may have systematically violated the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack”.
This claim is based on the assessment of six Israeli attacks that caused a high number of casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza between 7 October and 2 December.
Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the requirement to pick methods avoiding or at least minimising civilian harm “appears to have been consistently violated”.
A spokesperson for the UN office said it is “yet to see credible and transparent investigations”, adding there would be a need for “international action in this regard” if Israel fails to investigate.
Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva described the analysis as “factually, legally and methodologically flawed”.
IDF soldiers in an operation near an underground residence complex in Rafah
Israel’s offensive – launched following Hamas’s deadly 7 October assault – has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to the authorities in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed the US is withholding weapons and suggested this has slowed the offensive in the south Gaza city of Rafah.
“It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” he said.
“Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
Joe Biden. Pic: AP
President Joe Biden has delayed delivering certain heavy bombs to Israel since May over concerns about the killing of civilians in Gaza.
The US has gone to lengths to avoid any suggestion that Israeli forces have crossed a red line, which would trigger a more sweeping ban on arms transfers.
Despite international pressure, Israeli forces advanced deeper into western Rafah on Wednesday, according to Palestinian residents and medics.
They claim eight people have been killed, with residents reporting tanks moving into five neighbourhoods after midnight and heavy shelling and gunfire hitting tents in the al Mawasi area.
While concerns over the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue, tensions on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon are growing.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel for the past eight months and last week fired its largest volleys of rockets and drones so far at Israeli military sites.
That came after an Israeli strike killed the most senior commander yet.
Read more:
Israel and Hamas on UN blacklist for violence against children
Mother of freed Russian-Israeli hostage feared the worst for son
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz warned on Tuesday a decision on an all-out war with Lebanese militants Hezbollah is coming soon.
“In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely beaten,” he added.
Hezbollah says it will not halt its attacks unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The conflict has already involved the US military, which has been conducting strikes on Yemen’s Houthi group in response to repeated attacks on naval traffic.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway