Latest news with #UNCommission
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel guilty of ‘extermination' in attacks on schools, mosques: UN
Israel has committed the crime against humanity of 'extermination' by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites in Gaza, an independent United Nations commission report says. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, made the accusation in a report released on Tuesday. The report also said Israeli forces have committed war crimes, 'including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing, in their attacks on educational facilities that caused civilian casualties'. 'We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza,' commission chair Navi Pillay, a former UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement. The report said Israel has damaged or destroyed more than 90 percent of the school and university buildings in Gaza and destroyed more than half of all religious and cultural sites in the territory. 'While the destruction of cultural property, including educational facilities, was not in itself a genocidal act, evidence of such conduct may nevertheless infer genocidal intent to destroy a protected group,' the report said. '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,' Pillay continued. While the report focused on the impact on Gaza, the commission also reported significant consequences for the Palestinian education system in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as a result of ramped-up Israeli military activity, harassment of students and settler attacks. 'Children in Gaza have lost their childhood. With no education available, they are forced to worry about survival amid attacks, uncertainty, starvation and subhuman living conditions,' said Pillay. 'What is particularly disturbing is the widespread nature of the targeting of educational facilities, which has extended well beyond Gaza, impacting all Palestinian children.' The report will be formally presented to the UN Human Rights Council on June 17. Israel withdrew from the council in February after accusing it of bias. The commission's previous report on Gaza, published in March, accused Israel of committing 'genocidal acts' by destroying reproductive healthcare facilities. That prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse the council of being 'an anti-Semitic, corrupt, terror-supporting, and irrelevant body'.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
UN experts accuse Israel of ‘extermination' in attacks on Gaza schools, religious sites
An independent United Nations commission said Tuesday that Israeli attacks on schools, religious sites, and cultural institutions in Gaza amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of seeking to exterminate Palestinians. 'Israel has obliterated Gaza's education system and destroyed over half of all religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip,' the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a report. It accused Israeli forces of committing 'war crimes, including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing,' in attacks on educational facilities that caused civilian casualties. 'In killing civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites, Israeli security forces committed the crime against humanity of extermination,' the report said. While the destruction of cultural property, including educational facilities, was not in itself a genocidal act, the report added, 'evidence of such conduct may nevertheless infer genocidal intent to destroy a protected group.' Commission chair Navi Pillay said in a statement: 'We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza.' 'Children in Gaza have lost their childhood,' she said. 'They are forced to worry about survival amid attacks, uncertainty, starvation, and subhuman living conditions.' The three-member commission said Israeli attacks 'targeted religious sites that served as places of refuge, killing hundreds of people, including women and children.' The commission was set up by the UN to investigate violations of humanitarian and human rights law in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. In May, UN humanitarian relief chief Tom Fletcher urged UN Security Council members to take action 'to prevent genocide' in Gaza. Israel has denied committing genocide. Fletcher also demanded that Israel lift its aid blockade on Gaza, where the UN says the entire population of more than two million people is at risk of famine. 'For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now?' Fletcher said on May 14. 'Will you act — decisively — to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?' The UN commission's report focused primarily on Gaza but also addressed Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories more broadly, including East Jerusalem and inside Israel. It said Israel had 'done little' to prevent or prosecute Jewish settlers in the West Bank who 'intentionally targeted educational facilities and students to terrorise communities and force them to leave their homes.' The report also said Israeli authorities had intimidated and, in some cases, detained Israeli and Palestinian teachers and students who expressed concern or solidarity with Gaza's civilian population. The commission urged Israel to stop attacking cultural, religious, and educational institutions, 'immediately end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory,' and cease all settlement activity. It also said the Israeli government should comply fully with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice, which require Israel 'to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide against people in Gaza' and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. The panel also called on Hamas to 'cease using civilian objects for military purposes.' Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,218 people — mostly civilians — according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel's subsequent offensive has killed at least 54,880 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The UN considers those figures reliable.
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
UN experts accuse Israel of ‘extermination' in Gaza school, religious site attacks
GENEVA, June 10 — An independent United Nations commission said on Tuesday Israeli attacks on schools, religious and cultural sites in Gaza amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of seeking to exterminate Palestinians. 'Israel has obliterated Gaza's education system and destroyed over half of all religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip,' the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a report. It accused Israeli forces of committing 'war crimes, including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing, in their attacks on educational facilities that caused civilian casualties. 'In killing civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites, Israeli security forces committed the crime against humanity of extermination,' the report said. It noted: 'While the destruction of cultural property, including educational facilities, was not in itself a genocidal act, evidence of such conduct may nevertheless infer genocidal intent to destroy a protected group.' Commission chair Navi Pillay said in a statement accompanying the report: 'We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza.' 'Children in Gaza have lost their childhood,' the senior South African judge said. 'They are forced to worry about survival amid attacks, uncertainty, starvation and subhuman living conditions.' The three-member commission said Israeli attacks 'targeted religious sites that served as places of refuge, killing hundreds of people, including women and children'. 'Genocide' warning The commission was set up by the UN to investigate violations of humanitarian and human rights law in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. In May, UN humanitarian relief chief Tom Fletcher urged the countries of the UN Security Council to take action 'to prevent genocide' in Gaza. Israel has denied committing genocide. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs demanded that Israel lift its aid blockade on Gaza, where the UN says the entire population of more than two million people is at risk of famine. 'For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now?' Fletcher said on May 14. 'Will you act — decisively — to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?' The UN commission's report paid special attention to Gaza but also focused on Israeli attacks on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories as a whole, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel itself. It said Israel had 'done little' to prevent or prosecute Jewish settlers in the West Bank who 'intentionally targeted educational facilities and students to terrorise (Palestinian) communities and force them to leave their homes'. The report said Israeli authorities had intimidated and, in some cases, detained Israeli and Palestinian teachers and students who 'expressed concern or solidarity with the civilian population in Gaza'. Call to Israel The panel urged the Israeli government to stop attacking cultural, religious and education institutions, 'immediately end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory' and cease all settlement activity. It said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should comply fully with provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice. The court has ordered Israel 'to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide against people in Gaza' and allow humanitarian aid to get through. It also urged Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, 'to cease using civilian objects for military purposes'. Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. In response Israel launched an offensive during which the health ministry in Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority of them civilians, have been killed. The UN considers these figures reliable. The commission is to present its findings to the UN Commission on Human Rights on June 17. — AFP
Washington Post
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
The stench of Russian war crimes and the imperative of justice
STOCKHOLM — The suffocating stench of Russian war crimes in Ukraine — now classified as crimes against humanity by a United Nations-mandated commission — seeps from mountains of reports and journalism. The effect of the findings — horrific, repetitive, exhaustively documented — is to make us emotionally numb to the scale of depravity and suffering.
