‘Atrocities by One Side Do Not Justify Those by the Other,’ Investigator Tells Third Committee, Implicating Israeli Forces, Palestinian Armed Groups in War Crimes
Conflict Continues to Take Heavy Toll on Human Rights in Africa, Experts Warn
Israel's targeted destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Gaza threatening the long-term survival of Palestinian people as a group are war crimes and crime against humanity, while Palestinian armed groups also committed a war crime by attacking medical staff, facilities and ambulances in Israel, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today.
“Atrocities committed by one side, do not justify atrocities committed by the other,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, presenting her report (document A/79/232) documenting attacks on medical facilities and personnel, and the treatment of detainees and hostages from 7 October 2023 to August 2024. She added that the 7 October attacks against Israel and the subsequent escalation of the conflict were preceded by decades of violence and retribution, dispossession, unlawful occupation and denial of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
"7 October should have been a wake-up call to finally end the recurring cycles of violence and retribution, and for peace to become a viable reality," she said, adding: “Tragically, it has instead served as a call to arms for collective punishment and dehumanization.”
She noted that Israel has carried out “hundreds of attacks on hospitals” and “deliberately killed or wounded" hundreds of medical personnel, including "by sniper fire”. These are “the war crimes of willful killing and torture and the crime against humanity of extermination”, she stressed.
The Commission also documented attacks by Palestinian armed groups on medical staff, facilities and ambulances in Israel on and after 7 October 2023, she said, adding that those acts constitute a war crime. She also detailed the situations of the thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israel — arbitrarily detained, “held incommunicado,” and used as human shields by the army during exchanges of fire — as well as the Israeli hostages taken on 7 October, all of whom have been subjected conditions amounting to torture. “Humanity must prevail,” she underscored, calling for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages, an end to the occupation and for the right to self-determination to be realized for Palestinians.
“The devastation inflicted over the past 387 days on the Palestinians […] is an outrage to humanity and everything the post-World War Two international law-based order stands for,” declared Francesca P. Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
“In a manner reminiscent of other genocides,” the understandable rage and trauma from the brutal 7 October events created a “vengeful atmosphere,” preparing Israeli soldiers to become “willing executioners” in annihilating the Palestinian people, she said. Despite her warning to the Human Rights Council about the risk of genocide in March and a Security Council-ordered ceasefire, the Israeli assault on Gaza has intensified, reducing the Strip to “mass graves from which twisted limbs emerge with signs of IV drips still attached,” she said.
Observing that genocide is a process, including “a plurality of acts and actors,” she said that Israel’s intent to destroy the Palestinian people — “the totality of the Israeli conduct, directed against the totality of the Palestinian people” and the territory Israel illegally occupies — is evidenced by its leaders calling for the destruction of Gaza and its onslaught on the Palestinians, as well as the largest land grab in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 30 years. “This should have been stopped already,” by the Security Council in October 2023 or before Rafah was invaded, she declared, decrying the “silence — or worse — the justification of a small but influential number of States in this room”.
Many delegates called for a ceasefire and the protection of civilian life, while others expressed concern over the Commission of Inquiry’s mandate. Some shared steps to hold Israel accountable for its rights violations.
Speakers for Malaysia, Yemen, Iran and Lebanon noted that the current genocide is decades in the making, with the latter pointing out that Israel has ignored UN resolutions and International Court of Justice rulings continuously. “No one is ignorant of the massacres committed against unarmed Palestinians,” she said.
Condemning Israel’s continuous violations of international law and its ongoing attacks on the UN, the representative of Norway said that her delegation will spearhead a General Assembly resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the country’s obligations to deliver aid to the Palestinian population.
Also spotlighting her country’s initiative, South Africa’s speaker said that it had submitted a document to the International Court of Justice in October 2023 containing evidence of Israel’s violation of the Genocide Convention.
Meanwhile, representatives of Albania, Canada, Nauru, Hungary, United Kingdom and the United States all voiced concern over the Commission of Inquiry’s open-ended mandate with the latter, noting that it reflects a bias against Israel. The United States supports Israel’s right to self-defense and regrets that some countries still have failed to condemn the 7 October Hamas attacks, he said, highlighting his country’s diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire.
