Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab may amount to war crime, experts find
The killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, her family and two paramedics in Gaza City in February may amount to a war crime, independent experts have warned, urging the Israeli government to allow access to human rights monitoring bodies.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement that Israel’s claims that its troops were not in the area at the time were “unacceptable”.
The international body said forensic analysis of the crime scene offered “compelling evidence about the location of the family’s car stranded in the line of sight of an Israeli tank and how it was shot at from very close range using a type of weapon that can only be attributed to the Israeli forces”.
It added that the absence of proper investigation and accountability five months on was “deeply troubling and may in itself amount to a violation of the right to life”.
Pentagon chief re-pledges ‘ironclad’ commitment to Israel after Houthi attack
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has held a call with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in the wake of the Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv.
The attack, which killed one person, occurred about a block away from a US embassy office.
“The Secretary expressed his condolences for the Israeli citizen killed and others wounded in the attack and reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and Israel’s right to self-defence,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The US, Israel’s top ally, has yet to respond to today’s ICJ ruling or say what implications it may have for future support.
Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia welcome ICJ ruling
The foreign ministries of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have welcomed the ICJ’s advisory opinion that found Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories to be illegal, saying the landmark ruling guarantees the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“It is a clear ruling on the side of Palestinian people’s right to justice, freedom [and] statehood,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi wrote in a post on X. “The end of occupation is the only path to peace that will guarantee the rights and security of all.”
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry stressed that it will “enhance efforts aimed at restoring stability in the Palestinian territories and the Middle Eastern region”.
Saudi Arabia stressed the need to take practical and credible steps to reach a fair solution to the Palestinian question.
