GENEVA, June 18. /TASS/. About one million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its Rafah operation in May, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), delivering a report on the actions of the OHCHR.
Turk stated that he is "appalled by the disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law by parties to the conflict in Gaza." "More than 120,000 people in Gaza, overwhelmingly women and children, have been killed or injured since 7 October, as a result of the intensive Israeli offensives," the high commissioner added. "Since Israel escalated its operations into Rafah in early May, almost one million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced yet again, while aid delivery and humanitarian access deteriorated further," Turk continued. In turn, "Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, and, in some cases in densely populated areas, putting them and Palestinian civilians at further risk." "These hostages must be released," Turk emphasized.
He also drew attention to the fact that the situation in the West Bank is "dramatically deteriorating." "As of 15 June, 528 Palestinians, 133 of them children, had been killed," Turk said, citing statistics. During the same time period, Palestinians have killed 23 Israelis in the West Bank and the Jewish state. Eight Israel security forces staff members are among those killed. Citing the information from the OHCHR, Turk expressed "serious concerns about the commission of war crimes and other atrocity crimes." "I call for the binding decisions of the Security Council and of the International Court of Justice to be respected," the official noted.
The high commissioner also reported that according to data obtained by the OHCHR in 2023, the civilian death toll has grown by 72%. Furthermore, the share of women killed doubled, while the share of children killed tripled.
The 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council is underway in Geneva from June 18 to July 12. It will cover the human rights situation in Myanmar, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Russia is not a member of the council, but is an active participant in its meetings.