UN human rights chief warns of ‘high and increasing risk’ of Israeli atrocities in Gaza

UN human rights chief warns of ‘high and increasing risk’ of Israeli atrocities in Gaza
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Injured Palestinian children are transported by ambulance to the Ahli Arab Hospital (Maamadani), after an Israeli strike hit a school in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City on April 3, 2025. (AFP)
UN human rights chief warns of ‘high and increasing risk’ of Israeli atrocities in Gaza
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Palestinians inspect the damage at an ambulance repair yard that was hit by Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on March 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 04 April 2025
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UN human rights chief warns of ‘high and increasing risk’ of Israeli atrocities in Gaza

UN human rights chief warns of ‘high and increasing risk’ of Israeli atrocities in Gaza
  • It comes as Volker Turk calls for an ‘independent, prompt and thorough’ investigation into the killing of 15 humanitarian workers in Gaza on March 23
  • Slovenian envoy Samuel Zbogar laments ‘erosion of humanity, the erosion of protection of civilians, of respect for international law (and) of peace and security’

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday expressed deep outrage over the killing of 15 medical and aid workers in Gaza on March 23, as he warned that “there is a high and increasing risk that atrocity crimes are being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Volker Turk called for an “independent, prompt and thorough” investigation into the deaths which, he said, raise “further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military.” The perpetrators “must be held to account,” he added.

He was speaking during an emergency meeting of the Security Council requested by council member Algeria, supported by China, Pakistan, Russia and Somalia, to discuss the escalating violence in the territory.

Renewed Israeli military attacks on Gaza have killed more than 1,200 Palestinians since March 1, including at least 320 children, Turk said, adding that the situation has deteriorated after the brief respite provided by the ceasefire earlier in the year

“The temporary relief of the ceasefire has been shattered,” he continued, noting that ongoing Israeli airstrikes have targeted residential buildings, hospitals and schools, many of them sheltering displaced civilians.

“There was no let-up, even as Palestinian families celebrated Eid,” Turk told council members. The Israeli military has intensified its strikes on “camps for people who have been displaced numerous times.” This has displacing thousands of additional Palestinians “who have nowhere safe to go,” he said, as half of Gaza has been designated a no-go zone or placed under evacuation orders.

These actions, he added, violate international humanitarian law, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians during conflicts.

Turk also highlighted the worsening humanitarian situation as a result of the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israeli authorities since March 1, which has cut off vital supplies of food, medicine and fuel. The World Food Program has been forced to close 25 bakeries, he said, exacerbating the food crisis.

“Community tensions over food shortages are palpable, alongside reports of excessive use of force by local police,” he continued. “We are witnessing a return to the breakdown of social order that preceded the ceasefire.”

The blockade amounts to collective punishment of Palestinians and might amount to the international crime of using starvation as a weapon of war, Turk said.

The situation is equally catastrophic in the West Bank, he warned, where Israeli military operations have resulted in hundreds of deaths and the destruction of refugee camps. Since Oct. 7, 2023, more 900 Palestinians have been killed there, including 191 children and five people with disabilities, and 40,000 have been displaced amid an alarming increase in state and settler violence. Some of these deaths, Turk said, might amount to extrajudicial “and other unlawful killings.”

In addition, he warned that “the announcement that residents must not return to their homes for a year raises serious concerns about long-term mass displacement.”

Turk expressed alarm at what he described as inflammatory rhetoric from senior Israeli officials, including calls for the annexation of Gaza and the forcible transfer of Palestinians from the territory. He said this raises grave concerns about the risk of international crimes and runs counter to the fundamental principle of international law that prevents the acquisition of territory by force.

“Dozens of Palestinian herding and farming communities have been forced to leave their homes and their ancestral lands, while restrictions on movement have paralyzed the economy and are shredding the social fabric,” Turk said.

Events during the past 18 months have made it “abundantly clear” that there is no military solution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, he added. He called for a political resolution and reiterated that the only path forward is a negotiated two-state solution in line with UN resolutions and international law.

Turk urged the Security Council to prioritize the protection of civilians and ensure accountability for all violations of human rights law. He also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and detainees, as well as unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.

The UK’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said her country “strongly opposes Israel’s decision to resume and expand its military operations in Gaza. Further fighting and bloodshed is in nobody’s interest and takes us further away from a deal to get the hostages home.”

She urged Israeli authorities to immediately reinstate the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“Blocking supplies and electricity from entering Gaza risks violating international humanitarian law,” she said.

The UK also condemns remarks by Defense Minister Israel Katz about the annexation of land in Gaza, Woodward added, and recent Israeli decisions to accelerate the establishment of settlements and outposts in the West Bank.

“There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians or reduction in the territory of Gaza,” she said.

Dorothy Shea, the charge d’affaires at the US mission to the UN, said Hamas was “solely responsible for the resumption of hostilities since March 18, refusing time and again to accept proposals to extend the ceasefire.

