70% victims of Gaza war are women, children

UN human rights chief calls for due reckoning for horrific crimes in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS:

The UN human rights chief has called for "due reckoning" for horrific violations and possible atrocity crimes in Gaza, following the release of a new report outlining the actions taken by Israeli forces during its genocidal war against Palestinian people.

The report details the horrific reality faced by both the people of Israel and Gaza since October 7, 2023, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stressing the imperative for Israel to fully and immediately comply with its obligations under international law and the rules of war.

The report said that the conduct by Israeli forces had caused unprecedented levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness and disease. It added that the UN rights office, the OHCHR, had been verifying the personal details of those killed in Gaza by strikes, shelling and other conduct of hostilities.

According to the report, the OHCHR's findings said that close to 70% of the victims were children and women, which indicated Israel's systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.

The continuation of these attacks, killing evenly across the population, "demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected," the report stated.

"It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," Turk said, presenting the report.

This was even more critical and urgent, given the totality of conduct set out in the report and taking into account most recent events, including Israel's ongoing operations in northern Gaza and its adoption of legislation affecting the activities of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, he added.

Turk recalled states' obligations to act to prevent atrocity crimes, urging them to support the work of accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) in relation to the current conflict.