Israeli strikes on Gaza may be war crimes

The UN high commissioner for human rights yesterday said  that Israel's deadly strikes on Gaza might constitute war crimes and that Islamist group Hamas had violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel.

Michelle Bachelet said her office had verified the deaths of 270 Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including 68 children, during violence this month. Most were killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where Israel fought militants for 11 days. The conflict ended with a ceasefire.

Hamas rockets killed 10 Israelis and residents.

She was addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, held at the request of Muslim states who have asked for a UN commission of inquiry to investigate possible crimes and to establish command responsibility.

The resolution, presented by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Palestinian delegation to the UN Human Rights Council, was set to be voted later yesterday.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, did not sign up to address the talks, where it has observer status, appearing to shun the ninth session held on Gaza since 2006.

"Regrettably, the self-professed global champions of human rights continue to shield the occupier from global accountability, and literally provide arms and ammunitions for its widely reported war crimes and crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people," Pakistan's ambassador to the OIC, Khalil Hashmi, said, speaking on behalf of the Islamic group.

The conflict erupted after Hamas demanded Israeli forces leave the Al Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem and later launched rockets towards Israel.

Bachelet said "indiscriminate" strikes from rockets launched by Hamas constituted "a clear violation of international humanitarian law".

She said Israel's strikes in Gaza, including shelling, missile strikes and attacks from the sea, caused widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and fatalities.

"Despite Israel's claims that many of these buildings were hosting armed groups or being used for military purposes, we have not seen evidence in this regard," Bachelet said.

"If found to be indiscriminate and disproportionate, such attacks might constitute war crimes," she added.Hamas says it is struggling for Palestinian rights against Israeli oppression and denies using civilians as human shields. It said Israel's actions against Gaza are part of a strategy of collective punishment.

Meanwhile, Egypt and the United States said they would work together to reinforce a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Cairo and Amman on Wednesday on a regional tour.

Egypt has longstanding relations with both sides in the conflict and played a key role in brokering the ceasefire after 11 days of violence, in coordination with the United States.

"We've had in Egypt a real and effective partner in dealing with the violence, bringing it to a close, relatively quickly," Blinken said in Cairo after meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

The United States and Egypt were now "working closely together build something positive", he said.