By David Gritten, BBC Information
AFPThe UN human rights workplace says it’s “profoundly shocked” on the affect on civilians of the Israeli operation in central Gaza that rescued 4 hostages held by Hamas.
Palestinian well being officers mentioned lots of of individuals have been killed and injured within the densely-populated Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday. Israel’s navy mentioned fewer than 100 have been killed.
UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence mentioned the motion by Israeli forces “seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution… were respected” and will quantity to struggle crimes.
He additionally mentioned Palestinian armed teams might face struggle crimes costs for persevering with to carry hostages in built-up areas and “putting the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as the hostages themselves, at added risk”.
Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva accused the UN human rights office of “slander”.
“The toll of this war on civilians is first and foremost the product of Hamas’s deliberate strategy to maximise civilian harm,” a statement said.
“Those who continue to shield Hamas terrorists, including [the UN human rights office], are complicit in the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
The Israeli military has repeatedly said it operates in accordance with international law.
There was no immediate comment by Hamas.
The four hostages freed on Saturday – Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv – were held in two apartment buildings about 200m (656ft) apart in Nuseirat – a historic, urban refugee camp which has seen an influx of displaced people since the start of the war.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israeli commandos took Ms Argamani’s Hamas guards by surprise and quickly killed them. But the simultaneous move to free Mr Ziv, Mr Kozlov and Mr Meir from the second building sparked a fierce gun battle with their guards, during which a senior Israeli police officer was fatally wounded.
As the commandos evacuated to the coast, they came under fire from fighters armed with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the IDF said. In response, Israeli aircraft, artillery and naval vessels carried out intense strikes on the area.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 others were injured during the operation. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The Hamas-run Government Media Office reported that 64 children, 57 women and 37 elderly people were among the dead.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said its teams, along with medical staff at al-Aqsa hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah and Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, treated hundreds of severely injured patients, many of whom were women and children.
The charity also quoted one of its Palestinian doctors, Dr Hazem Maloh, as saying that dozens of men, women and children were killed, including his neighbours, friends or relatives.
The director of al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today programme that 142 dead and 250 injured people were brought to the hospital on Saturday, and that almost a quarter of the fatalities were women and children.
A senior official from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), meanwhile, said its health centre in Nuseirat treated more than 125 injured people.
The IDF’s chief spokesman said it was aware of “underneath 100” Palestinian casualties and that it did not know how many of them were “terrorists”.
ReutersSeveral Nuseirat residents interviewed for BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today programme said they were reluctant to leave the camp in the wake of the operation because nowhere else in Gaza was safe.
“They hit the home reverse us with missiles. I believed my household and I might certainly die. One other missile additionally hit the door of our home. And naturally there was widespread destruction,” Khalil al-Tahran said.
“However the place ought to we flee to?”
Another man, Salem Wali al-Dasht, said: “Demise right here won’t be completely different from demise [somewhere else]… that’s the reason we determined to stay the place we’re.”
An Israeli doctor who treated the hostages following their rescue said they had suffered a “harsh expertise, with quite a lot of abuse, nearly daily”.
“Each hour, each bodily, psychological and different sorts, and that’s one thing that’s past comprehension,” Dr Itai Pessach of the Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan told CNN.
He also said their time in captivity had “left a major mark on their well being”.
This was because of a “mixture of the psychological stress, malnutrition… medical neglect, being restricted [in] area, not seeing the solar”, he defined.
UN spokesman Mr Laurence famous that the UN human rights workplace’s potential to confirm experiences of casualties throughout the hostage rescue operation was restricted due to entry constraints, however that it nonetheless had “reliable” contacts on the bottom.
He additionally mentioned that UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcomed the UN Safety Council decision endorsing a proposed ceasefire and hostage launch deal between Israel and Hamas, which was outlined by the US final month.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Israel’s prime minister had “reaffirmed his commitment” to the plan at a gathering on Monday.
Hamas has but to just accept it, however Mr Blinken mentioned a press release from the group welcoming the UN decision was a “hopeful sign”.
The Israeli navy launched a marketing campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border assault on southern Israel on 7 October, throughout which about 1,200 individuals have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
Greater than 37,120 individuals have been killed in Gaza since then, in response to the Hamas-run well being ministry.
A deal agreed in November noticed Hamas launch 105 of the hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and a few 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says 116 hostages are nonetheless being held, 41 of whom are presumed useless.
