There is “no justification” for Israel’s war in Gaza, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in a meeting with the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.
Turk said there was a “raft of human rights violations” inside Gaza, adding that there had been “an unprecedented disregard” for humanitarian law by Israel and Hamas since the October 7 massacre.
Turk expressed doubt that Israel would not accept full accountability for “unlawful killings in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Palestinian war crimes throughout the war
Additionally, Turk mentioned Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists' war crimes, including taking and torturing hostages and firing indiscriminate projectiles into Israel, and expressed concern that they may have committed additional crimes, “including the intentional co-location of military objectives and Palestinian civilians.”
“Any attempts at shaping a peaceful future where such horrors do not recur must ensure that perpetrators are held to account,” said Turk.
Turk addressed the recent Israeli order to outlaw UNRWA, as well as the sanctions against the International Criminal Court by the United States earlier this month, saying that “delegitimizing and threatening international institutions that are there to serve people and uphold international law also harms us all.
He added that any attempt to annex Palestinian land or forcibly transfer civilians – both propositions made by US President Donald Trump recently – must be “resisted.”
“This is the moment for voices of reason to prevail, for solutions that will deliver justice and make space for compassion, healing, and truth-telling,” Turk said.