By Beyza Binnur Donmez
GENEVA (AA) – Israel's proposed so-called "safe zone" is "neither safe nor feasible," as civilians must be protected throughout Gaza wherever they are, the UN human rights chief said on Friday.
"The current Israeli proposal for a so called 'safe-zone' is untenable. The zone is neither safe nor feasible for the number of people in need," Volker Turk said in a virtual address to a UN General Assembly meeting on Gaza in New York.
"Civilians must be protected throughout Gaza wherever they are," he urged.
Voicing alarm about the imminent, total depletion of fuel supplies, Turk said: "Already, this is leading to the collapse of water, sewage and crucial health care services, and could end the trickle of humanitarian assistance that Israel has to date permitted to enter Gaza."
The "safe zone" proposal seems to answer the question of Israel's intentions for Gaza after ordering the mass displacement of northern Gazans to go to the south, but due to the reasons cited by UN officials, especially the small size of the area for over 2.2 million people, the proposal is certain to face fierce criticism.
Reminding the parties of their obligations to distinguish between civilians and combatants, and between civilian objects and military objectives, Turk said: "Attacks directed at civilians or protected civilian objects – such as hospitals – are prohibited."
"No one is above the law," he said. "Breaches of international humanitarian law – even war crimes – committed by one party do not, ever, absolve the other from compliance with the principles of the law of war and their human rights obligations."
Not only the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and taking and holding of hostages by the Palestinian group are prohibited by laws, but civilian deaths, damage caused to protected areas, use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in densely populated areas, forced displacement, collective punishment, and siege on Gaza by Israel are also prohibited, he said.
- 'I'm ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the West Bank'
The human rights chief said that he is "deeply concerned" about escalating violence and severe discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
"I'm alarmed by the rise in killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers, displacement of Palestinian communities due to settler violence, a sharp increase in seemingly arbitrary arrests and detention, and the ill treatment of Palestinians in detention," Turk said. "I'm ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the West Bank."
He urged Israeli authorities to take "immediate steps" to ensure that the security forces comply with their obligations as an occupying power to protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including from violence by settlers.
"Investigations into violations must be carried out without delay," he said.
If there is one lesson to be learned from this crisis, he said, it is the centrality of human rights in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict.
"It is clear that the Israeli occupation must end. It is essential to ensure the rights of Palestinians to self-determination and to their own state," Turk said, adding that Israel's freedom is "inextricably bound up" with Palestinians freedom.
The Palestinian death toll from an ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip has surged past 12,000, the government media office in the besieged enclave said on Friday.
“The victims include more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women, while 30,000 others have been injured,” the media office said in a statement.
Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques, and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel's relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.
An Israeli blockade also cut Gaza off from fuel, electricity and water supplies, and reduced aid deliveries to a small trickle.
The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.