In a recent statement, United Nations human rights experts have raised alarm over what they describe as a systematic campaign of crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. The experts highlighted a series of concerning incidents and actions, including the deadly airstrikes on a hospital and refugee shelters, as evidence that Israeli officials may be seeking to eradicate the entire Palestinian population.
The experts, members of the UN Human Rights Council’s independent Special Procedures body, also pointed to statements made by Israeli political leaders and their allies, as well as military actions in Gaza and increased arrests and killings in the West Bank, as indicators of a potential risk of genocide against the Palestinian people.
The deadly strike on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which resulted in the deaths of more than 470 civilians, was singled out as an atrocity that deeply outraged the experts. They also expressed dismay over a deadly strike on the same day at a UNRWA school in the Al Maghazi refugee camp, where around 4,000 displaced people had sought shelter, as well as attacks on densely populated refugee camps.
The experts highlighted severe humanitarian and legal concerns, including Israel’s 16-year siege of Gaza, the deprivation of essential resources such as food, fuel, water, electricity, and medicine for 2.2 million people, and the dire situation of approximately 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza in need of prenatal and postnatal care. The ongoing displacement crisis in Gaza was also mentioned, with an estimated one million internally displaced people.
The experts reminded that the UN Security Council has repeatedly condemned the use of starvation as a method of warfare, which is prohibited under international humanitarian and criminal law. Denying humanitarian access and depriving civilians of essential resources are clear violations of international humanitarian law.
The experts called for the protection of all humanitarian workers, citing more than 136 documented attacks on healthcare services in the occupied Palestinian territory, including 59 in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 16 healthcare workers since the start of hostilities on October 7.
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has also taken a toll on humanitarian workers, with 15 United Nations Refugee Works Agency (UNRWA) staff members and four Palestine Red Crescent paramedics in an ambulance losing their lives. An ambulance driver from Magen David Adom in Israel was also killed while en route to treat the injured.
The experts condemned the complete siege of Gaza, along with unfeasible evacuation orders and forced population transfers, as violations of international humanitarian and criminal law, and an unspeakably cruel situation.
They emphasized that the deliberate and systematic destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure, known as ‘domicide,’ as well as cutting off access to drinking water, medicine, and essential food, are clear violations of international criminal law.
In closing, the experts called for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded access to essential humanitarian supplies, including food, water, shelter, medicine, fuel, and electricity. They emphasized the need to guarantee the physical safety of the civilian population, the end of the occupation, and reparations, restitution, and reconstruction towards full justice for Palestinians. They also expressed their dismay at the international community’s inaction in the face of the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis.