Palestinian officials say Israeli forces killed 274 people during the operation to rescue four captives held in Gaza.
The United Nations human rights office says both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes during an Israeli raid on Nuseirat in central Gaza last week.
At least 274 Palestinians were killed during Saturday's raid, according to Gaza health officials, as Israeli forces rescued four captives held in Gaza for more than eight months.
The rare daytime attack was carried out by heavily armed Israeli special forces with air support.
According to Palestinian officials, more than 600 people were injured in the attack, including children and women. The influx of patients since the raid has overwhelmed the enclave's hospitals, which were already running on limited supplies of medicine, food and fuel.
Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, said Tuesday that the office is “deeply shocked” by the impact of the Israeli attack on civilians.
“The manner in which the raid was carried out in such a densely populated area casts serious doubt on whether Israeli forces respected the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, established in the laws of war,” he said in a statement. statement.
“Our Office is also deeply concerned that Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, most of them civilians, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Furthermore, by holding hostages in such densely populated areas, armed groups are putting the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as those of the hostages themselves, at greater risk due to hostilities.”
Laurence said Turk welcomed the U.N. Security Council resolution passed Monday to back a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal in Gaza and said all sides must ensure the “unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid.”
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that it supports the U.N. resolution and was willing to cooperate with mediators to begin more indirect negotiations on its implementation.
This was the second ceasefire resolution passed by the Security Council, which in March also voted in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, but which has not been implemented.
At least 37,164 people have been killed and 84,832 wounded since the start of the war on October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
