By NNN-Bernama
Dubai : Alarmed by the recent violence in Gaza and Israel, the top United Nations human rights official has called for an investigation into the reported killings of dozens of civilians, including children, by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
“Israel, as the occupying power, bears a particular responsibility under international human rights and humanitarian law to protect the civilian population and civilian installations in Gaza,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said in a statement issued in Geneva.
She called on the Israeli government “to conduct impartial investigations into the killings of civilians, make the findings public and hold any perpetrators accountable”.
While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, she condemned the IDF’s “disproportionate use of force”. The attacks targeted Palestinian groups who launched dozens of rockets into southern Israel.
Reports said the operations, which prompted an emergency UN Security Council session Saturday night, resulted in the deaths of at least 110 Palestinians since Wednesday, according to Palestinian medical sources. The IDF said two Israeli soldiers were killed.
Both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have condemned the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.
Meanwhile, the Gulf News daily said in an editorial that any time Israel committed atrocities in the Occupied Territories, the first reaction from the international community would be: “Israel has the right to defend itself”.
“Don’t the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves from Israel’s brutal and indiscriminate killings. Gaza remains under occupation; any country or region under occupation has a right to defend itself; the Gazans don’t have the military power to fight back,” the Dubai-based English language newspaper said.
It noted that the occupier (Israel) and the occupied (the Gaza Strip) were being treated as equals by the international community in a very unequal situation.
“There is no comparison at all between the fire power of Israel and the Palestinians — a fact that is being totally ignored. And it is precisely this oversight that enables the Jewish state to behave the way it wants to,” the newspaper said.