UN rights chief says 'evidence mounting' of 'genocide' in Gaza

GENEVA, Switzerland: The United Nations rights chief said Tuesday evidence of a “genocide” unfolding in Gaza was mounting, as Israel scaled up its offensive in the Palestinian territory with a ground assault on Gaza City.

“We see the piling up of war crime after war crime after war crime, of crime against humanity, and potentially even more,” Volker Turk told AFP and Reuters, adding: “It’s for the court to decide whether it’s genocide or not, and we see the evidence mounting.”

UN rights chief condemned Israel’s ground assault on Gaza City as “totally and utterly unacceptable” and demanded an end to the “carnage”.

“The whole world screams for peace. Palestinians, Israelis scream for peace. Everyone wants an end to this, and what we see is a further escalation which is totally and utterly unacceptable,” he said.

“It is absolutely clear that this carnage must stop.”

United Nations investigators today accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza in a bid to “destroy the Palestinians” there, and blamed Israel’s prime minister and other top officials for incitement.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body and has faced harsh Israeli criticism, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur”, commission chief Navi Pillay told AFP.

“The responsibility lies with the State of Israel.”

The commission, tasked with investigating the rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, published its latest report nearly two years after the war erupted in Gaza