UN Rights Commissioner accuses both Israel, Hamas of war crimes

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has accused both Israel and Palestine militant group, Hamas, of committing war crimes in the past month of war.

Türk who made the allegations in a statement on Thursday, said thousands of Palestinians have fled south amid Israel’s intensifying offensive against the Islamist militant group.

“The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on October 7 were heinous, brutal and shocking, they were war crimes – as is the continued holding of hostages,” he said.

“The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians,” the Rights chief added.

Türk however, urged both sides to agree to a ceasefire to allow the delivery of aid to Gaza, the release of hostages by Hamas, and the political space to implement a durable end to the occupation.

Read also: Israel-Hamas War: Envoy calls for urgent ceasefire, says more than 8,700 dead in Gaza

“Even in the context of a 56-year-old occupation, the current situation is the most dangerous in decades faced by people in Gaza, in Israel, in the West Bank but also regionally,” he said.

He added that figures available to the UN indicate that Israel’s attacks have killed at least 10,515 people and injured more than 26,000 others in Gaza since the war began.

“Women, children and the elderly make up about 74% of those deaths,” he noted.

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