UN experts: Israel commits 'extermination' in Gaza by killing civilians sheltering in schools
UN experts said in a report on Tuesday that Israel has committed the crime against humanity of "extermination" by killing civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites in Gaza, part of a "concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life".
"We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza," former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.
"Israel's targeting of the educational, cultural and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm the present generations and generations to come, hindering their right to self-determination," she added.
In its latest report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, chaired by Pillay, said Israel had destroyed more than 90 percent of the school and university buildings and more than half of all religious and cultural sites in Gaza.
"Israeli forces committed war crimes, including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing, in their attacks on educational facilities ... In killing civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites, Israeli security forces committed the crime against humanity of extermination," it said.
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