Geneva: Israel must refrain from punitive measures, such as additional closures and restrictions, that punish the entire civilian population of Gaza, Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said here today, and called for re-doubling of efforts to calm down the situation and avoid any further violence.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 915 Palestinians were injured between May 7 and 10, 2021 in East Jerusalem, and over 200 in the West Bank, most by Israeli security forces. Reportedly one Palestinian with Israeli citizenship has been killed in Israel. As of 10 May approximately 20 Israelis, the majority of whom were members of security forces, had reportedly been injured as well. “We condemn all violence and all incitement to violence and ethnic division and provocations,” Colville, said.
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The OHCHR stated that Israeli Security Forces must allow and ensure the exercise of the right to freedoms of expression, association and assembly. “No force should be used against those exercising their rights peacefully. When use of force is necessary, it should comply fully with international human rights standards,” Colville said. This, he said, includes the prohibition of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force. “This has not been the case in the past days. We are particularly concerned about the impact on children and reiterate the call by UNICEF for children to be protected from violence and kept out of harm’s way at all times. Detained children should be released,” he said.
Palestinian armed groups have launched some 250 rockets towards Israel in the past 24 hours, reportedly injuring at least 17 Israeli civilians. The OHCHR said the use of indiscriminate weapons, such as the rockets being fired into Israel, is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law, and demanded that this must stop immediately.
Israeli Defense Forces have carried out airstrikes into Gaza. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 24 Palestinians, including nine children and one woman, have been killed and 103 injured so far. Colville said Israel must respect international humanitarian law, in particular the cardinal principles on the conduct of hostilities, namely distinction, proportionality and precautions. Any attack, including airstrikes, should be directed solely at military objectives and all feasible precautions must be taken to avoid civilian deaths and injury and damage to civilian objects.
In New York, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement that Israeli security forces must exercise maximum restraint and calibrate their use of force. The indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars towards Israeli population centres is unacceptable, he stated adding that this spiralling escalation must cease immediately.
Guterres stated that the United Nations was working with all relevant parties to de-escalate the situation urgently. He said he was “gravely concerned” by the serious escalations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, including the latest escalation in Gaza, which add to the heightened tensions and violence in occupied East Jerusalem.
He further stated that he was deeply saddened to learn of increasingly large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza.
– global bihari bureau
