UNHRC: Zionists Committing War Crimes
GENEVA (Dispatches) – The UN human rights chief said Wednesday during an emergency meeting that the occupying regime of Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that incidents during fighting in Gaza raise concerns for alleged war crimes and should be investigated.
Moreover, Pillay expressed concern regarding the "rise of incitement for violence against Palestinians by Israelis" on social media.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki urged world powers to intervene in the conflict. "Israel is perpetrating huge crimes in Gaza. It is killing whole families," he said. "Israel must be held accountable for its crimes."
Nearly 700 Palestinians have been killed so far in the conflict, about three-quarters of them civilians. Those figures, she said, belied the Zionist regime's claim that it had taken all necessary precautions to protect civilians.
"One child has been killed in Gaza every hour for the past two days," said a statement released Wednesday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Palestinians and Arab countries have filed the council with a draft, which includes the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to probe alleged war crimes and violations of international law by the Zionist regime.
Despite Israeli lobbying with the council's member states to prevent the meeting taking place, the Palestinians managed to get the signatures necessary to hold the meeting.
The U.S., most of the EU states and additional Western states, including Australia and Canada, are expected to oppose the draft. However, like in other UN bodies, the Palestinians hold an automatic majority which allows them to pass any resolution.
Wednesday's vote follows a similar process to the one which followed Israel's Operation Cast Lead in 2009, after which the Goldstone Commission was established. The commission's report caused the occupying regime of Israel severe diplomatic and public image damage, and gave a boost to calls for its boycott worldwide.
If the resolution is passed, a process will be launched in which the inquiry commission's mandate will be determined, as well as its composition and timetable. Israel and the U.S. will attempt to delay its establishment for as long as possible or act for its mandate to be as limited as possible.
Meanwhile, more than 20 leading doctors and scientists from the UK and Italy denounced ongoing Israeli military aggression in Gaza in a letter to The Lancet.
"On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel,” write the authors. "We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression.”
"We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large-scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.”
The letter states that tightening blockades imposed on Gaza by the occupying regime of Israel in the last year have not only caused starvation and poverty for residents of Gaza, but have also resulted in a dangerous lack of access to medicine and healthcare.
On Wednesday, Zionist forces pounded Gaza, sending thousands of residents fleeing as U.S. secretary of state John Kerry flew to Tel Aviv to push ceasefire talks.
In a blow to the occupying regime's economy, U.S. and many European air carriers halted flights to the Occupied Territories citing security worries after a rocket from Gaza hit near Ben Gurion airport.
The Zionist army announced the deaths of three more soldiers bringing the toll since the ground invasion on Thursday to 30. The military says one of its soldiers is also missing and believes he might be dead. Hamas says it has captured him.
Hamas says it has killed more than 50 Zionist troops. On Wednesday, the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam said its fighters had detonated an anti-personnel bomb as a Zionist army patrol passed, killing several troops.
There was also violence in the occupied West Bank, where a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops near Bethlehem.
Moreover, Pillay expressed concern regarding the "rise of incitement for violence against Palestinians by Israelis" on social media.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki urged world powers to intervene in the conflict. "Israel is perpetrating huge crimes in Gaza. It is killing whole families," he said. "Israel must be held accountable for its crimes."
Nearly 700 Palestinians have been killed so far in the conflict, about three-quarters of them civilians. Those figures, she said, belied the Zionist regime's claim that it had taken all necessary precautions to protect civilians.
"One child has been killed in Gaza every hour for the past two days," said a statement released Wednesday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Palestinians and Arab countries have filed the council with a draft, which includes the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to probe alleged war crimes and violations of international law by the Zionist regime.
Despite Israeli lobbying with the council's member states to prevent the meeting taking place, the Palestinians managed to get the signatures necessary to hold the meeting.
The U.S., most of the EU states and additional Western states, including Australia and Canada, are expected to oppose the draft. However, like in other UN bodies, the Palestinians hold an automatic majority which allows them to pass any resolution.
Wednesday's vote follows a similar process to the one which followed Israel's Operation Cast Lead in 2009, after which the Goldstone Commission was established. The commission's report caused the occupying regime of Israel severe diplomatic and public image damage, and gave a boost to calls for its boycott worldwide.
If the resolution is passed, a process will be launched in which the inquiry commission's mandate will be determined, as well as its composition and timetable. Israel and the U.S. will attempt to delay its establishment for as long as possible or act for its mandate to be as limited as possible.
Meanwhile, more than 20 leading doctors and scientists from the UK and Italy denounced ongoing Israeli military aggression in Gaza in a letter to The Lancet.
"On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel,” write the authors. "We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression.”
"We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large-scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.”
The letter states that tightening blockades imposed on Gaza by the occupying regime of Israel in the last year have not only caused starvation and poverty for residents of Gaza, but have also resulted in a dangerous lack of access to medicine and healthcare.
On Wednesday, Zionist forces pounded Gaza, sending thousands of residents fleeing as U.S. secretary of state John Kerry flew to Tel Aviv to push ceasefire talks.
In a blow to the occupying regime's economy, U.S. and many European air carriers halted flights to the Occupied Territories citing security worries after a rocket from Gaza hit near Ben Gurion airport.
The Zionist army announced the deaths of three more soldiers bringing the toll since the ground invasion on Thursday to 30. The military says one of its soldiers is also missing and believes he might be dead. Hamas says it has captured him.
Hamas says it has killed more than 50 Zionist troops. On Wednesday, the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam said its fighters had detonated an anti-personnel bomb as a Zionist army patrol passed, killing several troops.
There was also violence in the occupied West Bank, where a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops near Bethlehem.