The UN human rights chief on Friday slammed Israel’s deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as “wholly disproportionate”, backing calls for an international investigation. Violations of the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1949 following World War II are commonly called “war crimes” although Zeid did not explicitly use that word. “Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week,” he said. Israel has justified its actions, arguing it was necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement. The council is due to consider a draft resolution calling for the urgent dispatch of “an independent, international commission of inquiry” — the UN rights council’s highest-level of investigation.

Source: The Guardian May 18, 2018 11:37 UTC