UN human rights chief warns of ‘heightened risk of atrocity crimes’ in Gaza
The UN human rights chief has warned of a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in Gaza, urging parties involved to refrain from committing such violations.
“My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic. In these circumstances, there is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes,” Volker Türk told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.
“Measures need to be taken urgently, both by the parties concerned and by all states, particularly those with influence, to prevent any such crimes.”
Key events
More from the United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk (see 10.30am post) who has warned there was a heightened risk of “atrocity crimes” in Gaza, urging parties involved to refrain from committing such violations.
“Some 1.9 million out of the 2.2 million Palestinians have been displaced and are being pushed into ever diminishing and extremely overcrowded places in southern Gaza in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions,” Turk said.
“Humanitarian aid is again virtually cut off as fears of widespread disease and hunger spread.”
Turk said that the only way to end the conflict was to end the Israeli occupation and opt for a two-state solution.
“I think one thing is very clear: it cannot go back to what it was,” he said.
Turk’s office requested access to Israel to collect information on the 7 October attacks, including acts of sexual violence, but had not received a response from Israel.
Israeli authorities have already opened their own investigation into sexual violence committed by Hamas.
“I’ve repeated this call and I hope it will be heard,” Turk said on his request to access Israel. “It is clear: atrocious forms of sexual violence need to be thoroughly investigated.”
Hamas denies its fighters committed such abuses.
Turk also noted what he called “dehumanising and inciteful statements” made by high-level Israeli officials and figures from Hamas, which he said could potentially be viewed as incitement to committing atrocity crimes.
“History has shown us where this kind of language can lead,” he said. “This is not just unacceptable, but a competent court may view such statements in the circumstances in which they are made as incitement to atrocity crimes.”
Israel’s military has said in the last hour that it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched towards Eilat in southern Israel, and that Israeli forces have responded to a “number of launches” from Lebanon in the north of the country.
In messages posted to the Telegram messaging app, the IDF said:
Following the report regarding sirens that sounded in the city of Eilat, a launch of a surface-to-surface missile toward Israel was identified, and was successfully intercepted in the area of the Red Sea by the “Arrow” aerial defence system. The target did not cross into Israeli territory [and] did not pose a threat to civilians.
It also posted to say:
A short while ago, a number of launches were identified from Lebanon. The IDF is striking the sources of the fire. Furthermore, since this morning, IDF tanks and artillery have been striking several locations in Lebanon and IDF aircraft struck a military command center and military infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
It said that the launches from Lebanon had been aimed at IDF military posts.
This is an updated map showing the extent of damage in the Gaza Strip caused by the Israeli bombardment since 7 October. The UN has said 1.87 million people – more than 80% of Gaza’s population – have been driven from their homes since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel began its campaign after Hamas launched its surprise attack inside southern Israel on 7 October, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and during which an estimated 240 were abducted and taken captive. Israeli authorities believe that 138 hostages who were seized that day are still being held in Gaza.
Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Wednesday that it was important to minimise civilian casualties in the conflict with Hamas, Reuters reports the Japanese government said.
Hamas has claimed that Israel has killed at least 16,248 people, including 7,112 children and 4,885 women, in Gaza since 7 October. There are reported to be more than 7,600 people missing. Earlier this week an unnamed Israeli military source told news agencies it estimated that 15,000 people had been killed, with 5,000 of them being combatants.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures issued during the conflict.
Warning sirens have sounded in Eilat, Israel’s southern resort and port city on the Red Sea.
While warning sirens in the north of Israel near the blue line boundary with Lebanon, and in the south in proximity to the Gaza Strip are a regular occurrence, it is rarer for a warning to sound in Eilat. The city has been targeted previously in this conflict by Yemen’s Houthi group, and also with a long-range attempted strike from inside Gaza.
Turkey’s president, who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, has told Turkish media that there would be serious consequences if Israel pressed ahead with a threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil, and said his country has petitioned the international criminal court for Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was speaking to journalists on a flight returning from Qatar on Tuesday, with the media in Turkey reporting the comments on Wednesday morning.
His comments echoed warnings from other Turkish officials on Tuesday in response to the head of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, who said in an audio recording that his organization is prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place,” including inside Turkey.
On the legal moves, Erdoğan said “We brought the war crimes committed in Gaza to the court’s agenda and we will be following up on this. Netanyahu will not be able to evade paying the penalty for his actions. Sooner or later, he will be tried and will pay the price for the war crimes he committed”. Erdoğan has previously referred to Netanyahu as “the butcher of Gaza”.
Erdoğan also rejected comments made in Israel about the future of Gaza, saying that plans for a buffer zone conveyed by Israel to several Arab states and Turkey were disrespectful” to Palestinians.
