Two reports in the same day, which directly attack Israel and the war waged in the Gaza Strip for over a year now. A special UN committee ruled this Thursday, November 14, that the war methods used by Israel in the Palestinian enclave presented the “characteristics of genocide”. A little earlier, Human Rights Watch had for its part considered that the repeated forced displacement of Gazans constituted a “crime against humanity”.
In a report covering the period from October 7, 2023, the date of the start of the war triggered by the deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, to July 2024, the UN special committee is alarmed at the “losses massive civilian attacks” and the use of “starvation as a weapon of war”.
The United States “unequivocally” disapproves
“Through its siege of Gaza, its obstruction of humanitarian aid, its targeted attacks and its killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated calls from the UN, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel intentionally causes death, starvation and serious injury,” the committee said in a statement. The methods of war used by Israel “correspond to the characteristics of a genocide”, according to this special UN committee, created in 1968 and responsible for investigating Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, conquered the previous year by Israel (West Bank and Gaza Strip).
This is not the first time that Israel has been the subject of such accusations since the war began more than a year ago. The report, which is due to be presented on Monday, November 18 to the UN General Assembly in New York, states that the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza will have long-term consequences. “By destroying vital water, sanitation and food systems, and contaminating the environment, Israel has created a deadly mix of crises that will inflict grave harm on generations to come,” the committee denounces.
The United States quickly reacted, disapproving “unequivocally” the conclusions of the UN report. “We believe that this type of wording and these types of accusations are most certainly unfounded,” responded State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.
“Anti-Israeli bias”
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), for its part, affirms that the repeated evacuation orders from the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip lead to forced population displacements constituting “a crime against humanity”. In October, the UN estimated the number of Gazans displaced by the war at 1.9 million, out of a total population estimated at 2.4 million at the start of the conflict. “Statements by senior officials with command responsibility show that forced displacement is intentional and part of Israeli state policy, and therefore constitutes a crime against humanity,” the report details, recalling that the “forced transfer” of civilians is a “war crime” under international law.
The Israeli authorities, for their part, say they are calling on the inhabitants of entire sections of the Gaza Strip to evacuate due to military imperatives and thus say they are participating in the protection of civilians. “Again and again, Human Rights Watch’s rhetoric regarding Israel’s behavior in Gaza is completely false and detached from reality,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on the social network The Israeli army rejected “certain flagrant distortions” of reality by HRW, which it accused of “anti-Israeli bias”. Israel has so far not reacted to the conclusions of the UN committee, a body with which it has had very tense relations for more than a year now.
An “ethnic cleansing”, according to HRW
According to HRW, “Israel’s actions also appear to meet the definition of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in areas where the army has ordered Palestinians to leave and where they will not be able to return. HRW mentions in particular two areas generally referred to as the corridors of Neztarim and Philadelphia, which she said were “razed, expanded and cleared” by the Israeli army to create buffer zones An Israeli offensive underway for more than a month has forced at least 100. 000 people from the northernmost localities of this territory to move towards Gaza City, says Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
“It is completely consistent and acceptable to ask civilians to evacuate a certain area during certain military operations, and then allow them to return home,” responded US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel. , ensuring not to have “observed specific forced displacements” and also rejecting the conclusions of Humans Right Watch.
The UN committee called on the international community to act urgently to end the bloodshed, recalling that countries continue to provide “military support” to Israel. HRW encouraged the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to “investigate” all these facts.