UN launches investigation to determine whether Hamas and Israel have committed war crimes

The Commission of Inquiry of the UN for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, chaired by Navy Pillay, said today that it has begun collecting evidence on war crimes committed by Hamas, other Palestinian armed groups and Israeli security forces since October 7. “The atrocities we have witnessed since that day add unprecedented urgency to our conclusions and recommendations,” Pillay, who was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. human rights between 2008 and 2014.

The South African jurist added, in light of recent events, that “civilians and civilian facilities must always be protected, they are never a legitimate target, and all parties must fulfill their obligation to protect them in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

Pillay has made these statements upon publication of a report by the commission on human rights violations in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that does not address the most recent events (includes the period between May 2021 and August 2023), although according to the jurist “it shows that the only way to end violence is through respect for international law.”

“This requires addressing the original causes of the conflict, including the occupation of Palestinian territory, and allowing that population to exercise its right to self-determination,” added the president of the commission.

The report concludes that all parties to the conflict, including Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and the “de facto government in Gaza” have refused to take preventive measures to avoid civilian casualties in two years of violence, exacerbating the crisis and “deepening divisions and hatred. He adds that the firing of rockets and mortars by armed Palestinian groups into civilian-populated areas constitutes a war crime, although he also calls Israel’s “disproportionate” response to the attacks as such.

On the other hand, blocking the entry of food and medical supplies into Gaza is a “violation of international humanitarian law,” the report adds.