UN: Hamas and Israel committed war crimes

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turkhe assured today that the group Islamist Hamas and Israel committed war crimes during the conflict that began on October 7 following multiple attacks by the Palestinian group in the Jewish state.

“The crimes committed by Palestinian armed groups on October 7 were heinous, brutal and shocking. They were war crimes, as well as continued hostage-taking,” Türk said during a news conference in Cairo.

He also pointed out that “Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians also constitutes a war crime, as well as the forced and illegal evacuation of civilians”, in connection with calls by the Israeli authorities to Gaza residents are moving to the south of the Gaza Strip.

“I hope we will find a solution and bring the culprits to justice,” said the high commissioner.

He also expressed regret that “massive Israeli bombardments killed, maimed and injured, especially women and children”, recalling that in the month of war, more than 10,500 people died in the enclave, including more than 4300 children and 2800 womenaccording to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health.

“We have fallen off a cliff. This cannot continue,” complained the UN representative who visited the Rafah crossing this Wednesday, which connects Gaza with Egypt and is the only border crossing through which humanitarian aid has entered the enclave so far.

Türk also insisted that “the world cannot afford double standards” and that “universal standards” must prevail in dealing with this war, such as international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

“And those rules are clear: the parties to the conflict have an obligation to ensure the protection of the civilian population and civilian objects at all times, which remains applicable during the attack,” Türk said, adding that “The actions of one party do not release the other from its obligations”.

As for the resolution of the conflict, the UN representative assured that it is of utmost importance to allow “the political space to implement a permanent end to the occupation”, based on the right of Palestinians and Israelis “to self-determination”.

“It is no longer enough to simply say that the 56-year occupation must end. The international community must participate in the search for a just and equal future for the Palestinian and Israeli people,” said the United Nations human rights chief.