Israel and Hamas are both accused of war crimes by UN human rights chief, who also condemns the US for funding the Iron Dome while ignoring Gaza
Navi Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets within
heavily populated civilian areas such as Gaza City (right) and southern
Israel (left), both sides are committing 'a violation of international
humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.' But she reserved her strongest
words for the Israeli government, which she accused of deliberately
defying international law. Pillay also attacked the U.S. for providing
financial support for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system
(inset) but refusing to protect Palestinians from Israeli shells.
The UN's human rights chief has accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes during the latest conflict in Gaza.
Navi Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated civilian areas, both sides are committing 'a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.'
But she reserved her harshest words for the Israeli government, which she accused of deliberately defying international law.
Pillay also attacked the U.S. for providing financial support for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system but refusing to protect Palestinians from Israeli shells.
Palestinian officials responded to Pillay's comments by saying President Mahmoud Abbas will seek broad political support, including from Hamas, before pressing for war crimes charges against Israel.
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Speaking at a news conference in Geneva this afternoon, Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets
within heavily populated areas both sides are committing 'a violation of
international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.'
'Locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas are violations of international humanitarian law,' Pillay added, referring to Hamas.
But she went on to say that Hamas' activities did nopt 'absolve' Israel from disregarding the same law.
Around 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 59 Israelis, mainly soldiers, have been killed in the latest violence. Israeli's initial aerial campaign against Hamas became a ground offensive on July 17.
Pillay said the government has defied international law in Gaza by attacking civilian areas with schools, hospitals, homes and UN facilities.
'None of this appears to me to be accidental,' she said, referring to Israel.
Pillay also called for the introduction of daily 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting to allow Palestinian citizens the opportunity to restock vital supplies such as food and water.
Pillay also criticized Israel's strikes on Gaza's power plant, sewer systems and water wells as part of a similar pattern of destruction during the 2009 Gaza war.
'What I'm seeing now is a recurrence of the very acts that the Gaza fact-finding mission indicated as constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity,' she said.
Pillay also took aim at the U.S., Israel's main ally, for providing financial support for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system.
'No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling,' she said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure to turn the International Criminal Court on the issue of war crimes, as the death toll in Gaza rises.
Independent legislator Mustafa Barghouti revealed Thursday that Abbas asked for and received written support for such a move from the heads of PLO factions this week.
Participants in the meeting say Abbas also wants written support from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups.
They are vulnerable to war crimes charges because of their indiscriminate rocket fire at Israel.
Earlier Israel announced it is to call up an additional 16,000 military reservists, allowing them to potentially widen the Gaza offensive.
This morning Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Gaza campaign would not end until every tunnel used by Hamas militants to attack Israeli towns or military targets had been destroyed.
The call-up follows another day of intense fighting in the territory, during which tank shells struck a U.N school where civilians were sheltering, and air strikes tore through a crowded shopping area.
Yesterday alone, a total of 116 Palestinians - the majority of them civilians - and three Israeli soldiers were killed.
Israel's decision to call up an additional 16,000 reservists coincides with stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war, which has reduced entire Gaza neighborhoods to rubble since it began on July 8.
Israeli attacks in the strip continued this morning, with witnesses saying that munitions struck the Omar Ibn al-Khatab mosque next to a U.N. school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
56 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians have died in the Gaza campaign, as Palestinians have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel - some reaching major cities - and carried out attacks through tunnels beneath the heavily guarded frontier.
Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict, which it launched to try to end the rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
An initial aerial campaign was widened into a ground offensive on July 17.
This morning it emerged that the U.S. had agreed to allow Israel to access on of its weapons stockpiles so the military could increase the number of grenades and mortar rounds at its disposal.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, said the American munitions were already located within Israel as part of a programme called War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel.
As part of the agreement, Israel can also access the weapons in an emergency situation. But according to the Al-Jazeera news service, an unidentified U.S. official told them that Israel did not declare a state of emergency when applying for access 10 days ago.
Since the ground offensive began, the campaign has concentrated on destroying more than 30 cross-border tunnels that militants have constructed to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.
Israel says that most of the 32 tunnels it has uncovered have now been demolished and that getting rid of the remainder will take no more than a few days.
