The U.N. human rights chief attacked Israel on Monday, calling acts of self defense by IDF soldiers during Palestinian Hamas terrorist riots along the Gaza border fence “shocking.”
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a video address reported by AP that the situation in Hamas-ruled Gaza has escalated dramatically with “the potential to generate threats to peace across a far broader region.”
Zeid, who heads the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, cited “serious concerns” that Israeli accountability mechanisms he alleged don’t comply with international standards of “independence, impartiality, and effectiveness.”
“Very few investigations ever occur,” he said. “In the rare cases where an investigation has led to an indictment, the sentence has been extremely lenient in light of the gravity of the crime committed.”
Hamas-organized protests and clashes began along the Gaza border on March 30. At least 10 of the 16 Palestinians said to have been killed during the first 24-hours of the violent riots were known terrorists, the IDF said.
Since then, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Dozens of the fatalities were members of terror groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have admitted, with more than 4,000 wounded.
Israel says its troops are defending the border and accuses Hamas of trying to carry out terror attacks under the guise of the civilian protests. As recently as last Friday an IDF soldier was murdered doing his job, felled by Palestinian sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Zeid also criticized last week’s approval by Israel’s parliament of a bill defining that country as the nation-state of the Jewish people. He said that it “anchors inherent discrimination against non-Jewish communities,” most notably the Arab citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem. He warned that it “could also further inflame tensions.”
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