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(LifeSiteNews) — Damning reports from the United Nations have found Israel guilty of a range of war crimes, with Israel’s army being described as “one of the most criminal in the world” due to its “systematic” approach to the “extermination” of Palestinians.
In a video address on June 19 from Geneva, Switzerland, U.N. Inquiry Chief Navi Pillay said:
We conclude that Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity… including extermination, intentionally directing attacks against civilians… using starvation as a method of war… torture [and] sexual violence.
WOW! The UN Human Rights Council has investigated Israel’s war in detail – and the conclusions are DAMNING:
“We conclude that Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity… including extermination, internationally directing attacks against… pic.twitter.com/zXyg3vWPRi
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 19, 2024
Pillay is the Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
In a subsequent television interview, Pillay said she expected the International Criminal Court would also find Israel and its leadership guilty of war crimes.
A report by the UN Commission of Inquiry has found Israel is guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity & violations of intl humanitarian law.
Navi Pillay is asked about these findings in relation to the ICC & says ” I don’t see why they wouldn’t come to a similar conclusion” pic.twitter.com/a0ssOsAiNd
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) June 19, 2024
In addition, the U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Geneva issued a report on Wednesday which said that Israel’s actions in refusing to distinguish between military targets and civilians “indicates that the IDF may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war.”
According to a U.N. press release:
The report details six emblematic attacks involving the suspected use of GBU-31 (2,000 lbs), GBU-32 (1,000 lbs) and GBU-39 (250 lbs) bombs from 9 October to 2 December 2023 on residential buildings, a school, refugee camps and a market.
The report examined the use of heavy military aerial bombardment against civilians, which it says “may also implicate [Israel in] the commission of crimes against humanity.”
The OHCHR called on Israel to investigate these alleged war crimes and publish its findings, whilst noting that the Israeli government has refused to do so.
Reuters reported that one of the authors, U.N. Commissioner and Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti, said that Israel had in fact been obstructing any attempts to investigate its allegedly “systematic” war crimes. He told reporters, “Far from having cooperation, what we have encountered is obstruction” from Israel.
Sidoti later told reporters that his criminal investigation of the conduct of the IDF, which is being shared with the International Criminal Court, showed that Israel has “one of the most criminal armies in the world.”
Sidoti directly challenged the claim, “said repeatedly by Benjamin Netanyahu,” that Israel has the “most moral army in the world.”
He said that having examined the evidence, “The only conclusion you can draw is that the Israeli army is one of the most criminal armies in the world.”
Call for enforcement of law in Israel
As a result, the report reminded U.N. member states of their obligations to enforce international law.
“Where Israel is itself unable or unwilling to bring those responsible to account, in accordance with international standards, Member States must support accountability measures at the international level, including through the International Criminal Court.”
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in his speech on the day of the report:
I am appalled by the disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law by parties to the conflict in Gaza. There has been unconscionable death and suffering.
More than 120,000 people in Gaza, overwhelmingly women and children, have been killed or injured since 7 October, as a result of the intensive Israeli offensives.
Since Israel escalated its operations into Rafah in early May, almost one million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced yet again, while aid delivery and humanitarian access deteriorated further.
Both Turk and the OHCHR stress the need for “all parties” in the conflict to respect an immediate ceasefire, condemning Hamas’ rocket attacks and the continued plight of Israeli hostages held by the group.
Yet the hostage families have repeatedly accused the Israeli government of “sacrificing” them for “political gain.”
In a report from May 31, the Times of Israel said that hostages families were told by the Israeli national security adviser that “the current government would not agree to end its war against Hamas to win the release of all the remaining hostages held by the terror group.”
In a statement released before the report, the Hostages and Missing Family Forum, which represents the hostages’ families, said the Netanyahu government had decided to “intentionally and knowingly sacrifice the hostages,” as it “prefers to continue the fighting over achieving the higher goal of freeing the hostages who have been abandoned by the government.”
The U.N.’s concerns for the hostages’ return does not appear to be shared by the Netanyahu government, who continue to evoke their plight whilst standing accused of “abandoning” them by their families.
The mounting case against Israel and the Netanyahu government which has led it into the use of a modern army against a civilian population now includes a direct accusation of war crimes. With protests at home, and the threat of “all-out” war with Lebanon looming, the dire condition of Israel is deteriorating rapidly.
Netanyahu is due to speak to Congress on July 24. With Iran poised to enter a war that Israel is preparing to launch against Hezbollah in Lebanon, will next month see the United States follow Israel into the abyss?
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