The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday that Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian refugee camp Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip “could be a war crime.”
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“Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following the Israeli airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes,” the High Commission wrote in a statement on X ( earlier Twitter).
#Gaza – Given the high number of civilian casualties and the level of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes. pic.twitter.com/ky2jYVrhJq
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) November 1, 2023
According to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, Israel bombed the Jabaliya refugee camp twice on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing significant material damage in this tiny, very densely populated area and killing several dozen civilians each time. , but also images from AFPTV.
AFP
Israel said on Tuesday that it had targeted a Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, considered one of those responsible for the Palestinian Islamist movement’s bloody Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
These unprecedented attacks left more than 1,400 people dead, most of them civilians who were often brutally murdered, and more than 240 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities.
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Israel immediately responded with intense and unremitting artillery and air strikes on the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas health authorities, nearly 8,800 people died, including 3,648 children.
The principle of proportionality is one of the touchstones of the law of war established in the Geneva Conventions. While civilians and civilian structures must be spared, the death of civilians during an armed conflict does not in itself constitute a war crime.
Belligerents may launch proportionate attacks on military targets even when they know that civilians could also be affected.
A crime occurs when an attack is intentionally directed against the civilian population according to the principle of distinction or when the extent of the damage inflicted on the civilian population is disproportionate to the expected military advantage. This last point falls within the principle of proportionality contested by the High Commission.
He does not decide for himself whether a war crime has been committed; the decision must be made by the courts.
Established in 2002, the ICC is the only independent international court to investigate genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court.