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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday said Israel’s actions in Gaza could be deemed as war crimes while also condemning the haphazard rocket fire by Hamas.
“There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes”, she said at an emergency session of the UN Human rights council to discuss Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
She added that Israelis had the right to live without constantly fearing the next rocket attack.
“Once again, the principles of distinction and precaution are clearly not being observed during such indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups”, she said.
The Human rights council was ready to demand an international enquiry into the Israeli offensive in Palestinian territories.
“Israel is in the process of committing hideous crimes”, Riyad al-Maliki, Palestinian Foreign Minister told the council.
He also said that residential areas were leveled, and 2,500 houses were destroyed in the past two weeks. He added that the Israeli forces had also targeted medical centers in Gaza.
“What Israel is doing is a crime against humanity”, he said.
The meeting was convened by Arab nations and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
The council was going to vote on a resolution Palestine had lodged condemning “the widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza.
The resolution also asked the council to “urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry” tasked with probing “all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law”.
It said that the aim was to “establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated and to identify those responsible, to make recommendations, in particular, on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable, and on ways and means to protect civilians against any further assaults”.
It also urged the “immediate International Protection for the Palestinian people” and requested Switzerland, guardian of Geneva Conventions overseeing conduct in warfare, call for an urgent conference regarding the situation in Gaza.