Over the weekend, Israel’s massive attacks on Gaza have continued, and the situation in the area has described as “apocalyptic” by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
According to a new analysis published in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper over 60 percent of those who died in the Gaza Strip during the war have been civilians, and it is described as an abnormally high percentage of dead civilians compared to other wars in modern times.
Human rights organization Amnesty International has previously documented Israeli attacks on Gaza which, according to the organization, should be investigated as war crimes.
Also Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized Israel for violating international law by using white phosphorus in military attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. The organization have also warned because the US risks contributing to war crimes in Gaza when it continues to supply Israel with weapons.
Swedish Doctors Without Borders has in an open letter called on the government to “do everything in its power to prevent further killing” in Gaza and writes that “the laws of war are clear, but the Israeli military strategy seems to lack any sense of proportionality in terms of consequences for the civilian population”.
Even war crimes may have been committed
Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez has before expressed strong doubts as to whether Israel follows international law in Gaza. And according to Pål Wrange, professor of crimes against international law, it is very likely that this is the case.
– The total destruction and the very large number of civilian victims indicate that it is very likely that Israel violates international law to a fairly large extent and that a number of war crimes were also committed by the Israelis during the military operations, says Wrange in SVT’s Morgonstudion.
Hear more about what Professor Pål Wrange bases his assessment on in the clip above.