The Chair Of The UN Human Rights Council Said Did Not See Evidence Of Civil Buildings In Gaza For Military Purposes

Illustration of impact of Israeli air strikes. (Wikimedia Commons / Masser)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Human Rights Council (Human Rights) Michelle Bachelet said Israel's deadly attack in Gaza City, Palestine, could be a war crime.

Bachelet said this in a special session of the UN Human Rights Council at the urging of Muslim countries to discuss the conflict that occurred between Palestine and Israel, this Thursday.

He said, if the attacks carried out were disproportionate, it would become a war crime. Meanwhile, in a special session, he said he saw no evidence that civilian buildings in Gaza that were hit by Israeli attacks were used for military purposes.

"If found to be disproportionate, such attacks may constitute a war crime," he told the 47-member UN Human Rights Council Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. He also urged the Islamic ruler Hamas in Gaza to refrain from firing indiscriminate rockets at Israel.

The Israeli military has claimed several times that the air strikes it carried out in Gaza targeted the homes of Hamas militant figures, as well as a network of underground tunnels used by militants.

One of the worst air strikes took place on May 16, in which an Israeli strike on Gaza left 42 Palestinian civilians dead, including 10 children. The Israeli military said the civilian casualties were not intentional. According to them, the air strikes were aimed at attacking the underground tunnel system belonging to the Hamas militants who control Gaza.

"The underground military facility collapsed, causing the foundations of the civilian houses above it to collapse, causing unwanted casualties," an Israeli military statement said.

To note, due to the 11-day armed conflict between the two sides, at least 254 people were killed in Gaza and more than 1,900 were injured, the Palestinian health authority said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military put the death toll in Israel at 13, with hundreds of people being treated for injuries after rocket fire caused panic, displacing civilians.

Commercial buildings, residential towers and private homes across the Gaza Strip, home to 2 million people, were damaged or destroyed by the time a ceasefire was declared.