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The UN’s human rights chief has voiced horror at Israel’s resumption of airstrikes on Gaza that have killed at least 404 people, saying further misery was being inflicted on people “already suffering catastrophic conditions”.
In a statement on Tuesday Volker Türk said he was horrified by Monday night’s airstrikes and shelling in Gaza. The decision to resume shelling in effect ended the fragile ceasefire that has paused the violence in the devastated Gaza Strip since mid-January. Palestinian authorities reported 404 deaths by about noon local time, nine and a half hours after the strikes began.
Türk said the strikes “will add tragedy to tragedy”, while calling for an immediate end to the violence, the unconditional release of hostages and all those arbitrarily detained.
“The last 18 months of violence have made abundantly clear that there is no military path out of this crisis,” he said, calling for a political settlement, in line with international law. “Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”
Separately the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Muhannad Hadi, described Israel’s renewed assault as “unconscionable”, as he called for the ceasefire to be reinstated immediately.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said the EU deplored the fact that hostilities had restarted in Gaza. “We want Hamas to release all its hostages and we ask Israel to show restraint and to re-establish free humanitarian access to Gaza,” the spokesperson said, saying that negotiations were the only way to find a solution. “Israelis and Palestinians have suffered hugely over the last year. It’s time to break this cycle of violence.”
Turkey, a staunch supporter of Palestine, including the Hamas terrorist group, described Israel’s attacks on Gaza as a “new phase in its policy of genocide” against Palestinians and urged the international community to take a determined stance to ensure a ceasefire is upheld and humanitarian aid is delivered.
Russia’s government said the attacks marked “another spiral of escalation that is causing our concern”.
Israel, which consulted the US in advance of the action, said the strikes were targeted at mid-level Hamas commanders, officials and infrastructure.
A former French ambassador to the US and Israel, Gérard Araud, said what was happening in Gaza should incite “horror, indignation and condemnation from the international community”. In posts on social media, the French diplomat said the operation launched by Israel did not respond to any identifiable military objective “other than to inflict suffering on the civilian population until Hamas capitulates, which it will not”.
