The United Nations Says Civilian Deaths In Israel's Hostage Release Operation Could Be Considered A War Crime

The Israeli military during an operation to release hostages in Gaza Source of Israel Defense Forces

JAKARTA - The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that killing civilians in Gaza during Israel's operations to release four hostages, as well as the detention of prisoners by Palestinian armed groups in densely populated areas, could be considered war crimes.

Israel said the operation, which was accompanied by airstrikes, took place on Saturday at the heart of a residential neighborhood in the refugee camp Nuseirat, central Gaza, where Hamas took hostages hostage in two separate apartment blocks.

The operation killed about 274 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health authorities.

"All of these actions can be considered as war crimes," Jeremy Lawrence, spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights Office, told the press in Geneva, adding it was up to the court to determine whether it really happened," as reported by WAFA June 11.

"The way of the ambush carried out in densely populated areas seriously raises the question of whether the principles of distinction, proportionality, and caution, as stipulated in the law of war, are respected by Israeli forces," Jeremy asked.

The detention of hostages in densely populated areas by Palestinian armed groups "takes the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as the hostages themselves, at an additional risk of hostilities."

"All of these actions, by both parties, can be considered war crimes," he said.

In response to the statement, Israel's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva accused the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights of "fitting Israel".

"The impact of this war on civilians is the first and is mainly the result of a deliberate Hamas strategy to maximize the loss of civilians," the mission said.

The latest conflict in Gaza broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.

Meanwhile, Gaza's health authorities on Tuesday confirmed 40 people were killed and 120 others injured as a result of Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours. That left the death toll of Palestinians since the conflict in Gaza broke out last year now 37,164 people and 84,832 people injured, with the majority of victims being women and children.