The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the BBC that Gaza had become “hell on earth”, while the military assault of Israel continues.
The comments of Mirjana Spooljaric occur the same day as the United Nations Human Rights Office warned that the tactics of Israel threatened the viability of the Palestinians continuing to live in Gaza.
The CICR is the guardian of the Geneva Conventions – of the rules of convenience agreed internationally at war – and normally only speaks confidentially of the parties at war when he thinks that violations take place.
But Ms. Sproljaric has now declared publicly that what is happening in Gaza is an “extreme hollow” of international law.
The Israeli bombardment killed 1,542 people since it renewed war on March 18, the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas in Gaza said. Israeli defense forces (FDI) also issued evacuation orders which forced nearly 400,000 people to move. Israel has also imposed a complete blockage at the entrance to food, medical supplies and all other goods since March 2.
Israel insists that he still follows international law in Gaza and also argued that the particular nature of this conflict, with fighters from hidden Hamas among the civilian population, medium collateral damage can sometimes occur.
Israeli ministers insist that there is enough food in Gaza and says bombing and Territory seizure aims to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages it holds, which he kidnapped during the attack on October 7, 2023.
Under the fourth Geneva Convention, occupying powers, such as Israel in Gaza, must ensure that civilians have food and drugs and protect hospitals and health workers. The Convention also prohibits the forced transfer of the entire populations of the occupied territories.
“No state, no party to a conflict … can be exempt from the obligation not to commit war crimes, not to commit a genocide, not to commit ethnic cleansing,” said Sproljaric.
“These rules apply. They are universal.”
Civilians carried the weight of an implacable pursuit of military objectives, she added, being moved several times, and their houses have reduced the rubble.
Out of 36 recent air strikes verified by the United Nations Human Rights Office, all killed people were women and children.
Israel carefully denied the accusations that he commits acts of genocide or genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli army said it was considering an attack that killed family members in the city of Khan Younis and said that it had reached 40 “terrorist targets” on the territory during the last day.
CICR comments are the last of a concern from the UN and other agencies.
Friday, the spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, Ravina Shamdasani, declared that “the cumulative impact” of the conduct of the FDIs meant “the office fears seriously that Israel seems to inflict on the Palestinians in the conditions of Life Gaza increasingly incompatible by their continuous existence as a group in Gaza”.
Israel continued to bomb tents in the Al-Mawasi region in which he had told people to go for their own security, she added.
Tuesday, the UN secretary general warned that The blockade of Israel of Gaza violated the Geneva conventions And the territory became a “field of kill”. On Monday, the heads of six United Nations assistance agencies called on the world to act to save the inhabitants of Gaza and to maintain fundamental international law.
THE Geneva Conventions are based on the following principles:
- Medical staff and hospitals in war areas must be protected and authorized to work freely
- The injured in combat and no longer fight are entitled to medical treatment
- Prisoners of war must be treated with humanity
- The parties at war are forced to protect civilians (this includes a prohibition on targeting civil infrastructure such as water supply and supplies).
Twenty years ago, in what he called his war against terrorism, the United States suggested that the Geneva conventions could be exceeded in modern war, but the ICRC insists that they apply in all circumstances.
“It’s not transactional,” said Ms. Sproljaric. “You must comply with these rules, whatever the other side.”
She asked for a renewal of the ceasefire, stressing that during previous breaks in the fighting, the ICRC had managed to withdraw Israeli Gaza hostages and bring them together with their families.
But she also warned against an increasing “dehumanization” during the war, in which the international community turned away even if it was clear of war crimes.
The Geneva conventions protecting civilians were created after the Second World War, she said, to ensure that such dehumanization has no longer occurred. Dilute them or abandon them sends a dangerous signal that “everything is authorized”.
The ICRC believes that sticks to the rules of war can ultimately help build a more sustainable peace. Once the fights stop, the thought goes, the soldiers and the civilians will remember if those on the other side obeyed international law, or if they have committed atrocities.
But Gaza, Ms. Sproljaric believes “will haunt us. It will haunt us for a long time because you cannot cancel the suffering … which will last generations”.
The Israeli army launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since then, more than 50,912 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas in the territory.
