Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and discrimination against the Palestinian population are ‘main causes’ of recurring tensions and instability, says a commission of inquiry mandated by the Organization’s Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) in a report published on Tuesday, June 7.
“The findings and recommendations related to the root causes [of this conflict] overwhelmingly point to Israel, which we analyze as an indicator of the asymmetrical nature of the conflict and the reality of one state occupying another,” writes the president of this commission, the South African and former high commissioner for human rights, Navanethem Pillay.
Israel, which refused to cooperate with the commission, said the report was “biased and biased, disqualified by its hatred for the State of Israel and based on a long series of biased and biased reports.” , according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Israel denounces “lethal terrorist organizations”
“Ending Israel’s occupation of territories, in full compliance with Security Council resolutions, remains crucial to ending the continuing cycle of violence,” reads the first report by this commission.
What has become a situation of perpetual occupation has been cited by both Palestinian and Israeli stakeholders as one of the roots of recurring tensions, instability and protracted conflict both in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, than in Israel.
The report states that the 18-page document was submitted before publication to both Palestinian and Israeli authorities. The international commission was mandated last year by the Human Rights Council to investigate alleged human rights violations committed in the Palestinian territories and Israel since April 13, 2021.
The Jewish state, which accuses Ms. Pillay of being “an anti-Israel activist”, still believes that the investigation “ignored the real reasons which led Israel to defend its citizens against lethal terrorist organizations which commit a double crime of War: Shooting at Israeli Civilians from Civilian Areas in Gaza”.
“Widely Ignored” Recommendations
The commission was set up following the “11 Day War” between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, in which 260 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to local authorities. In Israel, rocket fire from Gaza killed 13 people, including a soldier, according to the police and the army.
For the time being, the commission has reviewed the many recommendations and resolutions that already exist, but has stressed that it should conduct its own investigation. However, Ms. Pillay believes that these past recommendations “have been largely ignored, including calls for Israel to be held accountable for violations of humanitarian and human rights law, as well as the firing of rockets at indiscriminate against Israel by Palestinian armed groups”.
“It is this lack of implementation coupled with a sense of impunity and the very clear evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation and the continued discrimination against Palestinians that lie at the heart of these repeated violations both in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel,” the president accuses. To denounce the publication of the report, about twenty students and reservists of the Israeli army demonstrated Tuesday in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
