UN Rights Office: 36 Israeli Raids in Gaza Killed ‘Only Women and Children’
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that collective punishment and the use of starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza represent crimes under international law.
The OHCHR has condemned Israel’s closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip for six consecutive weeks. It also stressed that such closure is significantly exacerbating the dire humanitarian conditions of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
No Safe Area in Gaza
The office denounced Israel’s ongoing airstrikes across the Strip, leaving no safe area for Palestinians, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The Israeli forces launched 224 airstrikes between March 18 and April 9, destroying residential buildings and tents of displaced Palestinians.
“In light of the cumulative impact of Israeli forces conduct in Gaza, we are seriously concerned that Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group,” Ravina Shamdasani, the Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights told reporters in Geneva.
36 Airstrikes Targeting Only Women, Children
In this context, the commissioner confirmed that approximately 36 raids have killed several victims from women and children.
“Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our Office,” Shamdasani said.
She also clarified that even the areas where civilians were ordered to go under “evacuation orders” were also being bombed by Israeli Forces.
“Despite Israeli military orders instructing civilians to relocate to the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the Office since 18 March,” she said.
Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has killed at least 50,695 Palestinians and wounded 115,338 more, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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