Updates about Palestine and Israel war: Total siege of Gaza prohibited under international law

According to the UN human rights chief, Israel’s comprehensive blockade of the Gaza Strip, which deprives Palestinians basic necessities for living, is prohibited by international law.

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged all parties to defuse the “explosive powder keg situation,” saying that people’s dignity and lives must be respected.

#Israel #OPT – @volker_turk makes urgent plea to all States with influence to take steps to defuse the “powder keg” situation causing loss of life & incalculable suffering. International humanitarian law & international human rights law must be respected. https://t.co/NvrYW17qFw

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) October 10, 2023

It comes after Israel completely cut off food, water, and energy supplies to the Gaza Strip yesterday, raising concerns about a deteriorating humanitarian scenario. In the event that Israeli airstrikes on Gazans without prior notice continue, Hamas has vowed to execute the hostages.

Turk stated in a statement: “International humanitarian law is clear: the duty to exercise constant caution to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks.”

According to the statement, the siege runs the serious risk of making the already dismal human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza even worse, including the ability of medical institutions to function. This is especially true given the rising number of injured people.

International humanitarian law forbids the installation of sieges that put civilian lives in jeopardy by denying them of necessities for survival, according to Turk.

The statement further said that any restrictions on the movement of people and things to carry out a siege must be justified by military necessity or else they may amount to collective punishment.

The deaths of four Palestinian journalists

According to media organizations and authorities, four Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the Palestinian Press Union, the most recent killings brought the total number of Palestinian journalists killed in combat since Saturday to eight.

Three journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of continued Israeli aggression, according to another union, the Gaza journalists’ syndicate, which made the announcement earlier.

Salameh Maarouf, the head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, named the three as correspondent Hisham Nawajhah, press photographer Mohammed Sobboh, and Al-Khamisa news agency director Said al-Taweel.

According to Maarouf, who criticized Israel’s “criminal behavior against journalists,” they were murdered in an attack while documenting the evacuation of a residential building close to Gaza City’s fishing port.

After a resident received a call from the Israeli army warning of an impending strike, reporters were standing several dozen meters (yards) away from the building, according to an AFP correspondent.

Witnesses claimed that the Israeli attack occurred closer to the location of the journalists, at a different building.

Later that day, the press union reported that Salam Khalil, the chairwoman of its committee for female journalists, had perished along with her husband and kids after their home in the northern Gaza Strip was targeted by a “treacherous” Israeli bombing.

According to a statement from the media office, journalist Asad Shamlakh died on Sunday. It further stated that two cameramen were missing and that 10 other journalists had been hurt.

According to the Palestinian statement and the Committee to Protect Journalists, three journalists were killed on Saturday.

The New York-based media rights organization announced on Monday that Mohammad Jarghoun, a reporter, Mohammad El-Salhi, and photographer Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi had all been shot to death in separate incidents.

#Israel: 2 #Palestinian #journalists killed, 1 injured, 2 missing, in #Gaza-Israel conflict. The @pressfreedom was deeply disturbed by reports that 5 #journalists were among the civilians who were killed, injured, or missing in the ongoing conflict.https://t.co/aT3DPCNa9Y…

— CPJ MENA (@CPJMENA) October 9, 2023

Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement saying, “We call on all sides to remember that journalists are civilians and should not be targeted.”

“During times of crisis, accurate reporting is essential, and the media plays a crucial role in bringing news from Gaza and Israel to the world.”

“Clear proof” of war crimes

Since Saturday’s unexpected Hamas attack, “already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed” has been found, according to the continuing UN inquiry into alleged human rights abuses in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“All those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable for their crimes,” declared the Commission of Inquiry.

There is already clear evidence that #WarCrimes may have been committed in #Israel & #Gaza, & all those targeting civilians must be held to account, says the @UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem Israel➡️ https://t.co/NP3MhVMfpK pic.twitter.com/G4AtieXDDw

— United Nations Human Rights Council | 📍 #HRC54 (@UN_HRC) October 10, 2023

The COI was established in May 2021 to look into all alleged transgressions of international humanitarian and human rights law. It is the highest level investigation that the UN Human Rights Council can request.

According to the independent committee, it has been “collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides” during the ongoing battle.

lsrael uses banned white phosphorus against Palestinian civilians in al-Karama area, north of Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/G322TKxrWw

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) October 10, 2023