A UN rights expert has declared that Israel has violated international law by its "relentless" bombardment of Gaza, which has destroyed neighborhoods and claimed hundreds of Palestinian lives.
The comments by Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, came as Israel confronts a case taken by South Africa at the UN’s International Court of Justice accusing it of genocide.
While Israel has the right to self-defense, Albanese said at a press conference in Madrid that international humanitarian law must be upheld "to protect people who are not actively involved in combat."
According to her, this required making a distinction between fighters and civilians and ensuring military actions are proportionate to prevent undue injury to civilians.
“Most hospitals have been made dysfunctional. A good number of them, the major ones, have been closed, bombed, or taken over by the army. People are dying now not only because of the bombs but because there is not sufficient health infrastructure to cure them of wounds.
“The number of kids who get amputated every day is shocking, one or two limbs. During the first two months of this (war) 1,000 kids were amputated without anesthesia. It is a monstrosity,” she added.
Fighting has ravaged the Palestinian territory since Hamas fighters launched an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment and a ground offensive, killing at least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children, and adolescents, according to Gaza health ministry figures.
The comments by Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, came as Israel confronts a case taken by South Africa at the UN’s International Court of Justice accusing it of genocide.
While Israel has the right to self-defense, Albanese said at a press conference in Madrid that international humanitarian law must be upheld "to protect people who are not actively involved in combat."
According to her, this required making a distinction between fighters and civilians and ensuring military actions are proportionate to prevent undue injury to civilians.
“Most hospitals have been made dysfunctional. A good number of them, the major ones, have been closed, bombed, or taken over by the army. People are dying now not only because of the bombs but because there is not sufficient health infrastructure to cure them of wounds.
“The number of kids who get amputated every day is shocking, one or two limbs. During the first two months of this (war) 1,000 kids were amputated without anesthesia. It is a monstrosity,” she added.
Fighting has ravaged the Palestinian territory since Hamas fighters launched an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment and a ground offensive, killing at least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children, and adolescents, according to Gaza health ministry figures.
