UN Human Rights Chief Asks Israel To Stop Massacre

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk. (Twitter/@volker_turk)

JAKARTA - The Head of Human Rights of the United Nations urged Israel to immediately stop its ground attacks in the Palestinian city of Gaza, which began on Tuesday, saying evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the possibility of further increasing.

"I can only imagine what it means for women, for children who are malnourished, for people with disabilities, if they are again attacked this way. And I have to say the only response to this is: stop the massacre," Volker Turk High Commissioner told reporters in Geneva.

"Palestinian, Israel is screaming for peace. Everyone wants the end of this, and what we see is further escalation that is totally unacceptable," he continued.

"I call on Israel to stop the arbitrary destruction of Gaza," Turk said.

As previously reported, Israel announced the start of land operations to Gaza City on Tuesday. An Israeli military official said the IDF had started the main stage of their ground operations to Gaza City, the main city center in the enclave, where Israel had ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate.

On the same day, the United Nations Commission for Investigation concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sparked these actions - accusations that Israel called a scandal.

Turk hasn't used the term yet, but he is under pressure to do so.

When asked if he would consider using the word genocide to describe Israel's actions in Gaza, Turk said: "We see a buildup of war crimes for war crimes or crimes against humanity, and potentially more. I mean, it is the courts that will decide whether it is genocide or not, and we see more and more evidence."