UN experts: “Israel” is committing genocide, planning to wipe out life in Gaza
NEW YORK, June 11 (YPA) – UN experts said that Israeli occupation committed a crime against humanity amounting to “genocide” by killing civilians who had sought refuge in schools and religious sites in the Gaza Strip as part of a “systematic campaign to erase Palestinian life”.
In its report released on Tuesday, the committee noted that the occupying authorities have destroyed more than 90% of school and university buildings and more than half of the religious and cultural sites in Gaza.
It concluded that the occupation committed war crimes, “including directing attacks against civilians and educational facilities.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and “Israel” was scheduled to present its report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 17.
“We are witnessing mounting evidence that Israel is waging a systematic campaign to erase Palestinian life in Gaza.” Navi Pillay, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who chairs the commission, said in a statement, “Israel’s targeting of the educational, cultural, and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm current and future generations and undermine their right to self-determination.”
The occupying authorities withdrew from the Human Rights Council in February, claiming it was biased.
When the commission’s latest report in March concluded that “Israel” had committed “acts of genocide” against Palestinians through the systematic destruction of women’s healthcare facilities during the conflict in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the findings as biased and anti-Semitic.
In response to the “Al-Aqsa Intifada” Hamas launched on October 7, 2023, the occupying authorities launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip that, according to health authorities in the Strip, resulted in the deaths of more than 54,000 Palestinians.
The report concluded that the damage to the Palestinian education system was not limited to Gaza, pointing to increased Israeli military operations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, along with harassment of students and attacks by settlers there.
“The Israeli authorities also targeted Israeli and Palestinian education workers and students inside Israel who expressed concern for or solidarity with civilians in Gaza, resulting in harassment, dismissal, or suspension, and in some cases, arrest and detention in a humiliating manner,” the report stated, adding that the Israeli authorities particularly target female teachers and students with the aim of deterring women and girls from activism in public spaces.”
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