Turk noted that “there has been an unprecedented disregard for the principles of international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities in Gaza and Israel since October 2023.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has said that Israel consistently broke “fundamental principles” of international humanitarian law in its military operations in Gaza.
Presenting a new report to the Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Turk said “nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza, which consistently breached fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”
On 26 and 27 February 2025, the @UN Human Rights Council discussed @volker_turk‘s report on the obligation to ensure accountability and justice in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Read the #HRC58 report here ➔https://t.co/s3vBofLvPw pic.twitter.com/NOh85Tcg7I
— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) February 27, 2025
The report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) covered the human rights situation in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“For more than 57 years, people in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been suffocating under Israeli occupation,” Turk stated. “They have been denied their most basic human rights, from the right to self-determination, to freedom of movement, to an adequate standard of living.”
He pointed out that in Gaza, Palestinians “have been subjected to blockades amounting to collective punishment.”
‘Violations Gone Unpunished’
In the West Bank, he continued, “illegal settlements and violence have been growing for decades, in violation of international law, with a significant increase over the past three years.”
“Most of these violations have gone unpunished,” Turk stressed.
#Gaza: The tragic record of the conflict shows clearly how impunity begets more violence.
“Any attempts at shaping a future of just peace where such horrors do not recur must ensure that perpetrators are held to account,” – @volker_turk tells UN Human Rights Council @UN_HRC.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 26, 2025
Citing the Gaza Health Ministry, the High Commissioner pointed out that more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the enclave. Over 35,000 children “have lost one or both parents.”
Turk said more than 1,054 medical personnel have been killed, with many others injured or detained by the Israeli occupation forces.
In addition, at least 277 United Nations staff have been killed, as well as a reported 200 journalists and media workers, he added.
There has been an unprecedented disregard for the principles of international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities in Gaza & Israel since Oct. 2023, @UNHumanRights chief @volker_turk told the @UN Human Rights Council.
“Impunity begets more violence,” he warned.#HRC58 pic.twitter.com/o3VNOj1Sb6
— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) February 26, 2025
Over two-thirds of “essential infrastructure is destroyed or damaged,” he continued, with the “level of devastation to basic features of civilian life across Gaza is massive: from homes, to hospitals, to schools, to the justice system.”
“Restrictions imposed by Israel, despite its obligations as Occupying Power, have created a humanitarian catastrophe,” Turk noted, adding that an “estimated 90 percent of the population has been displaced, often multiple times.”
‘Unnecessary Force’ in West Bank
He pointed out that in the West Bank, “Israel has ramped up its use of unnecessary and disproportionate force against Palestinians, has destroyed refugee camps, severely restricted movement, and displaced tens of thousands of people.”
In the northern West Bank, where Israel launched an ongoing incursion on January 21, “many are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.”
West Bank Turns into Battlefield: UNRWA Chief Calls for End to Israeli Aggression
“Torture and ill-treatment of detainees has been a continuing and appalling feature on all sides,” he also pointed out.
“The severe crackdown on civic space, affecting in particular those working on human rights and humanitarian issues, through threats, intimidation and other measures, is alarming,” said Turk.
“Behind each awful statistic is a life lost, torn apart or shattered. We cannot yet grasp the full extent of this tragedy, nor the many years of trauma, grief and mourning that lie ahead,” he added.
‘War Crimes, Atrocity Crimes’
Turk pointed out that the report “takes stock of the raft of international human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the absence of meaningful accountability for them.”
He noted that “there has been an unprecedented disregard for the principles of international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities in Gaza and Israel since October 2023.”
“As just detailed, and as my Office and others have documented, Israel’s means and methods of warfare have caused staggering levels of casualties and destruction, raising concerns over the commission of war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes,” the Commissioner stated.
Ahmet Davutoglu on Gaza, US Colonialism, and the Role of Regional Powers – FloodGate Podcast
Turk pointed out that there “has been a limited number of investigations and indictments by the Israeli authorities, for example, for abuse of detainees.”
“However, there are serious doubts about the capacity and will of the Israeli justice system to deliver full accountability, in line with international standards, notably in relation to the unlawful killing of Palestinians in Gaza or in the West Bank,” he continued.
Turk also said that Hamas “and other Palestinian armed groups have taken, held, and tortured hostages in Gaza, and have indiscriminately fired projectiles into Israeli territory, amounting to war crimes.”
‘Ceasefire Must Hold’
He also noted that “Delegitimising and threatening international institutions that are there to serve people and uphold international law also harms us all. It is clear that all these violations and abuses need to be investigated independently.”
The ceasefire in #OPT must hold – each phase implemented fully & in good faith. We must build on it to create a path towards peace, where Palestinians & Israelis live side by side in equal dignity & rights, & the Palestinian people determine their own future. #HRC58 @UN_HRC pic.twitter.com/jsCsoezb2x
— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) February 26, 2025
“We urgently need an end to the conflict, the unconditional freeing of all hostages, the release of arbitrarily held detainees, and an end, as rapidly as possible, to Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice,” stated the High Commissioner.
He stressed that “the ceasefire must hold,” and that each phase “must be implemented by both sides, in good faith, and in full.”
“We must resist any normalization of unlawful conduct, including proposals for annexation or forced transfer, which could threaten the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis and of the wider region,” Turk emphasized. “We have seen too much dehumanizing rhetoric, including by political leaders.”
US President Donald Trump has come under fire for proposing the displacement of the Palestinian population from Gaza and the “take over” of the enclave, turning it into what he called “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s plan has been strongly rejected by Arab leaders, particularly Egypt and Jordan, since the US president proposed that those countries take in the Gaza population.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
