GENEVA
The UN human rights chief on Thursday warned that Israeli attack on Rafah would not be consistent with the world court’s binding provisional measures against Tel Aviv, calling on all states to do “everything within their power to avert such outcome.”
Volker Turk’s remarks came during his speech at Interactive Dialogue on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory under the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“The prospect of an Israeli ground assault on Rafah would take the nightmare being inflicted on people in Gaza into a new dimension. Over 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, despite continuing bombardment, and it has become Gaza’s humanitarian aid hub,” Turk said.
He warned that such ground assault would incur potentially “massive loss of life, additional risk of atrocity crimes, new displacement, to another unsafe location distribution, and sign a death warrant for any hope of effective humanitarian aid.”
“For my part, I fail to see how such an operation could be consistent with the binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice,” he said, and added: “I call on all States with influence to do everything within their power to avert such an outcome.”
“The war in Gaza must end,” he urged, noting that “clear violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws, including war crimes and possibly other crimes under international law, have been committed by all parties.”
For a working peace in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, the human rights chief stressed that “the occupation must end.”
“Israeli leaders must accept the right of Palestinians to live in an independent state. And all Palestinian factions must acknowledge the right of Israel to exist in peace and security,” Turk continued.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has also led to mass displacement and destruction, and created conditions of famine in the Gaza Strip.
