Racism and terrorism accusations levelled at heated session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
Israel was denounced as “racist” and a “terror organization” during a fiery meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.
The representatives of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela were castigated for their language as the council was presented with the findings of an independent inquiry into last year’s Gaza conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s representative in Geneva, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, referred to Israel as a "racist regime" and, after being warned to use "proper language", added that the actions of Israel during the 51-day conflict amounted to "more than racism".
Venezuelan ambassador Felix Pena Ramos said Israel had acted as a "terrorist organization" and accused the country of perpetrating genocide against Palestinians.
The inquiry, headed by Mary McGowan Davis, found that the hostilities in July and August saw Israel conduct more than 6,000 air strikes in Gaza and fire approximately 50,000 tank and artillery shells at targets within the enclave.
The onslaught resulted in 1,462 Palestinian civilian casualties, a third of which were children, the report noted.
The fighting also destroyed many homes and other civilian buildings, with around 100,000 people still homeless, according to UN estimates.
The commission reported that Palestinian militants fired 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars towards Israel, killing 6 civilians and injuring at least 1,600 people.
McGowan Davis said attacks by the Israeli military “led to the killings of large numbers of family members when their homes were struck in the middle of the night or as they were gathering for the Ramadan meal” and saw around 551 children killed.
She added that in the West Bank “widespread human rights violations" were committed as Israeli forces searched for the gang that kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers.
"The information we gathered points to serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by Israel and Palestinian armed groups, in some cases amounting to war crimes," McGowan Davis told the council.
Most of the casualties and destruction in densely populated Gaza was blamed on Israel’s use of missiles with a wide kill and injury radius.
McGowan Davis called on the international community to develop legal limits for the use of such weapons in populated areas.
She also called for all parties to cooperate with the preliminary examination of the International Criminal Court.
Turkey’s representative, Mehmet Ferden Carikci, thanked the commission and praised its members for compiling a comprehensive report without Israeli cooperation.
He added: "The report clearly registers Israel’s violations of the applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
McGowan Davis told the council that Israel had not responded to requests to gain access to the Palestinian territories.
The inquiry, which published its report last week, highlighted the impunity of Israeli forces in committing human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.
"Israel must break with its lamentable track record in holding wrong doers accountable," the commission said in a statement.
Anadolu Agency