GENEVA — UN human rights chief Volker Türk urged Israel's next government on Wednesday to “change the course of warfare” in Gaza and respect international humanitarian law, telling a press briefing that Palestinians are now confined to around 30 per cent of the territory, face severe shortages of food and essential services and continue to be killed by Israeli forces.
Source: UN News
The appeal was addressed to the government that will be formed following Tuesday's Israeli election. Europa Press, reporting the same briefing, quoted Türk's message as: do not continue with the current course of the war and stop believing they are above international law.
Source: Demócrata (Europa Press)
Türk rejected accusations that the UN only condemns Israel, stressing that it has repeatedly denounced the 7 October attacks and closely monitors abuses by Hamas and Palestinian authorities, UN News reported. He expressed particular concern over reports of extrajudicial executions by Hamas militants.
On Ukraine, Türk expressed deep concern over rising attacks on Ukrainian civilians, warning that casualties could reach their highest levels since 2022 amid intensified drone warfare, UN News reported. He said attacks on electricity grids — particularly devastating for older people and people with disabilities — have been compounded by strikes on railway infrastructure and supermarkets. “I often feel there is no empathy about the plight of the civilians in Ukraine,” he said.
Asked whether Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and other civilian infrastructure constitute war crimes, Türk said targeting civilian sites “raise[s] questions of war crimes” since they are not clearly military targets, UN News reported. He called for the immediate and unconditional release of 71 UN workers detained by the Houthis, citing reports of “very, very dire” conditions in detention.
Türk also said youth-led protests against corruption and inequality in Serbia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Madagascar reflect a growing demand for reinforcing human rights around the world. “The vast majority of people care about human rights [and] reject cruelty,” he said.
The briefing puts the incoming Israeli government on formal notice from the UN's top rights official at the moment coalition talks begin, while linking Gaza, Ukraine and Yemen detentions in one civilian-protection warning.