Brussels/Vienna, May 27, (dpa/GNA) – Top international officials stepped up their criticism of Israel’s expanded military operation in Gaza on Tuesday, as casualties mount from the intensified attacks on the largely destroyed Palestinian territory.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the escalation “cannot be justified” under international law, while the UN’s top human rights official said the attacks on the Gaza Strip violated “fundamental principles of humanity.”
Von der Leyen said that “the European Commission has always supported – and will continue to support – Israel’s right to security and self-defence, but this escalation and disproportionate use of force against civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law.”
“The expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent,” she said, after a call with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The European Union calls on Israel “to put an immediate halt on the current escalation,” she said, and on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
Von der Leyen also urged Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza.
“Israel needs to immediately restore aid delivery in line with humanitarian principles, with the participation of the UN and other international humanitarian partners,” she said.
“Europe’s commitment to a just, comprehensive and lasting peace based on a two-state solution remains unwavering.”
Israel not respecting ‘principles of humanity’
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said that Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip are no longer covered by the principle of self-defence under international law.
Israel says that it is determined to completely remove the threat posed by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the EU and the United States.
The army recently said it was pursuing its war against Hamas by expanding the war zone and calling on the residents of most places in the southern Gaza Strip to leave the region.
We are talking about “an expulsion that is highly, highly questionable,” Türk said on Austrian radio, referring to the effect of the war on the civilian population.
“What we have witnessed in recent months has nothing to do with respect for the fundamental principles of humanity,” said Türk, who holds the title of UN high commissioner for human rights. “You can’t really find any more words to describe what is happening.”
The war in Gaza has claimed more than 53,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.
It was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Fears for displaced Gazans
According to international aid organizations, almost 180,000 Gazans have been displaced over 10 days from May 15-25 as a result of the expanded Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
This figure was published by the International Organization for Migration (IoM) in Geneva as part of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster platform, which coordinates aid for internally displaced persons worldwide.
The platform said it “unequivocally condemns attacks on displacement sites.”
“Direct attacks on sites have become common,” the statement said.
Since the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in March, a total of around 616,000 people have been internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, according to the group.
About 80% of the coastal area is closed off or under evacuation orders, it said.
Palestinian media reports and health authorities in Gaza indicate a rapidly mounting death toll from the Israeli attacks.
In the most recent incidents, at least 19 people were killed in an Israeli attack in northern Gaza, local media reported on Monday. At least 38 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip within one day, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday.
GNA
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