The European commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid acknowledged on Wednesday that both Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas have violated international law in the ongoing conflict, namely by kidnapping civilians and bombing civilian installations.
“There is no doubt that international humanitarian law must be fully applied in this conflict, as in any other conflict, and this binds both sides,” Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said during a debate on the worsening of the tensions and their consequences. the humanitarian situation in the Middle East, in the European Parliament (EP), in Strasbourg (France).
The European Commissioner added that “there is no doubt that this has not been respected since October 7”.
On October 7, fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – carried out an attack on Israeli territory of unprecedented scale since then. the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, about 5,000 injured and more than 200 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with cuts to food, water, electricity and fuel supplies in the Gaza Strip and daily bombing, followed by a ground offensive around Gaza City. The offensive against the Gaza Strip has already caused more than 14,100 deaths, according to the Islamist group.
In the debate and in front of Members of the European Parliament, Janez Lenarcic listed several moments of the current conflict that he classified as violations of international humanitarian law.
These, according to the commissioner, include the “large number of civilians murdered in Israel” during the Hamas attack and the kidnapping of more than 200 people, as well as the launching of rockets “indiscriminately” against the Hebrew state.
The “more than 12,000 civilians killed in Gaza,” the “obstruction” of the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and “more than 100 UN workers killed” as a result of Israeli retaliation were other facts mentioned by the community representative.
“These are violations of international humanitarian law and they must stop,” said the commissioner, who also stressed the need to improve access to humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave and its distribution within the territory.
Source: DN
