The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on Israel to open an investigation into “the possible commission of a war crime” by its forces in Gaza.
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In a statement on Wednesday, the UN agency said it had received “disturbing information” about the deaths of “eleven unarmed Palestinian men” in Gaza City.
They died on Tuesday evening during an Israeli army operation in a residential building in the city where several families were seeking refuge.
Israeli soldiers “allegedly separated the men from the women and children and then shot at least 11 men (…) in front of their family members,” according to testimony from the EuroMed Human Rights Observatory. The man.
The U.N. agency confirmed the deaths of the 11 Palestinians but said “the circumstances of the killings are being reviewed.”
“The Israeli authorities must immediately conduct an independent, thorough and effective investigation into these allegations,” she said.
No comment could initially be obtained from the Israeli authorities.
After more than two months of war in Gaza, the Israeli army's actions are increasingly criticized and international pressure for a ceasefire is increasing.
Last weekend, the deaths of a mother and daughter killed by an Israeli soldier outside Gaza's only Catholic church, as well as the deaths of three Israeli hostages accidentally killed while waving a white flag, caused controversy.
Israel says it is open to the idea of a ceasefire but rules out any ceasefire before the “elimination” of Hamas, which it, like the United States and the European Union, considers a terrorist organization.
According to Hamas, around 20,000 people have died in Gaza since the Israeli army's offensive began, mostly women, children and young people.
This offensive was launched in retaliation for the Palestinian Islamist movement's unprecedented attack on October 7, which killed around 1,140 people on Israeli soil. In addition, around 250 people were taken hostage, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza, according to Israel.