U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Thursday that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza may constitute war crimes, and that the Hamas Islamist group had also violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel.
Bachelet said her office had verified the deaths of 270 Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including 68 children, during violence this month. Most were killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where Israel fought militants for 11 days, ending in a ceasefire.
Hamas rockets had killed 10 Israelis and residents.
She was addressing a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, held at the request of Muslim states who have asked the forum to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate possible crimes and establish command responsibility.
The conflict erupted after Hamas demanded Israeli forces leave the Al Aqsa compound in East Jerusalem and later launched rockets towards Israel. The ”indiscriminate” rocket strikes…