People of Gaza living in ‘utter, deepening horror’: UN

Geneva, Switzerland – AFP

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living in “utter, deepening horror”, the UN human rights chief said Wednesday.

Volker Turk said there was a high risk of atrocity crimes being committed in such “catastrophic” humanitarian circumstances.

“Civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished — suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation of the most essential human needs such as food, water, lifesaving medical supplies and other essentials on a massive scale,” he told a press conference.

“Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror.”

He said 1.9 million of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.2 million people had been displaced and were being pushed into “ever-diminishing and extremely overcrowded places in southern Gaza, in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions”.

“The catastrophic situation we see unfolding in the Gaza Strip was entirely foreseeable and preventable.

“In these circumstances, there is a heightened risk of atrocity crimes,” the United Nations high commissioner for human rights said.

“As an immediate step, I call for an urgent cessation of hostilities and the release of all hostages,” he said, adding: “you need to come back to your senses”.

– ‘Hateful rhetoric’ –

Israel has killed 16,248 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, since October 7 when Hamas attacked its military check-posts in an effort to end Israeli control of the territory.

Turk said he was gravely concerned by “dehumanising and inciteful statements” made by current and former Israeli officials.

“History has shown us where this kind of language can lead,” he said.

“This is not just unacceptable, but a competent court may view such statements, in the circumstances in which they were made, as incitement to atrocity crimes.”

Decrying a sharp rise in hate speech globally over the past two months — in particular anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bigotry — he said political leaders using “inflammatory, toxic and hateful rhetoric… must be vigorously condemned”.

– Push for peace –

Turk said the human rights crisis in the occupied West Bank was also “extremely alarming”, calling for Israeli authorities to take immediate steps to end “widespread impunity” for violations.

“The only way to end the accumulative sufferings is ending the occupation and achieving the two-state solution,” he said.

Turk said he had met Palestinians and Israelis who want a peaceful future for both sides, whose voices were currently not being heard.

“I hope that they will be much stronger in the future,” he said.

“One thing is very clear: it cannot go back to what it was.”