By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN special rapporteur on human rights in counter-terrorism, Ben Saul, criticized on Monday Israel’s military actions in Gaza and called on all nations to stop supplying weapons, citing violations of humanitarian law.
Speaking at a news conference in New York, Saul highlighted "a pattern of deliberate indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks harming large numbers of civilians" by Israel.
Saul described Israel's use of "high explosive munitions in densely populated areas, which by nature cannot distinguish between civilians and military targets," and its use of starvation as well as denial of aid relief as a "weapon of war."
Highlighting concerns over Israel’s actions violating international norms, Saul reaffirmed call "on all States not to provide weapons or munitions to Israel, because that would breach the obligation of other states to ensure respect for humanitarian law."
He also expressed frustration with Israel’s disregard for repeated calls from international bodies to respect humanitarian law.
"Unfortunately, Israel hasn’t taken the message from the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, many governments, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council," he said.
Saul further clarified the distinction between legitimate resistance and terrorism, saying that under international law, people facing occupation or colonialism have a right to resist.
He stressed that "this right to resist has to be exercised in accordance with international humanitarian law," adding that "national liberation and self-determination is a just cause, but…you can't murder civilians or deliberately attack civilians or take hostages."
Saul said that "these are red lines in international law for everybody," underscoring the importance of upholding these standards in all conflicts.