UN watchdog urges Israel to probe possible Gaza war crimes
Human
rights body urges Israel to halt construction of Jewish settlements in
the West Bank, stop confiscating land for their expansion, prevent
violence against Palestinians and take measures to withdraw all
settlers.
Reuters
GENEVA
- UN human rights watchdog said Thursday that Israel should investigate
all alleged violations committed by its forces during three recent wars
in Gaza and ensure military commanders are brought to justice for any
crimes.
A
panel of independent experts urged Israel to halt construction of
Jewish settlements in the West Bank, stop confiscating land for their
expansion, prevent violence against Palestinians and take measures to
withdraw all settlers.
Punitive
demolitions of Palestinian and Bedouin homes in the West Bank and
Israeli Negev desert, and forced evictions and transfers of these
populations should be halted, they said.
Gazan children in wreckage left by IDF attacks (Photo: EPA)
The
UN Human Rights Committee, chaired by British expert Sir Nigel Rodley,
issued its conclusions and recommendations after examining Israel's
compliance with an international treaty on civil and political rights.
Israel's
latest land and aerial attacks on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in
July-August caused a "disproportionate number of casualties among
civilians, including children", the panel said.
More
than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in the
50-day conflict, along with 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in
Israel.
Israel
launched the offensive with the stated aim of halting repeated militant
rocket attack out of Gaza and to destroy tunnels built underneath the
border area, which Hamas Islamist fighters used to stage attacks.
It was the third major conflagration in just seven years.
"(Israel)
should ensure that all human rights violations committed during its
military operations in the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014 are
thoroughly, effectively, independently and impartially investigated,
that perpetrators, including, in particular, persons in positions of
command are prosecuted and sanctioned," the committee of 18 experts
said.
Settlements
Israel
says the IDF regularly investigates accusations of wrong-doing levelled
against its troops. It also accuses Hamas of committing repeated war
crimes. However, there was no immediate comment by Israel on the UN
panel's 10-page findings, submitted to the government hours before.
The
UN experts reiterated that Israel's obligations to uphold the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also applied to the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, in line with a ruling by the International
Court of Justice.
Israel disagrees and in its written report to the panel did not respond to its questions on the Palestinian territories.
The UN panel said settlement construction had "more than doubled" since 2010 and said this had to stop.
Successive
Israeli governments have said major settlement blocs, deemed illegal
under international law, will remain part of Israel in any negotiated
deal with the Palestinians and have shrugged off repeated, widespread
criticism of their expansion.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday
to fast-track plans for 1,000 new settler homes in East Jerusalem,
which Palestinians seek as the capital of a future state which would
include the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The
UN panel also called for an end to Israel's practice of holding
Palestinians in administrative detention - or detention without trial -
and voiced concern at the "fact that in many cases the detention order
is based on secret evidence".
Israeli
authorities say administrative detention is used in security-related
cases and helps to protect confidential sources from exposure in court.
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