This morning Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive in Gaza will not come to an end until all of the tunnels have been destroyed.
The strike in Beit Lahiya early this morning damaged water tanks on the roof of a building near the mosque, sending shrapnel flying into the adjacent school compound.
'The shrapnel from the strike on the mosque hit people who were in the street and at the entrance of the school,' said Sami Salebi, a local resident.
Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said at least 15 people were wounded, with three of them in critical condition.
The news comes as Bolivian president Evo Morales formally declared Israel a terrorist state, meaning Israelis wanting to travel to the country will require a visa and go through additional security checks.
Yesterday Israeli tank shells struck a U.N. school in the Jebaliya refugee camp where some 3,300 Gazans had crammed in to seek refuge from the fighting, killing at least 17 people and drawing sharp condemnation from the United Nations.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the deadly school shelling "outrageous" and "unjustifiable," and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
"Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children," the U.N. chief said.
Hours later, an Israeli
airstrike hit a crowded shopping area in the Shijaiyah district in Gaza
City, killing at least 16 people, including local Palestinian
photographer Rami Rayan, who was wearing a press vest at the time, and
wounding more than 200 people, al-Kidra said.
This morning marked a third day of particularly heavy Israeli air and artillery attacks, at a time when Egyptian cease-fire efforts appeared to have stalled.
Israeli media said last night that Israel's Security Cabinet decided to press forward with the operation.
Egyptian officials, meanwhile, met with an Israeli envoy about Israel's conditions for a cease-fire, allegedly including disarming Hamas.
Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted.
Israel says it wants to decimate Hamas' rocket-launching capability, diminish its weapons arsenal and demolish the tunnels. It has launched more than 4,000 strikes against Hamas-linked targets, including rocket launchers and mosques where it says weapons were being stored.
Israeli strikes have also hit dozens of homes. Mahmoud Abu Rahma of the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan said nearly half of the Palestinians killed so far died in their homes.
Israeli officials have said Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields by firing rockets from crowded neighborhoods.
Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,600 rockets at Israel over the past three weeks.
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Israel and Hamas are both accused of war crimes by UN human rights chief, who also condemns the US for funding the Iron Dome while ignoring Gaza
- Navi Pillay said both sides commit war crimes by striking civilian areas
- She accused Israeli government of deliberately defying international law
- Also condemned U.S. financially supporting Iron Dome but ignoring Gaza
- Human rights chief went on to call for daily 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting
- Earlier Israel announced it was calling up an additional 16,000 reservists
- Decision to call-up extra troops comes amid stalled efforts to end the war
- Offensive has already killed at least 1,360 Palestinians and 56 Israelis
The UN's human rights chief has accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes during the latest conflict in Gaza.
Navi Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated civilian areas, both sides are committing 'a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.'
But she reserved her harshest words for the Israeli government, which she accused of deliberately defying international law.
Pillay also attacked the U.S. for providing financial support for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system but refusing to protect Palestinians from Israeli shells.
Palestinian officials responded to Pillay's comments by saying President Mahmoud Abbas will seek broad political support, including from Hamas, before pressing for war crimes charges against Israel.
Scroll down for videos
Obliterated: Around 1,300 Palestinians, mostly
civilians, and 59 Israelis, mainly soldiers, have been killed in the
latest violence. Pictured smoke is seen rising over Gaza City following
another Israeli air strike
Direct hit: An Israeli citizen stands outside
his destroyed house near Ben Gurion Airport in Yehud, Israel. The
building suffered a direct hit from a homemade rocket fired by
Palestinian militants last week
Destruction: Palestinians inspect the destroyed
Al Aqsa television building after Israeli air strikes in Gaza. The UN's
human rights chief has accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war
crimes during the conflict
Israeli casualty: An honour guard carries the
coffin of Staff Sergeant Guy Algranati during his funeral in Tel Aviv
this afternoon. He was one of three Israeli Defence Force soldiers
killed in a booby-trapped Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip
yesterday
Shell strike: Palestinians watch smoke rising
from a building following an Israeli attack on Rafah, in the southern
Gaza Strip this afternoon
Taken out: Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket
defence system is seen destorying a Hamas rocket. The UN's human rights
chief Navi Pillay has attacked the U.S. for providing financial support
for the scheme while refusing to protect Palestinians from Israeli
shells
'Locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas are violations of international humanitarian law,' Pillay added, referring to Hamas.
