On Monday morning, the United Nations Human Rights Council observed a minute of silence. The UN’s highest body for the protection of human rights paid tribute to the victims of the unprecedented terrorist attacks on Israel carried out by the radical Islamist Hamas. The US demanded that the dead be honored silently. The minute’s silence was the Human Rights Council’s strongest response to date to the Hamas attacks and Israel’s military response. “The council did not condemn these attacks,” the committee said when questioned by STANDARD. This is quite surprising: even a UN commission of inquiry states that there is already “clear evidence” of war crimes in the conflict. From both parties. Furthermore, there was initially no request for a special session of the UN body.
