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UN: We are concerned, war crimes are being committed in the Israel-Hamas conflict

2023-10-27 14:03:30, Kosova & Bota CNA

UN: We are concerned, war crimes are being committed in the Israel-Hamas

The United Nations (UN) said on Friday it is concerned that war crimes are being committed by both sides in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The UN Human Rights Office cited collective punishment, hostage-taking and forced displacement during the war, which is now in its 21st day.

"We are concerned that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned about the collective punishment of the people of Gaza in response to the brutal attacks by Hamas, which were war crimes as well," UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.

She said it was up to an independent legal tribunal to say whether war crimes had been committed.

Israel has been relentlessly bombing Gaza since Hamas militants breached border barriers and entered southern Israeli cities from Gaza, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 224 others, according to Israeli officials.

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Retaliatory Israeli bombings have killed at least 7,028 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including 2,913 children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The death toll given by Hamas cannot be independently verified.

Israel has surrounded Gaza and cut off food, water and electricity supplies, completely cutting off the supply of fuel, which it says is being used by Hamas to make weapons and explosives.

Israel's military called on residents in the northern Gaza Strip - half the population of 2.3 million - to head south ahead of the expected ground offensive.

"No one is safe in Gaza. Forcing people to evacuate under these conditions... and under complete siege raises serious concerns of forced displacement, which is a war crime," Shamdasani said.

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"Israel's use of large-scale explosive weapons in densely populated areas has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and loss of civilian life, which, from what is seen, is difficult to comply with international humanitarian law." she said.

Shamdsani said a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding for the people of Gaza "who are trapped inside Gaza and are being punished collectively. Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel must immediately stop punishing the entire people of Gaza."

She said that attacks by Palestinian armed groups, including those through the launch of rockets from Gaza into Israel, must also be stopped.

"They must definitely and unconditionally release all the civilians they are holding. Taking hostages is a war crime," she underlined.

War crime is a serious violation of international law against civilians and combatants during armed conflicts, as well as a serious violation of the Geneva Convention from 1949./ REL