As the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip further unfolds and hundreds of civilians are killed daily by Israeli airstrikes, the United Nations has urged the Israeli government to cease its collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza, emphasizing that collective punishment is a war crime. A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) demanded Friday that the “use of dehumanizing language against Palestinians must also be halted.”
For almost three weeks now, Palestinian civilians in Gaza have endured relentless bombing by Israel from air, land and sea. Thousands have been killed, many lying dead or injured amongst destroyed residential or public buildings. Entire families have been wiped out by air strikes on their homes.
The Israeli government has imposed a complete siege on Gaza. There is no electricity, no water, no fuel in Gaza, while food supplies are running dangerously low. Palestinian civilians now face daily indiscriminate and devastating Israeli bombardment and total siege, while they are deprived of shelter, medical care, food and drinking water.
“Collective punishment is occurring through the choking-off of water, food, fuel and electricity. Fuel shortages forcing the closure of hospitals and bakeries. People forced into shelters in increasingly dire conditions; overcrowded, with poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water, bringing forward the specter of disease outbreak,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Shamdasani stressed that a humanitarian catastrophe unfolds for the 2.2 million people locked inside Gaza, who are being collectively punished.
“Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel’s collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza must immediately cease. The use of dehumanizing language against Palestinians must also be halted,” the UN spokesperson said.
Israeli government and military officials have repeatedly used dehumanizing language. Such language is also used by government officials in allied countries and by members of the media. Moreover, there are public statements that seek to legitimize war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law.
Following a large-scale attack by Palestinian armed groups on October 7, the Israeli cabinet declared war and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) begun launching indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 7,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 18,400. While two thirds of the fatalities are reportedly children and women, the dead include more than 2,900 children.
Amongst those killed are at least 39 UN staff. More than 1,600 people - including 900 children - have been reported missing and may be still trapped under the rubble. Rescue teams are unable to reach affected residential areas due to security risks, lack of equipment, and severe road damage.
“Israel’s use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and loss of civilian lives that, by all appearances, is difficult to reconcile with international humanitarian law,” the OHCHR spokesperson said.
At least 45 percent of all housing units in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated area, have been either destroyed or damaged since the start of the hostilities. Entire residential neighborhoods have been razed to the ground.
The UN Human Rights Office also said that indiscriminate attacks by Palestinian armed groups, including through the launching of unguided rockets into Israel, must stop.
“They must immediately and unconditionally release all civilians who were captured and are still being held. The taking of hostages is also a war crime,” Shamdasani said.
On October 7, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, including fighters from the militant Hamas group, launched thousands of rockets toward Israel and breached through a perimeter fence of Gaza at multiple locations. Members of armed groups entered into Israeli towns, communities, and military facilities near the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israeli forces and civilians.
More than 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians, were reportedly killed and more than 5,400 injured, most of them on October 7. Some 220 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, are held hostage in Gaza.
On Thursday, a leading United Nations official again urgently called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow safe, continuous and unrestricted access to fuel, medicine, water and food in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) also warned that “atrocities should not be followed by more atrocities”, and that “the response to war crimes is not more war crimes.”
The UN has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire and the allowance of urgently needs humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"The UN charter and our commitments are a commitment to our shared humanity. Civilians -- wherever they are -- must be protected equally. Gaza's civilians did not choose this war. Atrocities should not be followed by more atrocities. The response to war crimes is not more war crimes. The framework of international law is very clear on this and well established," Lazzarini said.
In his statement, the UNRWA Commissioner-General cited Dag Hammarskjöld, the second UN Secretary-General, with his words from 1954: "The UN was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell."
“The reality today in Gaza is that there is not much humanity left and hell is settling in,” the UNRWA chief said.
“The generations to come will know that we watched this human tragedy unfold over social media and news channels. We will not be able to say we did not know. History will ask why the world did not have the courage to act decisively and stop this hell on Earth.”
An estimated 1.4 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, with nearly 630,000 sheltering in 150 UNRWA-designated emergency shelters. Overcrowding is a growing concern, as the average number of internally displaced persons per shelter has now reached 2.7 times their designated capacity.
The United Nations, including UN Secretary General António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, humanitarian organizations, human right organizations, and independent UN human rights experts have repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire and the allowance of urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But influential governments like the United States, European Union members, and United Kingdom have refrained from acting. The UN Security Council has failed this week again to adopt a resolution calling at least for some kind of halt to the hostilities to assist deliveries of humanitarian aid.
On Thursday, EU leaders issued a weak statement calling for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need, but abstained from urging an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Instead, the European Council only called for “humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs.”
While underlying the importance to ensure protection of all civilians at all times, EU leaders did neither name the Israeli government's responsibility for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and violations of international humanitarian law nor condemn Israel for the killing of thousands of civilians, its siege of the Gaza Strip or its blockade of humanitarian aid entering into the territory.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly (GA) adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza. The GA resolution also demands “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the Gaza Strip. The world body approved the resolution by a strong vote of 120 to 14 with 45 abstentions.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said today that the humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse, with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians if life-saving supplies are not delivered on the scale needed. Meanwhile, needs are growing ever more “critical and colossal” as the IDF bombing intensifies.
About 500 trucks per day were crossing into Gaza before the hostilities began. The humanitarian supplies that reached Gaza over the past few days via Rafah Crossing have only slightly alleviated the shortages of water, food, and medicines. In recent days, an average of only 12 trucks per day have been able to go in, despite needs being far greater than they were at any time before.
In addition, the supplies that have trickled in do not include fuel for UN operations – fuel which is also essential to power hospitals, water desalination plants, food production and aid distribution. As a result, the UN Relief and Works Agency has almost exhausted its fuel reserves. Fuel is being severely rationed and used to run select critical facilities. Hospitals are shutting down because of a lack of fuel, water, and medical supplies.
“Given the desperate and dramatic situation, the United Nations will not be able to continue to deliver inside Gaza without an immediate and fundamental shift in how aid is going in. The verification system for the movement of goods through the Rafah crossing must be adjusted to allow for more trucks to enter Gaza without delay,” Guterres stressed.
He said misery was growing by the minute. Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza would face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering.
“Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment of truth. History will judge us,” the UN Secretary-General stressed.
Further information
Full text: Israel / OPT UPDATE, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, press briefing notes, released October 27, 2023
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2023/10/israel-opt-update
Full text: “I run the UN Agency for Palestine refugees. History will judge us all if there is no ceasefire in Gaza”, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, released October 26, 2023 (This statement was first published in The Guardian newspaper on 26 October 2023).
https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/notes/i-run-un-agency-palestine-refugees-history-will-judge-us-all-if-there-no-ceasefire
Full text: European Council conclusions on Middle East, 26 October 2023, European Council, released October 26, 2023
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/10/26/european-council-conclusions-on-middle-east-26-october-2023/