UN Rights Chief Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay slammed Israel on Thursday, over its atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza, saying that such attacks are considered "deliberate defiance" of international law.
Pillay condemned Israeli attacks on homes, schools, hospitals and UN facilities which are sheltering 250,000 civilians in Gaza.
"There appears to be deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel," Pillay was quoted by AFP as saying.
she said that repeated calls to respect the laws of war had gone unheeded during the latest crisis and previous spikes in the Israeli onslaught.
"The same pattern of attacks is occurring now on homes, schools, hospitals, UN premises. None of this appears to me to be accidental," she said.
Her comments came a day after Israeli shells slammed into a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp which was sheltering some 3,300 homeless Gazans, killing 19 people.
It was the second time in a week that a UN school sheltering hundreds of homeless Palestinians had been hit.
Pillay said that under international law, civilian facilities should not be attacked, but can lose their protected status if used for military purposes.
Even then, she said, due warning must be given before an attack, in order to allow civilians to be evacuated.
"It is completely unconscionable that the proportionality and precaution that international law requires is being ignored," said Pillay.
She also criticized Israel's strikes on Gaza's power plant, as well as water and sewerage systems.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council voted to open an inquiry into the Gaza offensive, despite fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.
"We cannot allow impunity. We cannot allow this lack of accountability to go on," Pillay said Thursday, calling into question domestic investigations by Israel into abuses.
"I join the world in condemning the aggression that is taking place in Gaza, and particularly the killing of civilians. This is wrong and it will always be wrong," she added.
On July 24, Israeli tank shells slammed into another school sheltering homeless Gazans in Beit Hanoun, killing at least 15 people, provoking worldwide horror.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, the death toll from 24 days of Israeli onslaught on Palestinians has exceeded 1,300, with more than 7,000 injured.
The Israeli offensive, which began on July 8, has killed mostly civilians, according to the UN. The fighting has forced over 215,000 Gazans to flee their homes in the overcrowded coastal strip, the WHO said.
