GENEVA: As the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip marks one year, with significant human losses, suffering, and blatant disregard for international law, UN experts emphasized the urgent need for immediate action to end the cycle of violence and ensure accountability.

‘We express today, our heartfelt compassion to all victims and their families, especially the children, who should have been spared the scourge of war, and recall the heavy human cost of this conflict and immediate need for peace and accountability, said the UN experts in a statement.

The serious violations of international law such as murder, intentional targeting of civilian objects, disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks, starvation, forcible transfer, arbitrary displacement, sexual violence, persecution, and outrages against life and dignity, including disrespect for the dead, committed by Israeli Forces since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023 constitute war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, they sai
d.

‘As a result, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) warned there was a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the right of Palestinians to be protected from genocide.’

The UN experts stressed that the International judicial mechanisms, the UN and the international community should thoroughly, impartially, and independently investigate these grave violations, establish a chain of command, prosecute and punish perpetrators, and ensure full reparation for victims and their families.

‘We continue to urge the international community to ensure an end to transfers of arms by States and companies to Israel, including through proxies, to avoid responsibility in war crimes and crimes against humanity by complicity.’

The UN experts also expressed alarm about the expansion of the violence and hostilities in other countries in the region, in particular the escalation in Lebanon, which has so far resulted in the death of more than 2,000 persons, including women and children, the injury of more than 9,
500 persons, and displacement of hundreds of thousands.

‘This spillover of hostilities blatantly undermines international law and the UN Charter and endangers peace and stability of a region that has suffered decades of conflicts.’

The UN experts called on the parties to the conflict with the support of the international community to:

– Immediately cease hostilities and guarantee the safety and security of civilian populations, including through full compliance with UN resolutions and the ICJ provisional measures to Israel and Gaza.

– Immediately and unconditionally release all hostages, and thousands of Palestinians arbitrarily held in Israeli detention.

– Establish the fate and whereabouts of victims of enforced disappearances and acts tantamount to.

– Allow full and unrestricted access to UN independent experts to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, to conduct investigations into violations of international law, in particular arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, and torture.

– Imm
ediately and unconditionally return dead bodies and human remains retained by parties to the conflict, including hundreds of Palestinian bodies withheld for decades, and seek the assistance of the international community to retrieve, identify and return bodies to families.

– Halt escalation to other countries in the region.

The UN experts stressed the need to fully cooperate with the international community to realize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, as necessary to pave the way for sustainable peace and accountability and turn the page on decades of violence and injustice, including through the comprehensive implementation of the ICJ advisory opinion 2024.

The experts reiterated their availability to assist in genuine efforts to establish truth, justice and reparation for violations of international law in the context of this conflict.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA