A United Nations probe into the first few months of the Gaza war has ruled that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and grave breaches of international law, reports CNN.
This is the UN's first in-depth study of the October 7 strikes and the subsequent fighting.
The damning reports released Wednesday, which cover events through the end of 2023, paint an alarming picture of both sides routinely violating international law in a devastating conflict that has now raged for more than eight months, dividing global opinion and sending tensions soaring across the Middle East.
The findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry began on October 7, the day Hamas and other Palestinian armed organisations started a murder and abduction spree in southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and capturing over 250 others.
The panel that day highlighted war crimes such as willfully targeting people, murder or willful death, torture, inhuman treatment, violations of personal dignity, and kidnapping, including children.
The atrocities that day spurred Israel to declare war on Hamas and start an attack on Gaza, destroying most of the densely populated territory and killing over 37,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.
The committee determined that Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the first 2.5 months of the conflict, with the latter defined as a massive, systemic assault on a civilian population. Israel's alleged war crimes include hunger, arbitrary incarceration, and the death and maiming of "tens of thousands of children."
According to the more than 200-page investigations, both Israel and Hamas perpetrated sexual abuse and torture, as well as deliberate attacks on civilians.
The panel said that its conclusions were based on interviews with victims and witnesses, thousands of open-source objects validated by forensic analysis, hundreds of submissions, satellite images, forensic medical reports, and media coverage, including three major CNN investigations.
CNN has reached out to both the Israeli authorities and Hamas for response. Israel has already indicated its reluctance to participate with the investigation.
The latest studies support claims made by other key international groups.
Last month, the International Criminal Court announced that it will pursue arrest warrants for five senior Hamas and Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Both Hamas and Israel condemned the allegations at the time, with Hamas condemning them as an effort to "equate victims with aggressors," and Netanyahu labelling it a "political outrage."
In February, the Israeli military disputed charges by UN experts of human rights breaches against Palestinian girls and women in Gaza and the West Bank, calling the allegations "despicable and unfounded." | BGNES