Erdoğan said Gaza’s future after the war would be decided by Palestinian people and that Israel must return the territories it occupies. He also said western support for Israel, namely from the US, had caused the current situation in the region.
UN human rights chief warns of ‘heightened risk of atrocity crimes’ in Gaza
The UN human rights chief has warned of a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in Gaza, urging parties involved to refrain from committing such violations.
“My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic. In these circumstances, there is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes,” Volker Türk told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.
“Measures need to be taken urgently, both by the parties concerned and by all states, particularly those with influence, to prevent any such crimes.”
The UK maritime trade operations agency has reported an incident involving a drone in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen.
The Iran-allied Houthi group has recently attacked shipping in the region in a bid to target Israeli interests.
The Israeli army has said the International Committee of the Red Cross must have access to the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza Strip.
“As the IDF expands its operations to dismantle Hamas in Gaza, we have not lost sight … of our critical mission to rescue our hostages,” the army spokesperson, Daniel Hagari said, Agence France-Presse reports.
“The international community must take action. The Red Cross must have access to the hostages that are in the hands of Hamas.”
Israel believes 138 of the estimated 240 people seized in Hamas’s attack on 7 October are being held in Gaza.
One hundred and five hostages were released during the recent temporary truce.
Israel has previously complained that one of the conditions of the ceasefire had been to allow the Red Cross access to hostages, which was not met by Hamas.
Last week, Rachel Goldberg, whose son is believed to be a hostage, said the Red Cross had done a good job “being the Uber service for the released hostages” but had done nothing for those still in captivity.
Tass reports that Vladimir Putin has arrived in Abu Dhabi. He is scheduled to hold talks with UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Russian leader will then travel to Riyadh for talks with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Topics for discussion are anticipated to include the conflict in Gaza, as well as oil production policies.
The trip makes a rare foray outside Russia for Putin, who has had an international criminal court arrest warrant issued against him for his alleged role in the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
In a separate development, Tass reports that the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has announced that 883 Russians of about 1,100 who asked for help in evacuating from Gaza have arrived in Russia.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Khan Younis, where there are reports today of a heavy bombardment and the movement of Israeli tanks into the city.
AFP reports that the streets of Khan Younis were almost empty on Wednesday morning as people tried to take shelter from shelling and artillery fire.
Hassan Al-Qadi, a displaced Khan Younis resident taking refuge in Rafah told the news agency:
The whole city is suffering from destruction and relentless shelling. Many people arriving from northern Gaza are facing dire circumstances. Many are homeless and some are searching for their missing children. We are not mere numbers. We are human beings.
Summary of the day so far …
It is 11.30am in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
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Israeli forces have expanded their ground offensive inside Gaza to include its second-largest city, further shrinking the area where Palestinians can seek safety and halting the distribution of vital aid across most of the territory. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have told AFP their fighters were battling Israeli troops early on Wednesday in an effort to prevent them from breaking into Khan Younis, which local media reported was under heavy bombardment, with Israeli tanks approaching from the east.
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Israel has told Palestinians that it will not allow the movement of civilians on the Salah al-Din road that runs through the Gaza Strip in sections north and east of Khan Younis. It is instead instructing residents evacuating from the north to use a diversion along a coastal route where it says the IDF will allow movement.
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Israel’s military has said it struck at approximately 250 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip over the last day, including targeting what it claimed was Hamas activity located at schools. Israeli forces have killed at least 16,248 people, including 7,112 children and 4,885 women, in Gaza since 7 October, a statement from the Hamas media office has said. At least 43,616 people have been injured and at least 7,600 people are missing, according to the statement on Tuesday.
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Fuel and medical supplies are at critically low levels at al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza due to road closures while hundreds of patients are being admitted every day, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said.
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The UN’s top aid official has said the Israeli military campaign in southern Gaza has been just as devastating as in the north, creating “apocalyptic” conditions and ending any possibility of meaningful humanitarian operations. Martin Griffiths, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said he was speaking on behalf of the entire international aid community in saying the continuing offensive had robbed aid workers of any significant means of helping the 2.3 million people of Gaza.
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Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says the Israeli military will retain open-ended security control over the Gaza Strip long after its war against Hamas ends. In a news conference late Tuesday, Netanyahu said Gaza would have to remain demilitarized and that the only body capable of ensuring this would be the Israeli military.
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Two Palestinians have been killed in clashes with the Israeli military in the West Bank, local media has reported.
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The US president, Joe Biden, has denounced the reported rape and sexual violence committed against Israeli girls and women by Hamas militants during the 7 October attack on Israel, calling on the world to condemn such conduct “without equivocation” and “without exception.”
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Israeli media is reporting that the health of Hanna Katzir, one of the hostages released by Hamas from Gaza last month, has deteriorated. Her daughter told army radio she had returned “both heartbroken and with cardiological problems”.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
