Current Israeli policies in Gaza most extreme since Oct 7: UN experts

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: OHCHR
8 Apr 2025 03:41

A group of UN experts has warned of states' continued support for 'Israel' amid clear genocidal intent in Gaza.

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A mourner kisses the face of Palestinian child Ahmad Abu Saleh, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the Gaza Strip, Palestine, on April 7, 2025. (AFP)

A group of United Nations experts underlined that Israeli policies are "more extreme" than anything experienced since October 7, 2023, urging governments around the world to meet their obligations to ensure the occupation's compliance with international law.

The Group of experts includes Francesca Albanese and former Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos, among others.

“We are witnessing the destruction of Palestinian life,” the experts stated.

"If they are not killed by bombs or bullets, they slowly suffocate for lack of basic means of survival. The only difference is the means and speed of death," they underlined.

The experts said that this round of the Israeli war in Gaza, specifically after the regime broke the ceasefire in mid-March, is "more aggressive than ever." They noted the killings of thousands of civilians, including journalists and health workers.

Furthermore, the experts said that the UN can no longer guarantee the safety of its teams in the Gaza Strip, pointing to an Israeli tank attack on a UN compound in Deir al-Balah. Among the underlined incidents was the Israeli occupation forces' killing of eight members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The emergency workers came under heavy fire from ground troops and were later buried near the site of the ambush.

"This horrific incident comes almost a year after the discovery of hundreds of bodies buried in mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, Nasser and Al Shifa," the experts underlined.

"Extrajudicial killings and mass graves in the chaotic context of Israel’s operations in Gaza are further evidence of genocidal intent,” the experts asserted.

"International investigators have still not been allowed into Gaza to access these and other sites of possible atrocities to preserve vital evidence and seek truth and accountability," they added.

They also stressed that Israeli authorities intensified the "genocidal assault against all Palestinians, including in the occupied West Bank."

Calling on states to meet their obligations to ensure that the Israeli regime complies with international law, the experts noted that continued material and political support for "Israel" violated these obligations.

"It must be clear to all States that their continued material and political support for Israel, in particular the continued transfer of arms and fuel, violates their obligation to prevent genocide and risks making them complicit in it," the experts said.