The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination warned on Thursday of hate speech and inhuman speech targeting Palestinians, raising serious concerns about the commitment of Israel and other countries to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide in the Gaza Strip, following the postponement of a vote in the Security Council on a resolution. It aims to increase aid to the sector.
The UN Security Council is waiting for the position of the United States to try again today, Thursday, to speak with one voice through a vote that was postponed several times on a draft resolution on Gaza.
The committee said that it was “deeply concerned about the resumption of brutal hostilities in the Gaza Strip, occupied since the beginning of December, after a 7-day cessation.”
She expressed deep shock at the “intense, brutal and indiscriminate Israeli bombing operations” from the air, land and sea throughout the Gaza Strip, and the expansion of the Israeli ground military operation into the south of the Strip, which led to the death of about 20,000 Palestinians.
She said that the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip raises serious concerns about the commitment of Israel and other States parties to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide.
The Committee also expressed its deep concern about racist hate speech, incitement to violence and acts of genocide, as well as inhumane rhetoric targeting Palestinians since October 7, 2023 by senior Israeli government officials, members of Parliament, politicians and public figures.
the bell of danger
The Committee also sounded the alarm about the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the past few weeks, including the increase in the unlawful use of lethal force by Israeli occupying forces, violence by settlers, and arbitrary arrests and detention of Palestinians.
The Committee urged an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and called on Israel and the State of Palestine to fully cooperate with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the International Independent Investigation Commission in their investigations.
It also urged all States Parties to ensure that all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as other international crimes in ongoing armed conflicts, are brought to justice expeditiously.
It is noteworthy that voting on a draft resolution on Gaza in the Security Council was scheduled for last Monday, but it was postponed several times – most recently yesterday, Wednesday – at the request of the Americans, who used their veto on December 8 against a previous text calling for “a cessation of “Humanitarian shooting” in the Gaza Strip, which is bombed by Israeli forces.
The text calls, in particular, on “parties to the conflict” to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid throughout the sector “by land, sea and air,” and asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a follow-up mechanism to confirm the “humanitarian” nature of the conflict.
The draft resolution also condemns “all indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and “all terrorist acts” and calls for the release of hostages.