The UN warned on Wednesday that Israel has repeatedly violated the laws of war by using heavy bombs in the crowded Gaza Strip, citing six attacks that have resulted in at least 218 deaths.
The United Nations human rights office released data on the six attacks in a new report that was swiftly denounced by Israel as being extremely biased. The study said that the attacks were indicative of a worrying trend.
They concerned the possible deployment of explosives weighing up to 2,000 pounds on markets, residential structures, schools, and refugee camps.
The rights office, known by the acronym OHCHR, said it had verified 218 deaths in those attacks, which were carried out in the early months of the war on October 7, but said it had information indicating the number of fatalities “could be much higher”.
“The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
The report’s conclusion is that Israel’s military “repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war” in response to a series of strikes, including the six attacks that took place between October 9 and December 2.
