“The aim of the Israeli government is obviously: the destruction of life in Gaza.”
This is how Navi Pillay, president of Commission of inquiry into the occupied Palestinian territoryopened his statement to the 59th council session on Tuesday.
Calling for war in Gaza “the most ruthless, prolonged and widespread attack on the Palestinian people since 1948,” said Pillay of the Commission’s conclusions reportreleased at HRC on May 6.
Attacks against educational facilities in Gaza
He found that 90% of Gaza schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed By Israeli attacks – including air strikes, bombings, burns and controlled demolitions.
“With the loss of education, the Palestinians also lose their source of stability, hope and possibility of a future,” said Ms. Pillay.
By not emitting adequate warnings to civilians who are reflected inside, these attacks have caused many victims, equivalent to war crimes, in particular the knowing launch of attacks which caused excessive and disproportionate civil damage and crime against humanity of extermination.
The Commission found no military necessity to justify the destruction of schools, concluding that the intention was to restrict Palestinian access to the education.
In particular, while Israeli forces have often claimed that they were targeting Hamas agents were based in schools, the Commission has checked only one case of Hamas using a school for military purposes, compared to the systematic use of Israeli schools as military bases.
Education restrictions in the West Bank
Ms. Pillay also warned that education in the West Bank has remained threatened. Demolition orders, military raids, restrictions and operations have considerably reduced school days, while the violence of the colonists has endangered students and teachers. The Israeli government has encouraged or has not prevented such violence, she said.
Attacks against religious and cultural sites
In Gaza, Israeli forces have damaged 53% of religious and cultural sites.
Many were used for refuge or worship, causing new civil losses, constituting war crimes and, in some cases, crime against extermination humanity.
These completely avoidable damage “have a cascade effect and deeply affect intangible cultural elements, such as religious and cultural practices, memories and history, undergoing the identity of the Palestinians as a people,” said Ms. Pillay.
Since the Israeli forces should have known where these sites were and plan their assaults accordingly, the Commission noted that these acts constituted war crimes, in particular by intentionally targeting historical and religious sites and generalized destruction without military necessity.
Seizure of cultural heritage sites in the West Bank
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Commission has documented repeated cases of Israeli authorities or settlers grabbing the cultural heritage sites, moving the Palestinians, excluding non-Jewish history and restoring Palestinian access.
The report highlights increasing restrictions and attacks against the Palestinians from Haram al-Sharif / Temple Mount, a long-standing flash point in East Jerusalem.
Ms. Pillay argued that thanks to these actions, “Israel has used cultural heritage and colonies as a lever effect for its illegal territorial allegations in occupied West Bank, at the flagrant challenge of multiple United Nations and West Bank resolutions 2024 Advisory Notice of the International Court of Justice (Icj). “”
These actions violate international law, including the right to cultural life, freedom of religion and the protection of cultural heritage.
Recommendations
Ms. Pillay concluded her speech by stressing that the attacks of Israel against education, infrastructure and heritage sites aim to “erode the historical links of Palestinians with the earth and weaken their collective identity, which thus hinders their right to self -determination” and the possibility of a peaceful and lasting solution to two states.
Consequently, the Commission calls on Israel to end the illegal occupation and to allow Palestinian self -determination; Stop attacks and convulsions of educational, religious and cultural sites; end the systematic erasure of Palestinian history; And fully comply with international law, including the Decision of the ICJ 2024.
The Sudan war is intensifying in the middle of the famine, the defense of rights warn
Meanwhile, in Sudan, heavy fighting continues to degenerate as “direct result” of the continuous weapon flow in the country, which means that the war is far from over, the best independent investigators said on Tuesday Human Rights Council.
In an emergency update in the North-East African Nation, the Independent international mission for Sudan highlighted the increased use of heavy weapons in populated areas – and a strong increase in sexual violence.
“Many Sudanese die from hunger and especially those who have been detained and in detention – they are dying and millions affected”Said Joy Ngozi EzeiloExpert member of the mission of teaching the facts.
“In terms of international responsibility, we urge all the States to respect and apply the embargo on the weapons of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1556“, She added.
Humanitarian aid continues to be armed and hospitals and medical facilities remain besieged, warned the investigators, whose mandate was created by the Council in October 2023.
Two young women carry water on a site for displaced people from Eastern Sudan.
Direct link
“” There is a direct link between the flow of arms in Sudan, armed hostilities and the resulting violence Evaluating violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations, “said Mohamed Chande Othman, president of the mission of inquiry.
“” We know the type of weapons used: heavy artillery, modern war, drones and in fact, they have increased. “”
The naughty Mona Rishmawi insisted that the testimonies gathered stressed that “the two parties” continuing to commit war crimes – a reference to the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the rapid support forces (RSF) which turned against each other in April 2023, following a break in transition to the civil regime.
Around El Fasher, for example, Civilians were “attacked, detained and killed while the villages have been attacked, burned and looted” by the RSF. During an RSF attack from April 10 to 13, more than 100 civilians were killed, while SAF bombardment in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians.
Now in its third year, the war has so far killed tens of thousands of civilians, moving more than 13 million Sudanese and subjecting much more to sexual violence, looting and destruction of houses, health establishments, markets and other infrastructure.
Crimes against humanity continue, “in particular in the context of the persecution of certain ethnic groups,” insisted Ms. Rishmawi.
The result of restrictions to help relief was to stimulate famine, “in particular Darfur,” said investigators, who are respected human rights experts and not UN staff.
In their latest update of the Human Rights Council, investigators have documented a strong increase in sexual and sexual violence, with women and girls subject to rape, gang rape, kidnapping, sex slavery and forced marriage, mainly in travel camps controlled by the RSF.
About UN experts
The members of the commission of inquiry into the occupied Palestinian territory and the mission of teaching the facts for Sudan receive their mandates from the United Nations Human Rights Council.
They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.