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Independent commission says both Hamas and Israel are guilty of war crimes

By ethanh // 2024-06-19

The United Nations (UN) Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, has determined that both Israel and Hamas are guilty of war crimes. An in-depth, independent investigation set up by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) led to the creation of a report that identified crimes against humanity on both sides of the conflict. It is based on interviews with victims and witnesses; open-source items that were verified through advanced forensic analysis; submissions; satellite imagery; and forensic medical reports. Israeli authorities, the report concluded, were "responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or willful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention, and outrages upon personal dignity." Furthermore, some of the statements made by Israeli officials throughout the conflict "amounted to incitement and may constitute other serious international crimes," the report explains. (Related: Israel just massacred at least 210 Palestinians in a hostage rescue operation in central Gaza.)

The war must stop, says the UN

As for Hamas, it and six other Palestinian armed groups were deemed responsible for war crimes in their own rite with the intentional targeting of civilians, as well as "murder or willful killing, torture, inhuman or cruel treatment," taking hostages and various other crimes. "It is imperative that all those who have committed crimes be held accountable," commented Navi Pillay, chair of the commission. "The only way to stop the recurring cycles of violence ... is to ensure strict adherence to international law." In order for this to happen, Israel must "immediately stop" its military operation in Gaza, the commission advised, including its current assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The commission is also asking Palestinian armed groups to immediately cease all rocket attacks and to release all remaining Israeli hostages. It should be noted that according to the commission, Israel obstructed these investigations. This claim, as well as the claims about Israel being guilty of war crimes, prompted the Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva to dismiss the entire report as "biased" while accusing the UN-backed commission of "systematic anti-Israel discrimination." The mission further described the report as containing language designed to "draw a false equivalence between IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers and Hamas terrorists." As of this writing, some 37,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, are now dead because of the IDF's actions. Many of these people were women and children. A commenter at RT wrote a "reminder" to what he described as "the Zionist settlers in Palestine and their paid shills in the Western media" that their narrative is off, in his opinion. "You say that the genocide is the Settlers' response to October 7, and we the people say that October 7 was Hamas's response to the Settlers' continuous atrocities before October 7," he wrote. "We are sorry but history did not begin on October 7. There is no equivalence, moral or legal, between a Settlement employing violence to enforce an inhuman, vicious, and murderous occupation ... and the occupied people employing violence to defend against an inhuman, vicious, and murderous occupation." Another wrote that the IDF killed many of its own people in the aftermath of October 7 as it scurried to respond to what was happening. "There is NO solid proof showing Hamas committed any war crime!" wrote another, referencing the many lies about "mass rapes" and "babies baked in ovens" that Israel spread. "I still believe the crimes attributed to Hamas were actually committed by the IDF," said another. The latest news coverage about the situation in the Middle East can be found at Genocide.news. Sources for this article include: RT.com NaturalNews.com

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