A United Nations human rights investigator said that Israel's
massive military assault on densely populated Gaza appeared to
constitute a grave war crime.
Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the
Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required
warring forces to distinguish between military targets and
surrounding civilians.
"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is
inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the
greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said.
"On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is
reason to reach this conclusion," he wrote in an annual report
submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.
Falk gave the same death toll from Israel's offensive - 1,434
Palestinians, including 960 civilians - as the Palestinian human
rights centre.
Israel, which lost 13 people during the war, disputes the figures
and has accused Hamas militants in Gaza of using civilians as human
shields during the conflict.
Falk called for an independent experts group to be set up to probe
possible war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and
Hamas.
Violations included Israel's alleged targeting of schools, mosques
and ambulances during the December 27-January 18 offensive and its
use of weapons including white phosphorus, as well as Hamas firing
of rockets at civilian targets in southern Israel.
Falk said that Israel's blockade of the coastal strip of 1.5
million people violated the Geneva Conventions, which he said
suggested further war crimes and possibly crimes against
humanity.
The aggression was not legally justified and may represent a crime
against peace - a principle established at the Nuremberg trials of
Nazi criminals, according to the American law professor who serves
as the Human Rights Council's independent investigator.
He further suggested that the Security Council might set up an ad
hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in
Gaza, noting Israel has not signed the Rome statutes establishing
the International Criminal Court.
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