The United Nations team of human rights experts warned of the risk of genocide against the Palestinians, given the statements issued by officials of the occupation government and their allies.
The experts said, "Given the statements made by Israeli political leaders and their allies, accompanied by the military aggression in Gaza and the escalation of arrests and killings in the West Bank, there is a risk of genocide against the Palestinian people."
The experts stressed in a statement published by the United Nations, Thursday evening, that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip “leads to the commission of crimes against humanity,” and that the siege of Gaza and orders for the forced evacuation of the population fall within the framework of “violating international humanitarian law and international criminal law.”
They expressed their anger at the raid that targeted the Arab National Hospital (Al-Maadani) in Gaza City, which resulted in the death of 470 civilians and the trapping of hundreds under the rubble.
They pointed out that "this brutal act came after two warnings issued by Israel, that it would launch an imminent attack on the hospital if the people inside it were not evacuated."
They also expressed their anger over the raid that targeted an UNRWA school in the Maghazi refugee camp, which was housing about 4,000 displaced people.
The United Nations experts addressed serious concerns at the humanitarian and legal levels regarding the Israeli occupation’s tightening of its 16-year siege of the Gaza Strip, depriving 2.2 million people of basic food, fuel, water, electricity and medicine.
They noted that the UN Security Council has repeatedly condemned the use of starvation of civilians as a method of war, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
Experts warned that the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and deprivation of civilians' livelihoods constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.
United Nations experts called for the protection of all humanitarian workers, after the World Health Organization documented more than 136 attacks on health care services in the occupied Palestinian territories, including 59 attacks on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the martyrdom of at least 16 employees. The health field since the start of the aggression on the seventh of this month, 15 employees from UNRWA, and four paramedics.
They pointed out that the deliberate and systematic destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure, and the cutting off of drinking water, medicines and basic foodstuffs; Clearly prohibited under international criminal law.
The United Nations experts expressed their concern about the international community's inaction in the face of war-mongering, and stressed the need to reach an immediate ceasefire and ensure the urgent arrival of basic humanitarian supplies, including food, water, shelter, medicines, fuel and electricity.
The statement was issued by: Pedro Araujo Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, and Reem Al-Salem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Paula Gaviria Bettencourt, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
