U.N. experts urge embargo on Israel for arms that would be used on attacks in Gaza
More than two dozen U.N. rights experts on Friday urged countries to halt the export to Israel of arms that would be used in Gaza, saying such transfers of weapons and ammunition could violate international humanitarian law.
In a statement, the experts — who are part of the “special procedures,” a body of independent experts in the U.N. Human Rights Council — said the need for an “arms embargo on Israel is heightened by the International Court of Justice’s [preliminary] ruling on 26 January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in
Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then.”
Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory and one of the signatories to the statement, said on social media that sending weapons to Israel that may be used in Gaza “may amount to complicity in atrocity crimes.”
Israel has rejected the allegations of genocide brought by South Africa at the ICJ, while the Biden administration dismissed the filing as “meritless.”
The ICJ on Jan. 26 ordered Israel to prevent the possibility of genocide,
allow more aid into Gaza and penalize officials and soldiers for comments that amount to incitement — and gave the country a month to submit a report outlining how it is implementing these orders.
The United States is facing increasing scrutiny over its provision of arms to Israel. On Friday, four Senate Democrats – Chris Van Hollen, from Maryland, Brian Schatz, from Hawaii, and New Mexico’s Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich — urged the Biden administration to ensure that future U.S. military aid to Israel does not “make an already
catastrophic situation even worse.”
In a letter addressed to President Biden, the senators expressed their concerns in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s promised attack on Rafah, the southern city nearly 1.5 million refugees are now crammed into.
The U.N. Human Rights Office issued a report Friday called for accountability and an end to “entrenched impunity” for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by all sides in Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The document, which covers the year until Oct. 31, 2023, includes reports of unlawful killings, hostage-taking, collective punishment, sexual assault and torture.
“The shocking attacks by Palestinian armed groups on 7-8 October and the ensuing massive military response by Israel causing unprecedented destruction and suffering of civilians in Gaza have led to an appalling humanitarian crisis,” the report said.
“The means and methods of warfare chosen by Israel have led to massive suffering of Palestinians, including through the killing of civilians on a broad scale, extensive repeated displacement, destruction of homes, and the denial of sufficient food and other essentials of life. Clear violations of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes, have been committed by all parties.”
HERE’S WHAT ELSE TO KNOW
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a postwar plan that pushes for the country’s indefinite military control over Gaza. Under the proposal, Israel would maintain a security zone in northern Gaza and have a presence on the enclave’s southern border with
Egypt. It also calls for Gaza’s “complete demilitarization.” The Palestinian Authority said Netanyahu’s plan was a bid to obstruct the creation of a Palestinian state.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reversed the Trump administration’s position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying they are “inconsistent with international law.” He said the Biden administration “maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion.” Netanyahu’s government this week announced plans to build thousands more settlement homes after a shooting attack in the West Bank.