Israeli strikes on Gaza may have violated laws of war - UN report

The UN human rights office examined six strikes, including one in Jabalia refugee camp on 31 October 2023

The UN Human Rights Office says Israeli air strikes in Gaza may have systematically violated the laws of war requiring that civilians and civilian infrastructure be protected.

It is the conclusion of a report on what it calls six “emblematic attacks” on residential buildings, a school, refugee camps and a market between 9 October and 2 December last year.

The UN says it has verified that at least 218 people were killed in the incidents and that civilian objects were destroyed.

Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the UN’s findings as "factually, legally, and methodologically flawed”.

It insisted that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was operating in Gaza in accordance with international law and accused Hamas of unlawfully embedding itself among civilians.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy the Palestinian armed group in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 37,390 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it had reportedly identified 14,680 children, women and elderly people among the dead by the end of April.

The report published by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) on Wednesday examined six strikes where it said Israel might have violated fundamental principles of the laws of war.

The strikes allegedly involved the use of 2,000lb (907kg), 1,000lb (453kg), and 250lb (110kg) air-dropped munitions, known respectively as GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39s.

• Jabalia market, 9 October 2023 - Explosions destroyed two buildings. The UN said it verified at least 42 people were killed, including 14 children, and received information about an additional 18 deaths. The IDF said it struck several military targets, including an underground “terror tunnel” and Hamas fighters.

• Taj3 Tower, Gaza City, 25 October - The seven-floor residential building and six nearby structures were destroyed. The UN verified at least 105 people were killed, among them 47 children. Another seven fatalities were reported. The IDF said strikes that day hit “several unique and high value Hamas military assets and infrastructure”.

• Jabalia camp, 31 October - Ten structures in the densely-populated refugee camp were destroyed. The UN verified at least 56 people were killed, including 23 children, and received reports of another 43 fatalities. The IDF said the strike killed the commander of a Hamas battalion and a “large number of terrorists” hiding in tunnels.

• Bureij camp, 2 November - At least 12 buildings in the refugee camp were destroyed. The UN verified 15 people were killed, including nine children, and received information about an additional seven fatalities. The IDF said it struck “several Hamas infrastructures”.

• Al-Buraq school, Gaza City, 10 November - A two-storey section of the school was destroyed. At least 34 people were reported killed. The IDF said it struck a Hamas company commander hiding there, other operatives and military infrastructure.

• Shujaiya neighbourhood, Gaza City, 2 December - Fifteen buildings were destroyed. The UN received reports that 60 people were killed. The IDF said the strike killed a Hamas battalion commander, other fighters and military infrastructure.

The UN report says GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39s are mostly used to penetrate through several floors of concrete and can completely collapse tall structures.

“Given how densely populated the areas targeted were, the use of such a wide-area effect weapon would have in all likelihood resulted in an indiscriminate attack,” it adds.

“Explosive weapons with such wide-area effects cannot be directed at a specific military object in densely populated areas of Gaza, and the effects cannot be limited, resulting in military objects, civilians and civilian objects being struck without distinction.”

The report says no specific warning was issued before five of the strikes, and that the presence of one commander, several combatants, or several military objectives in one area “does not render an entire neighbourhood a military objective”.

“The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.

He called on Israel to make public the detailed findings of the IDF’s investigations into the six incidents “with a view to identifying those responsible for violations, holding them to account and to ensuring all victims' rights to truth, justice and reparations”.

Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva condemned the report, saying it “suffers from hindsight and methodological biases which cast a shadow on the credibility of its legal assessment”.

“The only objective of this thematic report is to lambast and single-out Israel, while further shielding Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” it added.

It also asserted that the conclusions were based on public information and data published by Hamas, overlooked operational considerations, and did not address Hamas’s tactics.

“Hamas systematically and unlawfully embeds its military assets within populated areas, and carries out its military activities amongst, behind, and under its own civilians in a deliberate and strategic attempt to maximize civilian harm,” it said. “It also cynically manipulates the statistics surrounding casualties.”

It added: “Israel is committed to its obligations under national and international law, and in particular, the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions.”