For days there have been indications that an Israeli offensive in Rafah could be imminent. UN High Commissioner Türk has now issued an urgent warning about this. He also condemns air strikes on the city that Israel recently carried out.
Israel is already attacking targets in Rafah almost daily. Despite concerns from the US and other countries, the Israeli government wants to expand its ground offensive to the city in the south of the Gaza Strip in order to track down Hamas fighters who remain there. Recently there have been increasing indications that such an offensive could soon be imminent.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has now urgently warned against such a major attack. The consequences would be “more deaths, more injuries and widespread displacement – and more horrific crimes for which those responsible would be held accountable,” his office said in a statement.
According to Türk’s information, an estimated 1.2 million displaced people are still in Rafah. For a long time the estimate was 1.7 million. Many people left the city out of fear of the announced offensive to the north.
UN: 30 women and children killed
The UN High Commissioner also denounced a series of Israeli air strikes on Rafah. Mostly women and children died, explained Türk. World leaders agreed on the importance of protecting the civilian population of Rafah.
Türk warned of possible war crimes. “The recent images of a premature baby being taken from his dying mother’s womb, (and images of) the two neighboring houses where 15 children and five women were killed – these no longer have anything to do with warfare.”
The office spokeswoman said the pregnant woman was fatally injured in an Israeli attack on a residential building a few days ago. Rescue workers took her to a hospital, where the baby survived after a cesarean section with his dying mother and is now fighting for his life. The office documented three airstrikes in Rafah since April 19 that killed at least 30 women and children.
Reports of mass graves
According to his spokeswoman, Türk was also horrified by reports that suspected mass graves had been discovered in the Gaza Strip. Given the level of destruction at Nasser hospitals in Khan Yunis and Al-Shifa hospitals in Gaza City, as well as reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies, it is necessary to raise the alarm, the spokeswoman said.
Apparently several bodies were discovered. “Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law and requires further investigation,” Turk’s office said. The UN High Commissioner is working to obtain confirmation of the reports from the Palestinian side. According to them, 283 bodies were found in Nasser and 30 in Al Shifa, including women and children. They were buried under mountains of garbage.
Israeli army: “accusations baseless”
Several media outlets reported that the terrorist organization Hamas claimed that the Israeli army killed and buried Palestinians at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military denies this. “The accusation that the Israeli army buried the bodies of Palestinians is completely unfounded,” the army wrote in response to a query from an Israeli newspaper.
However, the written statement went on to say that the soldiers had been examining bodies buried by Palestinians at the Nasser Hospital in recent months to find out whether there were any dead hostages among them. The investigations were carried out properly without disturbing the dignity of the dead.
With information from Bettina Meier, ARD Studio Tel Aviv