Systematic bombardment of civilian infrastructure in Gaza would constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity, stated a UN independent expert, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, on Wednesday, November 8. However, he was not speaking on behalf of the organization.
The widespread and systematic bombardment of housing and civilian infrastructure in Gaza amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity, an independent United Nations expert said on Wednesday.
A month of Israeli attacks on targets within the Gaza Strip has destroyed or damaged 45% of all housing units in the Palestinian territory, Balakrishnan Rajagopal said, warning the destruction comes at a “tremendous cost to human life.”
Rajagopal, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, had previously coined the term “domicide” to refer to the systematic and widespread attacks on civilian housing and infrastructure that cause death and suffering.
Domicide, he said, “is now being committed in Gaza.”
The UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing stressed that systematic or widespread bombardment of housing, civilian objects, and infrastructure is strictly prohibited under international law.
“Carrying out hostilities with the knowledge that they will systematically destroy and damage civilian housing and infrastructure, rendering an entire city, such as Gaza City, uninhabitable for civilians, is a war crime,” he said.
When such acts are “directed against a civilian population, they also amount to crimes against humanity,” he added.
Rajagopal said the Israeli evacuation order, issued despite a lack of adequate shelter and aid for those fleeing and while cutting off water, food, fuel, and medicine and repeatedly attacking evacuation routes and “safe zones” was “a cruel and blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
