Israel slammed by UN for killing 106 Palestinians including 15 kids in just two months amid Gaza Strip protests
UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Palestinians were 'deprived of dignity' and had the right to protest
ISRAEL has been slammed by the United Nations for killing 106 Palestinians including 15 kids in just two months.
The UN’s Human Rights Council met to discuss what was the bloodiest day for Palestinians in years last Monday.
Some 60 people were killed by Israeli gunfire during demonstrations along the Israeli-Gaza border that Israel said included attempts to breach its frontier fence.
But UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein told the Council: “Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week.”
He said Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30.
More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition.
Israel was an occupying power under international law, obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he added.
Hussein said Palestinians in Gaza were “caged in a toxic slum from birth to death” and “deprived of dignity”.
And he insisted they were “dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest”.
Israel says the protests were organised Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, which intentionally provoked the violence.
From the birth of Israel to the latest killings: a timeline of the Israeli Palestinian conflict
May 14, 1948 – The British withdraw from Palestine, and the Jewish National Council proclaims the State of Israel, sparking the War of Independence with neighbouring Arab countries
1949 – Israel increases its original territory by 50 per cent, taking western Galilee, a broad corridor through central Palestine to Jerusalem, as 750,000 Palestinians either flee or are forced from their homes
1967 – The Arab-Israeli War between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria sees Israel occupy the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank
1973 – The fourth and largest Arab-Israeli begins when Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel as Jews mark Yom Kippur
1987 – Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza riots, known as the intifada (uprising), with more than 20,000 people killed in the fighting
1993 – Oslo Declaration sees Israeli and Palestinian leadership work together to agree to a plan for Palestinian self-government
2000 – Peace talks break down
2002 – After a series of Palestinian suicide bombings, Operation Defensive Shield sends large numbers of Israeli troops into the West Bank
2005 – Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza
2008 – Israeli forces launch one-month invasion of Gaza to prevent Hamas rocket attacks
2014 – Israel invades Gaza again ‘to destroy rocket sites and attack tunnels’
The Israelis, and their American allies, also claim the Human Rights Council is biased against Israel.
Israel's ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter said the call for an inquiry was “politically motivated and won’t improve the situation on the ground by even one iota”.
She said: “The loss of life could have been avoided had Hamas refrained from sending terrorists to attack Israel under the cover of the riots, while exploiting its own civilian population as human shields.”
What happens next?
Scenario 1 – The two sides could be pushed to get back around the table and talk it out again.
But with relations at a new low, this would require some external pressure.
And with Palestinian leaders saying the US has officially lost its mediator role after “siding with Israel” by moving the embassy to Jerusalem, it is not clear who has the clout to make it happen.
Scenario 2 – Protests could escalate to the point where Israel once again sends in the army to invade Gaza.
This would cause huge destruction as the area is densely populated and there would likely be high civilian casualties.
This could end with an Israeli withdrawal after some weeks, like what happened in the past.
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Scenario 3 – Israel invades Gaza but the army is unable to withdraw after getting bogged down.
In this worst case scenario, Hezbollah fighters could also attack Israel from Syria and Lebanon.
Other countries like Iran could be drawn into the conflict, sparking a much larger war that could involve nuclear-armed superpowers like the US and Russia.
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