Gaza: All parties committed grave human rights violations, says UN
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Geneva: The United Nations observed that the parties in Israel and Palestine territories have committed grave human rights violations. A UN report published on Friday identified the said violations and demanded accountability, along with justice, to bring peace, Agence France-Presse reported.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement that accompanied the report that “the entrenched impunity” cannot be allowed to continue. He said that all sides must be held accountable for violations committed over 56 years of occupation of and 16 years of blockade of Gaza and the recently erupted war.
Also, the UN experts have deemed the allegations of rape, along with other forms of sexual humiliation and threats of rape against Palestinian women and girls in Israeli detention, credible, leading them to call for a thorough investigation.
According to the UN panel, there have been credible reports of at least two cases of rape, as well as other forms of sexual humiliation and threats, against Palestinian women and girls while in Israeli custody.
Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, expressed concerns that the actual number of victims could be significantly higher due to underreporting driven by fear of reprisals.
The allegations come amidst a wave of detentions of Palestinian women and girls following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October. Alsalem highlighted a disturbing trend of permissiveness towards sexual assault in Israeli detention centres during this period.
Meanwhile, the Israeli war cabinet has dispatched a negotiation team, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, to Paris on Friday to engage in talks regarding a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal, confirmed an Israeli official.
The negotiation team is anticipated to have the authority to participate actively in negotiations rather than merely considering proposals, as they did during the previous meetings in Cairo last week, according to the official.
