The Office of the UN for Human Rights stated that the bombings of Israel in Gaza could constitute crimes against humanity by involving “systematic attacks against the civilian population,” according to a report published this Wednesday that analyzes six of these attacks in the conflict.
The study focuses on the details of half a dozen bombings carried out between October 9 and December 2, 2023 against residential buildings, refugee camps, a school and a market, in which at least 218 deaths were verified.
The attacks, which used GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39 bombs, caused a high number of civilian casualties and enormous destruction of non-military objects, “raising serious doubts about the application of the laws of war in terms of respect for the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.”
According to the head of the UN office, High Commissioner Volker Türk, the rule of minimizing harm to civilians in war actions “appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign.”
His office recalls when publishing the report that the bombing campaign has been accompanied by statements by officials of the Israeli forces who recognized that their main objective was to cause maximum damage.
It is also highlighted that officials of the Israeli defense forces came to describe all the residents of Loop.
The report indicates that the bombs used in the bombings studied have the capacity to penetrate several floors of a concrete building and cause it to collapse.
“Given the dense population of the areas targeted by these explosives, their use, with such widespread effects over large areas, is likely an indiscriminate attack,” prohibited by international laws, the study defends.
It is also reported that in five of the attacks no prior warning was issued, which increases the conviction that the precautionary principle was not respected.
In three of the attacks, the Israeli military said it targeted individuals linked to the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, although the Israeli military’s office UN emphasizes that “the mere presence of a commander or several combatants does not turn an entire neighborhood into a military objective.”
“This would violate the principle of probability and the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks,” ininsists the report from the office led by Türk.
The high commissioner called, in light of these findings, for Israel to investigate these and other incidents in order to identify those responsible and hold them accountable, thus ensuring the victims’ right to truth, justice and reparation.
Among the six attacks analyzed are the one perpetrated against a market in Jabalya (northern end of Gaza) on October 9, the one against the Al Buraq school in the Gaza capital on November 10, and those of two refugee camps.
The report is published hours before another is presented to the Council of Human rights prepared by the International and Independent Commission of Inquiry for Palestine on all the events that have occurred since the attacks of October 7.
The document from the commission chaired by renowned South African jurist Navi Pillay concludes that both Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have committed war crimes, although it also accuses Israeli forces of crimes against humanity.
Source: Gestion
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