But she went on to say that Hamas' activities did nopt 'absolve' Israel from disregarding the same law.
Around 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 59 Israelis, mainly soldiers, have been killed in the latest violence. Israeli's initial aerial campaign against Hamas became a ground offensive on July 17.
Pillay said the government has defied international law in Gaza by attacking civilian areas with schools, hospitals, homes and UN facilities.
'None of this appears to me to be accidental,' she said, referring to Israel.
Pillay also called for the introduction of daily 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting to allow Palestinian citizens the opportunity to restock vital supplies such as food and water.
Military offensive: A large cloud of black smoke is seen rising after an Israeli shell strike hit Gaza City today
Blitzed: inspect the destroyed Al Aqsa
television building following overnight Israeli air strikes in the Al
Sheikh Redwan neighbourhood in central Gaza City
Pillay also criticized Israel's strikes on Gaza's power plant, sewer systems and water wells as part of a similar pattern of destruction during the 2009 Gaza war.
'What I'm seeing now is a recurrence of the very acts that the Gaza fact-finding mission indicated as constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity,' she said.
Pillay also took aim at the U.S., Israel's main ally, for providing financial support for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system.
'No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling,' she said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure to turn the International Criminal Court on the issue of war crimes, as the death toll in Gaza rises.
Independent legislator Mustafa Barghouti revealed Thursday that Abbas asked for and received written support for such a move from the heads of PLO factions this week.
Participants in the meeting say Abbas also wants written support from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups.
They are vulnerable to war crimes charges because of their indiscriminate rocket fire at Israel.
Mourning: Family members mourn at the grave
during the funeral of IDF soldier Guy Algranati, who was killed in a
booby-trapped Hamas tunnel yesterday. His funeral was held this
afternoon
Colleagues: Staff Sergeant Guy Algranati was one
of three soldiers from the elite Maglan unit killed in a booby-trapped
tunnel shaft in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday
Support: Comrades of 20-year-old Israeli Staff
Sergeant Guy Algranati mourn during his funeral in the military section
of the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv this afternoon
Earlier Israel announced it is to call up an additional 16,000 military reservists, allowing them to potentially widen the Gaza offensive.
This morning Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Gaza campaign would not end until every tunnel used by Hamas militants to attack Israeli towns or military targets had been destroyed.
The call-up follows another day of intense fighting in the territory, during which tank shells struck a U.N school where civilians were sheltering, and air strikes tore through a crowded shopping area.
Yesterday alone, a total of 116 Palestinians - the majority of them civilians - and three Israeli soldiers were killed.
Shelling: Israel is planning to call-up
additional 16,000 military reservists, allowing them to potentially
widen the Gaza offensive in a war that has already claimed the lives of
at least 1,360 Palestinians and 59 Israelis
Blast: Smoke rises after an Israeli shell strike
hit the offices of the Hamas movement's Al-Aqsa satellite television
station in Gaza City this morning
Destroyed: A Palestinian stands on the rubble of
what used to be the house belonging to Muhammed Jmasy family, after it
was destroyed by an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City
Israel's decision to call up an additional 16,000 reservists coincides with stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war, which has reduced entire Gaza neighborhoods to rubble since it began on July 8.
Israeli attacks in the strip continued this morning, with witnesses saying that munitions struck the Omar Ibn al-Khatab mosque next to a U.N. school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
56 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians have died in the Gaza campaign, as Palestinians have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel - some reaching major cities - and carried out attacks through tunnels beneath the heavily guarded frontier.
Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict, which it launched to try to end the rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
Attack: Fires spews from the cannon of an
Israeli artillery vehicle as it fires into the Gaza Strip from a base
in southern Israel this morning
This morning it emerged that the U.S. had agreed
to allow Israel to access on of its weapons stockpiles so the military
could increase the number of grenades and mortar rounds at its disposal
An initial aerial campaign was widened into a ground offensive on July 17.
