UN Human Rights Chief: Israel, Hamas May Be Committing War Crimes
The United Nations’ human rights chief, Navi Pillay, spoke about the continuing crisis and Israel today, and observed that “there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes.”
According to CNN, Pillay expressed concern about the lack of care for civilians targeted by both Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian fighters, though another U.N. official did appear yesterday to say the situation is far worse for civilians in Gaza because “there is literally no safe place” for them.
In her remarks today, Pillay warned that if Israel doesn’t show a proper respect for civilian lives, it may actually constitute war crimes:
“It is imperative that Israel, Hamas and all Palestinian armed groups strictly abide by applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This entails applying the principles of distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives; proportionality; and precautions in attack. Respect for the right to life of civilians, including children, should be a foremost consideration. Not abiding by these principles may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Israel has argued that Hamas is using civilians as human shields, while Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said, “It is regrettable civilians are killed, but when we call on them to vacate and Hamas calls on them to stay, then that is what happens.” Livni also dismissed the U.N. Human Rights Council as “anti-Israel.”
[h/t Al Jazeera]
[image via Shutterstock]
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