As the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza passed the grim milestone of 40,000, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday called for an end to the killing "once and for all" and the release of all hostages. Meanwhile, international negotiators meet in Qatar on Friday to renew efforts to end the conflict and avert a wider war in the Middle East.
“Most of the dead are women and children. This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] to comply with the rules of war,” Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
“On average, about 130 people have been killed every day in Gaza over the past 10 months. The scale of the Israeli military’s destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship is deeply shocking,” he added.
According to Gaza health officials, more than 40,000 people have been killed and more than 92,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on the enclave since the war broke out in October 2023. Among the confirmed dead are at least 286 aid workers, 209 UN personnel, 500 health workers and 168 journalists.
In reality, however, the death toll is likely to be much higher, with thousands of bodies still unaccounted for. More than 10,000 others are feared buried under the rubble in Gaza and are presumed dead.
For more than ten months, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Gaza, with people dying from widespread violence and starvation, and the threat of famine looming. Leading UN officials have called the situation in Gaza "apocalyptic," "hell on earth," "beyond catastrophic," and said that the humanitarian community is "running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza".
While international humanitarian law (IHL) is very clear on the paramount importance of protecting civilians as well as civilian property and infrastructure, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented serious violations of IHL by the Israeli military, but also by Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas.
“As the world reflects on and considers its inability to prevent this carnage, I urge all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire, lay down their arms and stop the killing once and for all”, Türk said.
“The hostages must be released. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be freed. Israel’s illegal occupation must end and the internationally agreed two-State solution must become a reality.”
According to media reports, the current round of ceasefire negotiations began on Thursday and continued for a second day on Friday. But with Israel unwilling to secure the release of hostages and end the war, prospects for a ceasefire remain dim.
Members of the Israeli government have been torpedoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement since the war began, fearing that the government will lose power if the guns fall silent and that senior members of the government - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - will be held accountable for their alleged crimes in Israeli and international courts.
In a statement Thursday the humanitarian organization Islamic Relief Worldwide said the “killing of 40,000 people in Gaza should be a source of eternal global shame”.
“These 40,000 people are not just numbers. They include babies, children, mothers, fathers, farmers, shopkeepers, students, teachers, journalists, doctors, aid workers, artists, entrepreneurs, grandparents and much more. Gaza’s entire society is being killed as the world watches,” the humanitarian organization said.
“There can be no justification for this massacre, which is taking place in full sight of world leaders who have repeatedly failed or refused to act. These deaths are the inevitable consequence of allowing international law to be violated with impunity.”
The aid agency urged governments to do everything in their power to pressure Israel to stop the killing, including halting arms sales, suspending trade agreements and supporting accountability.
“As the death toll rises above 40,000, Palestinians in Gaza do not need more hollow words from international governments – they need meaningful action,“ Islamic Relief said.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Israeli bombardment and other assaults in Gaza continue to kill, maim, injure and displace Palestinian civilians, as well as damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on for survival.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Thursday that hostilities and recurring evacuation orders are driving a seemingly endless cycle of displacement - and making it increasingly difficult for people to access the humanitarian assistance they need to survive after 10 months of war.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order for people living in two areas of eastern Khan Younis - the neighborhoods of Makhta and Beni Suhaila - to immediately move to so-called "safe areas".
But the people there are far from safe. Israeli military airstrikes are killing and injuring civilians in the so-called "safe zones". Since nowhere in Gaza is safe, everywhere is a potential killing zone.
Areas defined by Israel as "humanitarian" and "safe" are in fact the opposite, leaving families with the terrible choice of staying in an active combat zone or moving to an unsafe, already overcrowded area.
According to the UN, up to 1.9 million people - or 90 percent of the population - are internally displaced throughout the Gaza Strip, including people who have been repeatedly displaced - some as many as 10 times in recent months. More than 85 percent of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders or declared a "no-go zone" by Israeli forces, confining 1.9 million IDPs to about 15 percent of the tiny territory.
While Israel's war in Gaza has claimed an estimated 50,000 lives, there is mounting evidence that Israeli government and military officials are responsible for widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the enclave.
These include collective punishment of civilians, use of starvation as a method of warfare, denial of humanitarian aid, indiscriminate killing of civilians, targeting of civilians, disproportionate attacks, forced displacement, torture, enforced disappearances and other atrocity crimes.
In May, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, announced that he had requested arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza. Arrest warrants are being sought for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Israel, in a report released in June, found that Israeli government and military authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during military operations and attacks in Gaza since October 7.
The Commission stated that the Israeli authorities were responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity.
The Commission also concluded that the crimes against humanity of extermination, gender persecution of Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer and torture and inhuman or cruel treatment had been committed.
The entire population of the Gaza Strip is experiencing acute hunger and is at risk of famine. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for Gaza, released in June, shows that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.
The blockade of aid, the hostile environment created by the war - including attacks on aid workers - and the breakdown of civil order posed enormous challenges to any viable humanitarian response to the enormous needs of the population.
The United Nations and non-governmental aid groups accuse Israel of closing most of the border crossings into Gaza - and preventing life-saving aid from reaching the more than 2 million people in dire need.
International humanitarian law requires Israel to ensure that the basic needs of the people of Gaza are met. Among other things, it must ensure that Gaza receives sufficient water, food, medical supplies, and other basic necessities to enable the population to survive.
However, since Israel imposed a full siege on the Gaza Strip on October 9, the amount of aid entering the enclave has never been sufficient to meet the needs on the ground. For more than ten months, Israel has failed to provide or even facilitate the delivery of essential goods to the people of the besieged territory.
Meanwhile, Israel's closest allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, continue - in apparent violation of international law - to provide political and military support for a war against civilians characterized by grave war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces, as well as support for Israel's continued occupation and unlawful presence in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The ICJ concluded that Israel's continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and that Israel has an obligation to end its illegal presence there as soon as possible.
According to the ICJ advisory opinion, all states and international organizations, including the UN, are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation resulting from Israel's unlawful presence in the OPT and not to provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel's continued presence in the OPT.
Further information
Full text: Gaza: Turk pleads for end to fighting as death toll passes 40,000, statement, Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, released August 15, 2024
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/08/gaza-turk-pleads-end-fighting-death-toll-passes-40000
Full text: 40,000 killed in Gaza should be a source of eternal global shame, Islamic Relief Worldwide, statement, published August 15, 2024
https://islamic-relief.org/news/40000-killed-in-gaza-should-be-a-source-of-eternal-global-shame/