This morning it emerged that the U.S. had agreed to allow Israel to access on of its weapons stockpiles so the military could increase the number of grenades and mortar rounds at its disposal.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, said the American munitions were already located within Israel as part of a programme called War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel.
As part of the agreement, Israel can also access the weapons in an emergency situation. But according to the Al-Jazeera news service, an unidentified U.S. official told them that Israel did not declare a state of emergency when applying for access 10 days ago.
Palestinian Heygar Jendiyah, left, points to
where the kitchen once stood in her family home. The building in the
Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City was destroyed by an Israeli air strike
A Palestinian man tries to extinguish flames inside his home. The building caught fire following an overnight Israeli strike
Wreckage: Four-year-old Palestinian Abdel Aziz
Jendiyah stands in front of a six-story building, destroyed by an
Israeli strike, in the Sabra area of Gaza City this morning
Since the ground offensive began, the campaign has concentrated on destroying more than 30 cross-border tunnels that militants have constructed to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.
Israel says that most of the 32 tunnels it has uncovered have now been demolished and that getting rid of the remainder will take no more than a few days.
This morning Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive in Gaza will not come to an end until all of the tunnels have been destroyed.
The strike in Beit Lahiya early this morning damaged water tanks on the roof of a building near the mosque, sending shrapnel flying into the adjacent school compound.
'The shrapnel from the strike on the mosque hit people who were in the street and at the entrance of the school,' said Sami Salebi, a local resident.
Grief: A man is seen weeping over the death of a
relative following an Israeli air strike at a crowded market in the
Shejaiya neighbourhood. At least 15 people were killed and 150 people
wounded in the attack
Supplies: Food belonging to Israeli soldiers is
seen stacked near shell cases at an army deployment area near the border
with the Gaza Strip this morning
Strength: Israeli tanks are seen at an army
deployment area near the border with the Gaza Strip today as smoke
billows from the coastal Palestinian enclave. Israel mobilised 16,000
additional reservists today to bolster forces fighting in Gaza
The news comes as Bolivian president Evo Morales formally declared Israel a terrorist state, meaning Israelis wanting to travel to the country will require a visa and go through additional security checks.
Yesterday Israeli tank shells struck a U.N. school in the Jebaliya refugee camp where some 3,300 Gazans had crammed in to seek refuge from the fighting, killing at least 17 people and drawing sharp condemnation from the United Nations.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the deadly school shelling "outrageous" and "unjustifiable," and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
"Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children," the U.N. chief said.
Heavy weapons: An Israeli soldier carries a
shell as he and his fellow soldiers prepare their tanks for a fresh
bombardment of the Gaza Strip
Preparations: Israel's call-up of additional
reservists follows another day of intense fighting in Gaza, during which
tank shells struck a U.N school where civilians were sheltering
This morning marked a third day of particularly heavy Israeli air and artillery attacks, at a time when Egyptian cease-fire efforts appeared to have stalled.
Israeli media said last night that Israel's Security Cabinet decided to press forward with the operation.
Egyptian officials, meanwhile, met with an Israeli envoy about Israel's conditions for a cease-fire, allegedly including disarming Hamas.
Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted.
Painful: A displaced Palestinian man carries his
injured child to the Kamal Edwan hospital in Beit Lahia for treatment
earlier today. The infant was wounded by shrapnel from an attack on
mosque next door to the UN school in which the family were sheltering
Under threat: The strike in Gaza's Beit Lahiya
area early this morning damaged water tanks on the roof of a building
near the mosque, sending shrapnel flying into the adjacent UN school
compound (pictured)
Rubble: A Palestinian firefighter participates
in efforts to put out a fire from the wreckage of a house, which was
destroyed in an Israeli air strike overnight
Israel says it wants to decimate Hamas' rocket-launching capability, diminish its weapons arsenal and demolish the tunnels. It has launched more than 4,000 strikes against Hamas-linked targets, including rocket launchers and mosques where it says weapons were being stored.
Israeli strikes have also hit dozens of homes. Mahmoud Abu Rahma of the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan said nearly half of the Palestinians killed so far died in their homes.
Israeli officials have said Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields by firing rockets from crowded neighborhoods.
Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,600 rockets at Israel over the past three weeks.
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