UN report urges accountability, justice for violations by all parties in occupied Palestinian territories, Israel

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - A UN report Friday urged accountability and justice for severe violations of armed conflict laws and other gross human rights violations committed by all parties in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Israel.

The UN Human Rights Office report covers the year leading up to Oct. 31, 2023.

"The entrenched impunity reported by our Office for decades cannot be permitted to continue," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Volker Turk. "There must be accountability on all sides for violations seen over 56 years of occupation and the 16 years of blockade of Gaza, and up to today."

He said justice is needed to end cycles of violence and enable Palestinians and Israelis to take meaningful steps toward peace.

The report raises concerns about unlawful killings, hostage-taking, the wanton destruction of civilian property, collective punishment and deprivation of essential services.

It alludes to strikes on civilian infrastructure, forced displacement, incitement to hatred and violence, sexual assault and torture -- all prohibited by international human rights law.

Turk urged all parties to immediately cease violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law.

- 'Cooperate with international mechanisms'

The UN Human Rights chief urged all parties to cooperate with international mechanisms for accountability, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.

The report said Al Qassam, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups, committed serious violations of international law on a wide scale on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8.

These included attacks directed against civilians, willful killing and mistreatment of civilians, wanton destruction of civilian objects, and the taking of hostages, which amount to war crimes.

Accounts that members of Palestinian armed groups and others committed rape, sexual assault, and torture require further investigation and full accountability by international law, said the Human Rights Office.

"The ensuing military response by Israel - and its choice of means and methods of warfare - have led to massive suffering of Palestinians," said the report.

Those actions include the extensive killing of civilians, repeated displacement, destruction of homes and the denial of sufficient food and other essentials of life, the report stated.

"Women and children have suffered especially. Clear violations of international law have been committed," the report notes.

Most of Gaza's population has been repeatedly displaced and crammed into shelters.

"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, which are war crimes, and may also, depending on further investigation, amount to other serious crimes under international law," it said.

- Strikes on refugee camp

The report noted that two strikes on the Jabalia Refugee Camp and one on Al-Yarmouk in Gaza City, involved explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas, resulting in enormous destruction.

The Human Rights Office verified 153 deaths in the attacks, but the number could be as high as 243.

"Launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in death or injury to civilians, or an attack in the knowledge that it will cause excessive incidental civilian loss, injury or damage, are war crimes," said Turk.

The report also decried attacks damaging or destroying a large number of hospitals across Gaza and noted that medical facilities are protected infrastructure under international humanitarian law.

It also urged accountability concerning Israeli practices in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which has seen a significant increase in unlawful killings, mass arrests, ill-treatment and disproportionate restrictions on movement.