UN Human Rights Council Demands Israel To Be Responsible For Possible War Crimes

UN Human Rights Council. (Twitter/@ONUGeneve)

JAKARTA - The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Israel to take responsibility for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, although Israel considers it a "violating context".

Twenty-eight countries voted in favor of 13 abstains and six against the resolution, including the United States and Germany.

The resolution stressed "the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law to end impunity".

The statement also expressed " great concern over reports of serious human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including the possibility of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian Population Area".

Responding to this resolution, Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel's permanent representative for the United Nations in Geneva, accused the council of "has long left the Israeli people and has long defended Hamas".

"According to the resolution you said today, Israel has no right to protect its people, while Hamas has the right to kill and torture innocent Israelis," he said ahead of the vote.

"The 'Yes' sound is the voice for Hamas," he continued.

Meanwhile, Israel's ally, the United States has pledged to vote against the resolution for not containing a special condemnation of Hamas for the October 7 attack, or "any reference regarding the terrorist nature of the act".

However, Uncle Sam's country says Israel has not done enough to reduce losses to civilians.

"The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to ease the conflict of military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, to avoid civilian casualties and to ensure humanitarian actors can carry out their important missions safely," Michèle Taylor, a permanent US representative for the council.

"This has not happened and, in just six months, more humanitarian workers have been killed in this conflict than any war in the modern era," he continued.

It is known that the UN Human Rights Council, which meets several times a year, is the only agency between governments designed to protect human rights around the world. This can increase surveillance of human rights records of a country and authorize investigations.