Israel should be investigated for war crimes in Gaza says UN - PHOTO

Human rights commissioner Navi Pillay told the UN that Israel had not done enough to protect civilians during its two weeks of strikes in Gaza.But she said that Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups had launched ‘indiscriminate attacks’ on Israel – which has blamed the rocket attacks against its citizens for provoking its latest military action.The commissioner told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Israel’s response had killed more than 650 Palestinians, including 147 children, saying: ‘There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes.’However she went on to say that Hamas had also been violating international law by attacking civilian areas.‘Israeli children, their parents and other civilians have a right to live without the constant fear that a rocket from Gaza may land on their houses or schools, killing or injuring them,' she said.More than 650 Palestinians and 31 Israelis have been killed in the fighting. Three-quarters of the Palestinians and two of the Israelis were civilians. A foreign labourer was also killed in a rocket strike yesterday.Israel has denied having a policy of deliberately targeting civilians, blaming Hamas for using civilians as ‘human shields’ to protect its munitions, and claimed it warns targets first with either a 'knock on the roof', text messages of phone calls.But Ms Pillay said: 'A number of incidents, along with the high number of civilian deaths, belies the [Israeli] claim that all necessary precautions are being taken to protect civilian lives.'Roof-knocking itself is costing lives, with one projectile – apparently delivered from a drone – reported to have pierced a 20-centimetre concrete roof, killing three children.'She cited air strikes homes, hospitals and even a home for the disabled, as well as the lethal shelling of a group of children on a beach, as 'just a few examples' of possible Israeli war crimes.'Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated,' she said.Ms Pillay also called for Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza, a key Hamas demand, and said it must respect its obligations to the Palestinian people as an 'Occupying Power'.'For Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the current reality is not just one of repeated conflict but also one of protracted occupation, with insecurity and a constant daily struggle for human rights, in particular the right to self-determination,' she said.'In Gaza, the blockade and Access Restricted Areas continue to undermine the human rights of the population. In the West Bank, ever expanding illegal Israeli settlements; settler violence; demolitions of Palestinian homes; the Wall and its associated regime; excessive use of force; and large scale detentions of Palestinians are some of the ongoing, routine abuses and human rights violations committed against the occupied population.'She added: 'A seven-year old Palestinian child in Gaza has never known life outside occupation and is already living through her or his third experience of a major Israeli military operation, including the so-called operations ‘Cast Lead’ in 2009 and ‘Pillar of Defence’ in 2012, with all the unimaginable death, destruction, terror and the life-long consequences that they inflicted.'Both Palestinians and Israelis deserve better than a life of chronic insecurity and recurring escalation in hostilities.' (dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az