NEW YORK – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk appealed for restraint in the face of an Israeli military incursion in Rafah, warning of the risk of further atrocity crimes in the Gaza war, according to the UN News Center.
A potential full-fledged incursion in Rafah “is terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured,” Türk warned.
Nearly 1.5 million people are now crammed into the southern city on the border with Egypt, and with nowhere further to flee, he added.
The UN rights chief urged Israel to comply with the legally binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and with the full span of international humanitarian law.
“The world must not allow this to happen. Those with influence must restrain rather than enable. There must be an immediate ceasefire. All remaining hostages must be released. And there must be renewed collective resolve to reach a political solution,” he added.
