The "carnage" in the Gaza Strip has left more than 30,000 dead and must end immediately, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, after nearly five months of continuous Israeli bombardment and mass displacement in the enclave. Meanwhile, Israel, which has the duty and legal obligation to ensure the provision of food and goods to the people of Gaza, continues to fail to provide or even facilitate the delivery of essential supplies for the survival of some 2.3 million people living in Gaza.
“There appear to be no bounds to – no words to capture – the horrors that are unfolding before our eyes in Gaza,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights said as he presented a shocking report from his Office (OHCHR), on the desperate situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to the Council.
“The war in Gaza must end”, Türk urged while noting that clear violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes and possibly other crimes under international law, have been committed by all parties to the conflict.
Within months, over 100,000 people have been killed or wounded in Israel’s relentless war against Gaza and its inhabitants. According to Gaza officials, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 70,000 wounded since October 7.
“At least 17,000 children are orphaned or separated from their families, while many more will carry the scars of physical and emotional trauma life-long. […] And tens of thousands of people are missing, many presumed buried under the rubble of their homes,” the High Commissioner said.
As a result of the attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), 1.7 million people - more than three-quarters of the population - are currently internally displaced in Gaza.
While noting that the attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7 and 8 were shocking, appalling and “totally unjustifiable”, Türk said:
“And so is the brutality of the Israeli response; the unprecedented level of killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza, including UN staff and journalists; the catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by restrictions on humanitarian aid; the displacement of at least three-quarters of the population, often multiple times; the massive destruction of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure – and in many cases, systematic demolition of entire neighborhoods, rendering Gaza largely unlivable.”
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also pointed out Israel's disregard for international humanitarian law and human rights law.
"Over the past five months of warfare, the Office [OHCHR] has recorded many incidents that may amount to war crimes by Israeli forces, as well as indications that Israeli forces have engaged in indiscriminate or disproportionate targeting that violates international humanitarian law," he said.
In October, Israel imposed a complete ban on all aid, food, fuel and electricity to Gaza. Since then, Israeli officials have continued to obstruct humanitarian aid.
“The blockade and siege imposed on Gaza amount to collective punishment, and may also amount to the use of starvation as a method of war – both of which, committed intentionally, are war crimes,” Türk said.
In addition, almost all the population of Gaza had been forcibly displaced, and thousands of people had been detained, many of them “incommunicado”, in conditions that may amount to enforced disappearance, he added.
Türk issued a stark warning about a planned Israeli offensive in Rafah, the area of southern Gaza where more than 1.2 million people have sought refuge, and an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians are currently living.
“The prospect of an Israeli ground assault on Rafah would take the nightmare being inflicted on people in Gaza into a new dimension. Over 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, despite continuing bombardment, and it has become Gaza's humanitarian hub,” he said.
“A ground assault would incur potentially massive loss of life; additional risk of atrocity crimes; new displacement, to another unsafe location; and sign a death warrant for any hope of effective humanitarian aid.”
Türk stressed that in his view, such an operation would be inconsistent with the binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and called on all states with influence “to do everything within their power to avert such an outcome”.
In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice on January 26 confirmed that Palestinians have a right to be protected from acts of genocide, ordering Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent actions that amount to genocide.
Among provisional measures, the Court also ordered Israel to allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the war-shattered enclave and to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services to Palestinians there.
Also on Thursday, Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), noted that while Israel was duty-bound to ensure the provision of food and supplies for Gaza's population, it has failed to provide or facilitate the delivery of means essential for survival of people living there.
"Despite the International Court of Justice's ruling over a month ago for Israel to implement effective measures to enable basic services and humanitarian aid, access for trucks have been reduced from January to February. This situation is particularly dire in northern Gaza, where families are on the brink of famine," he said in a statement.
Following his visit to Gaza this week, Egeland said, he had witnessed a civilian population “engulfed by destruction, desperation and despair. Famine is a growing threat here, as millions of trapped people face a nightmare of violence and starvation.”
2.3 million people – the entire population – are facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Of those, 1.17 are experiencing emergency levels of hunger and more than 500,000 people face catastrophic conditions.
“We must be clear: civilians in Gaza are falling sick from hunger and thirst because of Israel’s entry restrictions. Life-saving supplies are being intentionally blocked, and women and children are paying the price,” the NRC Secretary General said.
He also warned against a large-scale military offensive in Rafah.
"Any military offensive in this area will lead to mass casualties where over 1.4 million people are sheltering. You cannot conduct a brutal war in the world’s largest displacement sites, against families who have already suffered immensely," he said.
Egeland named those responsible for the ongoing carnage.
“Israel and its allies - including the United States, United Kingdom and Germany - continue to provide political and military support for warfare that has already claimed more than 30,000 lives,” he said.
“Those states supporting the parties to the conflict must understand the consequences for civilians in Gaza. They must insist on a ceasefire and full humanitarian access and aid supplies. The human suffering in Gaza is already beyond belief, and this war on civilians must end immediately.”
Further information
Full text: Türk calls for end to "carnage" in Gaza, Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, speech at the interactive Dialogue on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, delivered February 29, 2024
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/02/turk-calls-end-carnage-gaza
Full text: Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/55/28, submitted February 29, 2024
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/a-hrc-55-28-auv-for-publication.pdf
Full text: Gaza: trapped civilians facing bombardment and starvation, Statement from Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, following his visit to Gaza, released February 29, 2024
https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/february/gaza-trapped-civilians-facing-bombardment-and-starvation/