GENEVA (Realist English). The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday urged Israel to halt its newly launched ground offensive in Gaza City, warning that mounting evidence pointed to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and potentially more serious violations.
“I can only think of what it means for women, for malnourished children, for people with disabilities, if they are again attacked in this way. And I have to say the only response to this is: stop the carnage,” Türk told reporters in Geneva.
He added that both Palestinians and Israelis were calling for peace, yet what the world was witnessing was “a further escalation which is totally and utterly unacceptable.” He called on Israel to end what he described as the “wanton destruction of Gaza.”
His comments came hours after a UN Commission of Inquiry issued a landmark report accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the findings as “distorted and false,” claiming they relied on “Hamas falsehoods.”
Pressed on whether he would use the term genocide himself, Türk declined, stressing that it was up to international courts to make that determination. “We see the piling up of war crime after war crime or crime against humanity, and potentially even more,” he said. “We see the evidence mounting.”