The Palestinian people “are at serious risk of genocide”, say the UN special rapporteurs. ‘The time to act is now.’
United Nations experts have called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying time is running out for the Palestinian people who face a “grave risk of genocide”.
Nearly four weeks of Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for attacks by Hamas gunmen in southern Israel on October 7 have killed more than 9,000 people, according to health authorities, the majority of them women and children.
“We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at serious risk of genocide,” the group of experts, made up of seven UN special rapporteurs, said in a statement on Thursday. “We demand a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure aid reaches those who need it most. »
Experts also expressed “increasing horror” at Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza since Tuesday evening – strikes that are believed to have killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians – and called it a violation blatant violation of international law.
They expressed concern for the safety of humanitarian and United Nations workers, hospitals and schools providing shelter to the people of Gaza, as well as the safety of journalists, media workers and their family members.
The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva said it was preparing a response to the experts’ remarks.
The International Criminal Court defines the crime of genocide as the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members or by other means, including the imposition of measures intended to prevent the births or forced transfer of children from one group to another.
On October 28, top UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber wrote to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, saying: “We are watching a genocide unfold before our eyes, and the Organization we serve seems powerless to stop it. »
The U.N. human rights office said Mokhiber’s planned retirement took effect this week and that his views were “personal” and did not reflect those of the office.
Aid supplies to Gaza have been stifled since Israel began bombing the densely populated enclave, with aid organizations saying it falls far short of meeting the population’s needs.
“The situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic crisis point,” the UN experts said, adding that Gazans were left with little water, medicine, fuel and essential supplies as they faced health risks.
They also pointed the finger at Israel’s allies, who they said “bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action.”
“We call on Israel and its allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire,” the UN experts said. “We’re running out of time.”