“Don’t come from the comfort and luxury of New York and your capitals to tell the Palestinian in the room that these reports are one-sided and unbalanced,” said the observer for the State of Palestine. Calling on them to try living in Palestine and watch their lands dispossessed, their movement restricted, or be beaten by settlers under the watch of the Israeli military, she stressed that the Israeli Government will not admit to its genocide and will drown out those who denounce it with accusations of anti-Semitism and terrorism — as it has done with the UN Secretary-General, the International Criminal Court judges, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Despite Israeli President [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s efforts, “we are Palestinians, and we don’t disappear,” she underlined. Member States should either “stand on the right side of history” or at least stop “shielding the perpetrators,” she said, urging them to “halt weapons and arms transfer to Israel now, enforce a ceasefire now, and stop the genocide”.
The Committee then turned its attention to Africa.
South Sudan
“Conflict continues to inflict a heavy cost on South Sudan,” said Barney Afako, Member of the Commission on Human Rights in that country, adding that hundreds of thousands have been killed, over 2 million are internally displaced and most of the population requires humanitarian assistance. Civilians have been targeted and traumatized, with women and girls systematically subjected to horrific sexual violence. “Children’s lives are blighted by conflict, predation and neglect,” including through recruitment and abduction, he said, stressing that South Sudan has one of the highest levels of infant mortality and acute malnutrition in the world. Additionally, the war in its neighbouring State — Sudan — has driven another 800,000 people into South Sudan, plunging its economy into deeper crisis.
“South Sudanese live under the shadow of repression and surveillance,” he said, adding that National Security Services constantly monitor, harass, target and abduct civil society and perceived opponents, including those outside the country. Concurrently, the media is subjected to censorship and reprisals. The climate of impunity is further exacerbated by the under-resourced justice sector and demoralized police, prosecutors and judicial officers.
South Sudan’s leaders failed to implement the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement, he warned, urging them to promote a credible constitution-making process, which would provide the basis for the country’s first national elections. They must also “stop the plunder,” which is depriving South Sudanese of their core rights, and instead, promote accountability and recovery by investing in the national justice system, he asserted.
Eritrea
Also briefing the Committee was Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea. Spotlighting widespread violations there, he reported that thousands of people are enduring arbitrary detention in inhuman and degrading conditions without charges or trial. “Many do not survive their detention,” he said, urging the Government to release all arbitrarily detained individuals and ensure proper due process. Furthermore, he identified evolving patterns of transnational repression, including kidnappings and enforced disappearances. He also emphasized the increasingly precarious situation faced by Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, adding that as of April 2024, an estimated 17 per cent of the country’s population had sought asylum abroad.
Somalia
“Human rights challenges in Somalia are complex but not insurmountable,” said Isha Dyfan, Independent Expert on human rights in that country. While commending Somalia’s recent achievements in laying the groundwork for improved human rights implementation, she underscored that “more remains to be accomplished”. Relatedly, she stressed that the ongoing armed conflict — coupled with frequent attacks by Al-Shabaab and other armed groups — continues to take an unacceptable toll on civilians.
Burundi
Fortuné Gaetan Zongo, Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burundi, said the country is facing “an unprecedented economic crisis,” which crippled access to justice, health, education and food. The country’s extreme vulnerability to climate change has further exacerbated food insecurity, poverty and displacement. He voiced particular concern over the lack of independence of the judiciary, arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances, underscoring the need to protect journalists, whistleblowers and dissident voices in Burundi.
Central African Republic
Yao Agbetse, Independent Expert on human rights in the Central African Republic, underlined that “human rights in the country should be an integral part of the peace process and reconciliation”. In addition to national humanitarian challenges, the Central African Republic faces the consequences of conflicts in Chad, which have caused over 38,000 people to flee — mainly women and children — to the northwest part of the country, and the war in Sudan, which forced over 28,000 Sudanese refugees to find refuge in Birao and Ndélé.
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