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OHCHR / ISRAEL OPT SITUATION
STORY: OHCHR / ISRAEL OPT SITUATION
TRT: 02:48
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations, Geneva
10 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday issued an urgent plea to all States with influence to take steps to defuse the “powder keg” situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He stressed that international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be respected in all circumstances.”
3. Med shot, briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“We are faced with an explosive powder keg situation. We know how this plays out, time and time again – the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives and incalculable suffering inflicted on both communities.”
5. Med shot, briefing room
6. SOUNBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “All parties must respect international humanitarian law. They must immediately cease attacks targeting civilians and attacks expected to cause disproportionate death and injury of civilians or damage to civilian objects.”
7. Med shot, briefing room
8. SOUNBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “It is horrific and deeply distressing to see images of those captured by Palestinian armed groups being ill-treated, as well as reports of killings and the desecration of their bodies,” Shamdasani said. “Civilians must never be used as bargaining chips.”
9. Med shot, briefing room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“We call on Palestinian armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all civilians who were captured and are still being held. The taking of hostages is prohibited by international law.”
11. Med shot, briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“International humanitarian law is clear: the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks.”
13. Med shot, briefing room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
15. Med shot, briefing room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR):
“We know from bitter experience that vengeance is not the answer, and ultimately innocent civilians pay the price.”
17. Med shot, briefing room
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “The treatment of the people that were abducted and killed, by Hamas, as we said this is horrific, this is clear violation of international law, the desecration of bodies is sick and disgusting and horrific and we have been deeply distressed by these images.”
19. Med shot, briefing room
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued an urgent plea to all States with influence to take steps to defuse the “powder keg” situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, a spokesperson said.
Speaking to reporters today (10 Oct) in Geneva, Ravina, Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Spokesperson, said, that Volker Türk “stressed that international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be respected in all circumstances.”
“We are faced with an explosive powder keg situation. We know how this plays out, time and time again – the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives and incalculable suffering inflicted on both communities,” said his spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
“All parties must respect international humanitarian law. They must immediately cease attacks targeting civilians and attacks expected to cause disproportionate death and injury of civilians or damage to civilian objects,” she said.
Shamdasani said that the allegations of summary executions of civilians, and in some instances horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups were shocking and appalling.
“It is horrific and deeply distressing to see images of those captured by Palestinian armed groups being ill-treated, as well as reports of killings and the desecration of their bodies,” Shamdasani said. “Civilians must never be used as bargaining chips.”
“We call on Palestinian armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all civilians who were captured and are still being held. The taking of hostages is prohibited by international law,” the spokesperson said.
She noted that it is vitally important that everyone deprived of their liberty in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel is treated humanely. People’s dignity and lives must be respected.
Information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office indicates that Israeli air operations have also hit large residential towers in Gaza City and other residential buildings across Gaza, schools and premises of the UN relief and works agency, UNWRA, resulting in civilian casualties.
“International humanitarian law is clear: the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks,” Shamdasani said. The principles of distinction and the prohibition of indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks are paramount.
On 9 October, the Israeli authorities ordered a “full siege” of Gaza, shutting off electricity, water, food and fuel supplies. This risks seriously compounding the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities to operate, especially in light of increasing numbers of injured.
“The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” Shamdasani said. Any restrictions on the movement of people and goods to implement a siege must be justified by military necessity or may otherwise amount to collective punishment.
Shamdasani also highlighted concerns at how hate speech and incitement to violence have surged since Saturday, fuelling anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the region and globally.
“We know from bitter experience that vengeance is not the answer, and ultimately innocent civilians pay the price,” she said.
“The treatment of the people that were abducted and killed, by Hamas, as we said this is horrific, this is clear violation of international law, the desecration of bodies is sick and disgusting and horrific and we have been deeply distressed by these images,” she stated.
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