“For too long, Hamas has abused civilian infrastructure and facilities, cynically using it to physically shield its personnel and weaponry. Hamas’ reckless and contemptuous behavior has put civilians and humanitarian personnel at risk, purposefully placing them in the crossfire.”

Addressing events in the West Bank, Shea said that Washington supports what she described as “the efforts of the Israel Defense Forces to root out violent extremists in Jenin and Tulkarm.”

She called on the Palestinian Authority to carry through on its pledge “to end the practice of offering cash payments to the families of those who have carried out terrorist attacks, which for far too long incentivized violence against Israeli civilians and set back the prospects of peace.”

Slovenian envoy Samuel Zbogar lamented “the erosion of humanity, the erosion of protection of civilians, of respect for international law (and) of peace and security.”

He added: “More war does not bring more peace; not to Israel, not to Palestine, not to the region nor the globe. With each passing day, the region is less secure and the future is more unstable.”

He called on Israeli authorities to halt their operations in Gaza and the West Bank, and for an end to attacks on Israel.

“We call on Israel and Hamas to return to the agreement made in line with Resolution 2735, with the support of Egypt, Qatar and the United States,” Zbogar said. “The ceasefire must be restored, hostages must be released, aid must flow and dialogue must prevail.

“The only path to lasting peace can be the one of diplomacy. The only solution for ensuring lasting peace is the two-state solution endorsed by this council.”


Israel strikes Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, state television says

Israel strikes Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, state television says
Updated 45 sec ago
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Israel strikes Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, state television says

Israel strikes Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, state television says
  • Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors and produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons

DUBAI: Israel has attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said Thursday.

The report said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had already been evacuated before the attack.

Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.

The warning came in a social media post on X. It included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle like other warnings that preceded strikes.

The Israeli military said Thursday’s round of airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating. It later said Iran fired a new salvo of missiles at Israel and told the public to take shelter.

Israel’s seventh day of airstrikes on Iran came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” Israel also lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting the missile threat from Iran on its territory was easing.

Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generals and nuclear scientists.

A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage.

The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometers southwest of Tehran.

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.

In 2019, Iran started up the heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit, which at the time did not violate Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Britain at the time was helping Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces, stepping in for the US, which had withdrawn from the project after President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from the nuclear deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.

Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.

As part of negotiations around the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to sell off its heavy water to the West to remain in compliance with the accord’s terms. Even the US purchased some 32 tons of heavy water for over $8 million in one deal. That was one issue that drew criticism from opponents to the deal.


US officials preparing for possible strike on Iran in coming days, Bloomberg reports

US officials preparing for possible strike on Iran in coming days, Bloomberg reports
Updated 19 June 2025
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US officials preparing for possible strike on Iran in coming days, Bloomberg reports

US officials preparing for possible strike on Iran in coming days, Bloomberg reports
  • Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign

WASHINGTON: Senior US officials are preparing for the possibility of a strike on Iran in the coming days, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report, citing the people, noted that the situation is still evolving and could change. Some of the people, according to Bloomberg, pointed to potential plans for a weekend strike.
Speaking to reporters earlier on Wednesday outside the White House, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign. “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.


Trump keeps world guessing about US military action against Iran

Trump keeps world guessing about US military action against Iran
Updated 16 min 17 sec ago
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Trump keeps world guessing about US military action against Iran

Trump keeps world guessing about US military action against Iran
  • ‘I may do it. I may not do it,’ Trump says on joining attacks
  • Netanyahu says Israel ‘progressing step by step’ toward eliminating Iranian nuclear, missile threats

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM: President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the United States will join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites as the Israel-Iran conflict entered its seventh day on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign. “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting and that “we may do that.” But he added, “It’s a little late” for such talks.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva aimed at persuading Iran to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear program solely for civilian purposes, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

But while diplomatic efforts continue, some residents of Tehran, a city of 10 million people, on Wednesday jammed highways out of the city as they sought sanctuary from intensified Israeli airstrikes.

The Wall Street Journal said Trump had told senior aides he approved attack plans on Iran but was holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program.

Asked if he thought the Iranian government could fall as a result of the Israeli campaign, Trump said: “Sure, anything could happen.”

Referring to the destruction or dismantling of Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment center, Trump said: “We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it — at all.”

Military analysts believe that Israel might need US military help to destroy Fordow, dug beneath a mountain near the city of Qom.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, rebuked Trump in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday.

The Americans “should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” he said. “The Iranian nation will not surrender.”

In its latest bombings, Israel said its air force destroyed Iran’s police headquarters.

Israel’s military said sirens sounded in northern Israel just before 2 a.m. local time on Thursday  and that it had intercepted a drone launched from Iran. It said several minutes later that another drone was intercepted in the Jordan Valley area.

The Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defenses, killing Israelis in their homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video released by his office on Wednesday, said Israel was “progressing step by step” toward eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear sites and ballistic missile arsenal.

“We are hitting the nuclear sites, the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of the regime,” Netanyahu said.

Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

Netanyahu also thanked Trump, “a great friend of the state of Israel,” for standing by its side in the conflict, saying the two were in continuous contact.

Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it.

In social media posts on Tuesday, he mused about killing Khamenei.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Iran’s Supreme Leader with the assistance of the United States, said on Thursday: “I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.”

A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations mocked Trump in posts on X, describing him as “a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance.”

Israel’s military said scores of Israeli jets had struck targets in and around Tehran and in western Iran in the previous 24 hours in three waves, hitting sites producing raw materials, components and manufacturing systems for missiles.

Fleeing Tehran

Arezou, a 31-year-old Tehran resident, told Reuters by phone that she had made it out of the city to the nearby resort town of Lavasan.

“My friend’s house in Tehran was attacked and her brother was injured. They are civilians,” she said. “Why are we paying the price for the regime’s decision to pursue a nuclear program?”

In Israel, sirens rang out anew at dusk on Wednesday warning of further incoming Iranian missiles. A motorist was injured by missile debris, Israeli medics said. The army later advised civilians they could leave protected areas, signalling the threat had passed.

At Ramat Gan train station east of Tel Aviv, people were lying on city-supplied mattresses or sitting in the odd camping chair, with plastic water bottles strewn about.

“I feel scared, overwhelmed. Especially because I live in a densely populated area that Iran seems to be targeting, and our city has very old buildings, without shelters and safe spaces,” said Tamar Weiss, clutching her four-month-old daughter.

Iran has reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but has not updated that toll for days.

Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defenses, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Leverage

Iran has been exploring options for leverage, including veiled threats to hit the global oil market by restricting access to the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important shipping artery for oil.

Inside Iran, authorities are intent on preventing panic and shortages. Fewer images of destruction have been allowed to circulate than in the early days of the bombing, when state media showed pictures of explosions, fires and flattened apartments. A ban on filming by the public has been imposed.

The communications ministry said on Wednesday that temporary restrictions on Internet access would be imposed to help prevent “the enemy from threatening citizens’ lives and property.”

Iran’s ability to hit back hard at Israel through strikes by proxy militia close to Israeli borders has been limited by the devastating blows Israel has dealt to Tehran’s regional allies — Hamas and Hezbollah — in conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon since 2023.


Iraqi foreign minister calls for emergency meeting of Arab counterparts next week

Iraqi foreign minister calls for emergency meeting of Arab counterparts next week
Updated 18 June 2025
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Iraqi foreign minister calls for emergency meeting of Arab counterparts next week

Iraqi foreign minister calls for emergency meeting of Arab counterparts next week
  • Its aim would be to coordinate Arab positions on the escalating military confrontation between Israel and Iran
  • Fuad Hussein suggests it take place during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers session that begins in Istanbul on Saturday

LONDON: Iraq’s foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, on Wednesday called for an emergency meeting of his Arab counterparts to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran, which he said poses destabilizing risks to the wider Middle East.

He suggested it take place on the sidelines of the 51st session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers, which is due to begin in Istanbul on Saturday. The aim of the emergency meeting would be to coordinate Arab positions on the escalation of the military confrontation between Israel and Iran, who have been exchanging attacks since Friday.

Also on Wednesday, Hussein called his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, to discuss the conflict and its repercussions for the security and stability of the region, officials said. Iraq currently chairs the Arab League, which held its most recent summit in Baghdad in May. Egypt hosts the League’s headquarters in Cairo.


Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank

Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank
Updated 18 June 2025
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Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank

Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank
  • “Fearing potential supply disruptions or further escalation, citizens across the West Bank have begun stockpiling fuel,” said Abu Al-Rob
  • In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of drivers waited in line for fuel

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Fears over the war between Israel and Iran have led to fuel shortages in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority told AFP Wednesday, as drivers queued in long lines to buy fuel.

“Fearing potential supply disruptions or further escalation, citizens across the West Bank have begun stockpiling fuel, putting additional pressure on an already strained market,” said Mohammad Abu Al-Rob, director of the PA’s communications center.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.

The PA official said there has also been “a noticeable decline in the number of fuel tankers arriving from Israel, some of which have been redirected for use by the Israeli occupation army.”

In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of drivers waited in line for fuel.

Mohammad Ayoub, a resident of Nablus who had been waiting in line for two hours, said he hoped to finally purchase fuel after several failed attempts.

“I came yesterday at about 11:00 p.m. and found the gas stations closed. I also came early in the morning and the situation was the same.”

Ahmad Samaana, a truck driver from Nablus, complained of limits placed on fuel purchases.

“Large trucks, like the one I have, need about 500 liters, but when we enter the station, the worker at the station tells me that he allows filling up with a value of 500 shekels, which is less than 100 liters of diesel,” he told AFP.

“This is not enough for a truck.”

Abu Al-Rob noted that “the (fuel) supply chain remains entirely subject to Israel’s will and control,” as the country controls all entry points into the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.

He relayed the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s call “to safeguard the flow of essential supplies — particularly fuel for hospitals, bakeries, and other critical sectors” should the situation worsen.