For more than 57 years, people in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been suffocating under Israeli occupation. They have been denied their most basic human rights, from the right to self-determination, to freedom of movement, to an adequate standard of living. In Gaza, they have been subjected to blockades amounting to collective punishment. In the West Bank, illegal settlements and violence have been growing for decades, in violation of international law, with a significant increase over the past three years. Most of these violations have gone unpunished.

There is absolutely no justification for the horrific attacks committed on 7 October 2023 when Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups brutally assaulted Israeli communities, killed civilians, and took more than 250 hostages, and I have repeatedly condemned these acts.

And nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza, which consistently breached fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva on conditions inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mr. Türk condemned the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that sparked the war in October 2023.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also said there was no justification for Israel’s devastating military operations in Gaza, which have left more than 48,000 Palestinians dead, according to local authorities.

“At this tenuous moment the world must ask itself how to resolve this decades old conflict and stop the cycle of violence,” he said.
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“Any plans for a better future must deal with the past, so accountability and justice for violations are crucial.”