Israeli Bombings in Gaza Show Signs of War Crimes: OHCHR Report
Palestinian victims of indiscriminate Israeli bombings in Gaza, 2024. Photo: X/ @EurekaNews10
June 19, 2024 Hour: 9:27 am
The report details attacks targeting civil buildings and refugee camps, which involved the suspected use of GBU bombs.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) releases a report showing that Israeli occupation forces may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war in a series of prohibited indiscriminate attacks on Gaza.
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Released during the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the report details six notable attacks targeting Gaza’s residential buildings, a school, refugee camps, and a market between Oct. 9 and Dec. 2, 2023, which involved the suspected use of GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39 bombs.
GBU-31, 32 and 39 bombs are mostly used to penetrate through several floors of concrete and can completely collapse tall structures. Given how densely populated the areas targeted were, the use of an explosive weapon with such wide area effects is highly likely to amount to a prohibited indiscriminate attack.
These attacks “led to high numbers of civilian fatalities and widespread destruction of civilian objects, raising serious concerns under the laws of war with respect to the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack,” said the report.
“The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimize to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
The report also noted that unlawful targeting when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population, in line with a state or organizational policy, may also implicate the commission of crimes against humanity.
“Israel’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities in Gaza since Oct. 7, including the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, have failed to ensure that they effectively distinguish between civilians and combatants,” it said.
Source: Xinhua
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