UN: "systematic war crimes" during Gaza offensive
AFP | 23.01.2009 05:08 | Cambridge | Oxford
"The evidence of breaking of fundamental rules of international humanitarian law is so compelling," he added, backing calls for an independent, international investigation.
GENEVA (AFP) — A UN human rights expert on Thursday said Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip during its recent offensive there raised "the spectre of systematic war crimes" and needed to be investigated.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, said he had little doubt about the "unavoidably inhuman character of a large scale military operation of the sort that Israel has initiated... against an essentially defenceless population."
Falk told journalists that Israeli military operations in the densely populated territory among a population weakened by an 18 month blockade "raises the spectre of systematic war crimes."
"Unlawful targets have been selected" during the fighting, he alleged.
"The evidence of breaking of fundamental rules of international humanitarian law is so compelling," he added, backing calls for an independent, international investigation.
Falk, a legal expert, insisted that the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip was effectively trapped in a war zone and prevented from fleeing, even if they were ill, wounded, or children.
The 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted by a large majority on January 12 to set up a probe into "grave" human rights violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
More than 1,300 Palestinians, nearly a third of them children, were reportedly killed and 5,300 wounded in the 22-day Israeli offensive launched with the declared aim of stopping rocket attacks on southern Israel by Palestinian militants.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed in Israel during the same period. Israel has accused Palestinian Hamas militants of using civilian locations as cover during fighting.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated Wednesday his demand for a full explanation of "outrageous" Israeli attacks on UN facilities in the Gaza Strip including a school used as a refuge for civilians.
The UN chief noted that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had promised to provide results of the Israeli inquiry "on an urgent basis" and said he would then decide on "appropriate follow-up action."
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, said he had little doubt about the "unavoidably inhuman character of a large scale military operation of the sort that Israel has initiated... against an essentially defenceless population."
Falk told journalists that Israeli military operations in the densely populated territory among a population weakened by an 18 month blockade "raises the spectre of systematic war crimes."
"Unlawful targets have been selected" during the fighting, he alleged.
"The evidence of breaking of fundamental rules of international humanitarian law is so compelling," he added, backing calls for an independent, international investigation.
Falk, a legal expert, insisted that the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip was effectively trapped in a war zone and prevented from fleeing, even if they were ill, wounded, or children.
The 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted by a large majority on January 12 to set up a probe into "grave" human rights violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
More than 1,300 Palestinians, nearly a third of them children, were reportedly killed and 5,300 wounded in the 22-day Israeli offensive launched with the declared aim of stopping rocket attacks on southern Israel by Palestinian militants.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed in Israel during the same period. Israel has accused Palestinian Hamas militants of using civilian locations as cover during fighting.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated Wednesday his demand for a full explanation of "outrageous" Israeli attacks on UN facilities in the Gaza Strip including a school used as a refuge for civilians.
The UN chief noted that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had promised to provide results of the Israeli inquiry "on an urgent basis" and said he would then decide on "appropriate follow-up action."
AFP