Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate violated international law: UN experts
Israeli military personnel and civilian officials responsible for the deadly strikes may have “committed crimes” under an international counterterrorism treaty of 1971, UN legal experts say.
“All countries are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life in military operations abroad,” said the experts. “Killings in foreign territory are arbitrary when they are not authorised under international law.
“Israel’s attack consequently violated the prohibition on the use of armed force against another state under Article 2(4) of the Charter. Illegal force was used not only against Iran’s armed forces but also against Syrian territory. Israel’s attack was partly launched from the Golan Heights, which is illegally annexed Syrian territory.”
The UN experts said Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel was also a “prohibited use of force under international law”.
Emergency services at work at Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1
Israel still imposing ‘unlawful’ restrictions on Gaza aid: UN
“Israel continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, and to carry out widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a press briefing in Geneva.
Israel, which denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza, has faced increased international pressure to let more supplies into the Gaza Strip since it hit an aid convoy on April 1, killing international relief workers.
“Those delivering or trying to access humanitarian assistance must never be attacked,” said Shamdasani.
She also voiced concern over escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, calling on Israeli forces to “immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks” on Palestinians.
Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians in West Bank since yesterday
Most of the arrests took place during raids in the governorates of Qalqilya, Hebron and Jenin, while others were in Bethlehem and Jerusalem governorates, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
The latest arrests bring the total number of people detained in the occupied West Bank since October 7 to 8,270, said the society, in what it said is part of a campaign to “collectively punish” Palestinians.
Another ‘bloody’ night across Gaza
The Gaza Strip has been widely attacked in the last 24 hours.
The overnight strikes were very bloody, specifically here [in Rafah], an area that is supposed to be a safe zone, where at least four Palestinians were reported killed after a residential house was destroyed.
The people killed were evacuees from northern Gaza who had been moving from one place to another. They were killed by Israeli fighter jets without any prior warning.
The situation on the ground in the middle area is similarly dire, as more injuries arrive at Al-Aqsa Hospital due to the ongoing military campaign on the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp.
In addition, at least four Palestinians have been reported killed in Beit Hanoon town after a residential house was destroyed.
Gaza death toll rises
At least 33,843 Palestinians have been killed and 76,575 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, its Health Ministry says. The ministry added that 46 people were killed and 110 injured in the past 24 hours.
