Dubai – Masaader News
From arbitrary detentions and deliberate deprivation, to attacks against civilians and forced displacements, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, expressed “acute concerns” on Monday over the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Briefing the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Zeid – who also heads the UN human rights office, OHCHR – expressed concern over the dramatic escalation of violence along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel during the past few months, in which dozens of Palestinian civilians were killed.
“I remind all parties that any disproportionate or indiscriminate use of weapons which lead to the death and injury of civilians is prohibited by international humanitarian law”, said High Commissioner Zeid, warning that this escalation could potentially threaten peace across a far broader region.
Though the United Nations and the Government of Egypt have made efforts to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas which controls Gaza, the situation remains extremely fragile, he said. “I urge the parties and all those with influence to do their utmost to avoid another round of violence and misery.”
In his briefing, the Human Rights chief highlighted the dire conditions that Palestinians living in Gaza continue to endure. He regretted that these regular waves of violence “compound the already extreme humanitarian crisis”, which he denounced as “entirely man-made and entirely preventable”, including “skyrocketing unemployment and poverty, crumbling infrastructure, record food-dependency and a bleak political horizon”.
The grave funding crisis currently faced by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – which plays a crucial role in providing protection, education and health services as well as employment to the refugee populations – is likely to further aggravate the situation, he said.
Regarding the recent “shocking killings” along the Gaza fence during the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations, he noted that the Human Rights Council resolved in May, to dispatch an independent, international Commission of Inquiry on the matter.