Israel strikes on Gaza may constitute war crime, says UN rights chief

The United Nations human rights chief has said that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza last week may constitute war crimes if they are shown to be disproportionate.

Opening a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, called at the request of Muslim states, Michelle Bachelet questioned Israeli claims that they were solely hitting military targets, saying that she had seen no evidence that civilian buildings in Gaza hit by Israeli strikes were being used by for military purposes.

“If found disproportionate, such attacks might constitute war crimes,” she told the 47-member Geneva forum.

She also urged Hamas militants in Gaza to refrain from firing indiscriminate rockets on Israel.

Israel has repeatedly denied it targets civilians or that its strikes are disproportionate, saying that the army uses precision weapons and even warning systems to minimise civilian damage.

“The IDF aspires to avoid civilian casualties as far as possible,” it said in a statement about a slew of bombings on Wehda Street, a heavily populated neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The Israeli army said Hamas bears responsibility for “intentionally locating its military infrastructure under civilian houses, thus exposing civilians to danger”. Meanwhile, the Irish parliament on Thursday declared the building of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as a de facto annexation, making Ireland has become the first EU member state to do so.

Israel’s foreign ministry said it “outright rejects” the action, calling it an “outrageous and baseless” motion that “constitutes a victory for extremist Palestinian factions”.

A Dail motion, tabled by Sinn Fein, was passed on Wednesday night after it received cross-party support.

In a statement, Lior Haiat, the spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “Israel outright rejects Ireland’s outrageous and baseless position regarding Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.

“This position reflects a blatantly one-sided and simplistic policy and follows the unacceptable anti-Israel statements that were heard in Ireland at a time when the citizens of Israel were being subject to terror attacks by the more than 4,000 rockets that were launched from the Gaza Strip by the Hamas terrorist organisation.

“The motion that was adopted today in the Irish parliament constitutes a victory for extremist Palestinian factions.

“This motion distances Ireland from its ambition to contribute and play a constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian context.” Agencies contributed to this report