GENEVA: The “carnage” in Gaza has left more than 30,000 Palestinians killed must end immediately, UN rights chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council this evening, after almost five months of constant Israeli bombardment and mass displacement of Palestinians in the enclave.
“The war in Gaza must end,” Türk said, insisting that it was “well past time” for peace, accountability and investigations into the “clear” violations of international humanitarian law and possible war crimes throughout the course of the ongoing Israeli aggression.
“There appear to be no bounds to – no words to capture – the horrors that are unfolding before our eyes in Gaza,” said High Commissioner Türk, as he presented a scheduled report from his Office, OHCHR, on the desperate situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the Council.
Underscoring the “unprecedented level of killing and maiming” of civilians in the enclave, Türk noted that at least 17,000 Palestinian children have now been orphaned or separated from their
families.
Türk pointed out that at least three in four Gazans had been displaced by the war, amid the “systematic demolition of entire neighborhoods” that had rendered Gaza largely uninhabitable.
Addressing the Council, which is the UN’s top rights forum under the auspices of the UN General Assembly, Türk said that thousands of tons of munitions had been dropped by Israel on communities across Gaza since 7 October.
“These weapons send out a massive blast wave of high pressure that may rupture internal organs, as well as fragmentation projectiles, and heat so intense that it causes deep burns – and they have been used in densely populated residential neighborhoods,” he said.
“In Egypt’s Arish hospital, last November, I saw children whose flesh had been seared. I will never forget this.”
The High Commissioner also noted that likely “indiscriminate or disproportionate targeting” by Israel had left tens of thousands of Gazans missing, “presumed buried under the rubble of their homes”.
Source: Palestine New
s and Information Agency – WAFA
The following is a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the UN Sscretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, on Gaza: “The Secretary-General is appalled by the tragic human toll of the conflict in Gaza., in which more than 30,000 people have now reportedly been killed and over 70,000 injured. Tragically, an unknown number of people lie under rubble.
The Secretary-General condemns the incident today in northern Gaza in which more than a hundred people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving aid. The desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the besieged north where the United Nations has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages. He once again calls for urgent steps so that critical humanitarian aid can get into and across Gaza to all those in need.
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon