UN human rights chief expresses concern over Israel airstrikes in Gaza News
Save_Palestine / Pixabay
UN human rights chief expresses concern over Israel airstrikes in Gaza

The UN Human Rights chief expressed concerns over Israel’s escalation in Gaza, in a statement released on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. Numerous airstrikes and shelling took place overnight which led to the death of hundreds of Palestinians.

The Israel Defence Forces stated that they continued to strike terror targets belonging to “Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations” across Gaza. The IDF added that they targeted only terrorist cells and additional military posts. Palestine’s health ministry reported that hospitals in the Gaza Strip have received a total of 404 deaths and 562 injuries after the airstrikes.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged all the parties to end the nightmare immediately and “do all in their power to achieve peace.” He further added that “Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”

The parties reached a ceasefire deal in January. However, Israel has imposed a blockage on Gaza and obstructed essential humanitarian access. In early March, UN agencies warned of the catastrophic impact the blockade could bring to Gaza and the ceasefire agreement.

Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the UN Security Council that the modest gains made during the ceasefire have been destroyed due to the resumption of hostilities and that the international community must reject the aid blockade.

Relatedly on March 6, the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights released a report detailing how the Government of Israel has continually annexed land in the West Bank and illegally demolished Palestinian homes, violating international law.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel’s practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amount to annexation, violating Palestine’s territorial integrity and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. The UN General Assembly recognized Palestine as a UN member state in September 2024. Accordingly, Article 2(4) of the UN Charter protects Palestine’s territorial integrity from the threat or use of force by other states. International conventions also provide for the right to self-determination, enshrining the right to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant have been accused by the International Criminal Court of committing crimes against humanity against the State of Palestine. These accusations include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime amongst others.

THIS DAY @ LAW

March from Selma begins

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. began his third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. By March 25, over 25,000 people led by Dr. King reached Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically, the march called attention to the suppression of African-American voting rights and a police assault on a civil rights demonstration three weeks prior. Five months later, in August 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. Read a history of the march from Selma to Montgomery.