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STORY: OHCHR / MIDDLE EAST SITUATION
TRT: 04:57
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Various shots, exteriors, Palais de Nations
11 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The situation for civilians on the ground in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel and Syria is getting worse by the day. The densely populated capital Beirut is increasingly being hit by Israeli air strikes, hundreds are dead, and over a million people have fled their homes throughout the country. Hezbollah and other armed groups continue to fire rockets into Israel, resulting in the first civilian fatalities in the north since the most recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon last month.”
1. Wide shot, briefing room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“How terrible this has been for civilians! First and foremost, this is going to have an impact that will reverberate across many generations of people in the Middle East. Children who have been out of school for so long. Children who have had their limbs amputated, who will be living with lifelong injuries. The trauma of families, the impunity that has marked this conflict, which means that it is going to continue to feed cycles of revenge, injustice, revenge, injustice. It's it's so difficult to see it, as we have been calling, the international community has been calling, with one voice for a ceasefire, for the release of the hostages, for a return to some kind of peace. Every military escalation takes us further away from that – the right to peace for the people of Palestine, for the people of Israel, for the people of Lebanon, for the people of the entire Middle East. And the disregard for international law that has been demonstrated in the course of this conflict is also just horrifying. And again, what we need to do in response is to double down, to double down. You hear me coming here. You hear the high commissioner speaking constantly about the need to respect international humanitarian law. And it is easy to get cynical about it. But in these circumstances it is exactly when we need to double down on insisting that respect for international law is crucial, that it is a matter of international peace and security and human rights for the region and beyond.”
3. Wide shot, briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Just last night, Beirut was bombed again, in the heaviest strike yet on the central part of the city. At least 22 people were killed, and over 100 injured, according to the Ministry of Public Health.”
5. Wide shot, briefing room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The High Commissioner, Volker Türk, reminds all parties of their obligation to adhere to international humanitarian law, or the rules of war, with respect to the protection of civilians, civilian objects and infrastructure. Any alleged violations must be subjected to a prompt and thorough investigation, and those responsible where violations are found to have taken place must be held to account.”
7. Wide shot, briefing room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Amidst this escalating violence, we are appalled by sweeping inflammatory language on multiple sides. Recent language threatening Lebanese people as a whole and calling on them to either rise up against Hezbollah or face destruction like Gaza, risks being understood as encouraging or accepting violence directed against civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international law. Ongoing denigration of the UN, in particular UNRWA, is unacceptable. This kind of toxic rhetoric, from any source, must stop.”
9. Wide shot, briefing room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Attacks on hospitals also continue. One strike on Al-Yaman Al-Saeed Hospital, serving as an IDP shelter, in Jabalya Camp, killed 17 Palestinians including children and women. On 9 October, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation within 24 hours of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya – the largest operating hospital in North Gaza – impacting hundreds of injured, other patients, and medical workers as well as residents that rely on the hospital.”
11. Wide shot, briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The killing, destruction, as well as bellicose posturing by those in positions of power, must end. There is no alternative to resolution of this conflict than the negotiating table.”
1. Wide shot, briefing room
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Friday (11 Oct) made the following comments on the Middle East.
“The situation for civilians on the ground in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel and Syria is getting worse by the day. The densely populated capital Beirut is increasingly being hit by Israeli air strikes, hundreds are dead, and over a million people have fled their homes throughout the country. Hezbollah and other armed groups continue to fire rockets into Israel, resulting in the first civilian fatalities in the north since the most recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon last month,” the spokesperson said.
“How terrible this has been for civilians! First and foremost, this is going to have an impact that will reverberate across many generations of people in the Middle East. Children who have been out of school for so long. Children who have had their limbs amputated, who will be living with lifelong injuries. The trauma of families, the impunity that has marked this conflict, which means that it is going to continue to feed cycles of revenge, injustice, revenge, injustice. It's it's so difficult to see it, as we have been calling, the international community has been calling, with one voice for a ceasefire, for the release of the hostages, for a return to some kind of peace. Every military escalation takes us further away from that – the right to peace for the people of Palestine, for the people of Israel, for the people of Lebanon, for the people of the entire Middle East. And the disregard for international law that has been demonstrated in the course of this conflict is also just horrifying. And again, what we need to do in response is to double down, to double down. You hear me coming here. You hear the high commissioner speaking constantly about the need to respect international humanitarian law. And it is easy to get cynical about it. But in these circumstances it is exactly when we need to double down on insisting that respect for international law is crucial, that it is a matter of international peace and security and human rights for the region and beyond,” Shamdasani said.
“Just last night, Beirut was bombed again, in the heaviest strike yet on the central part of the city. At least 22 people were killed, and over 100 injured, according to the Ministry of Public Health,” she said.
“The High Commissioner, Volker Türk, reminds all parties of their obligation to adhere to international humanitarian law, or the rules of war, with respect to the protection of civilians, civilian objects and infrastructure. Any alleged violations must be subjected to a prompt and thorough investigation, and those responsible where violations are found to have taken place must be held to account,” Shamdasani said.
“The Lebanese people are bearing the brunt of this latest phase of conflict. The Ministry of Public Health says almost 400 children and women are among over 2,000 people killed since October 2023,” she said.
There are recurring reports of essential civilian infrastructure having been struck, including hospitals, clinics, ambulances and schools – along with destruction of housing. In all, over 100 medical and emergency workers have been killed across Lebanon since October last year.
Many of those displaced have fled to Syria. From 23 September to 9 October, it has been reported that over 310,000 Syrians and nearly 110,000 Lebanese citizens have crossed the border.
On 9 and 10 October, Hezbollah said it had launched at least 360 missiles from southern Lebanon into Israel. Two people were killed in a rocket attack on the border town of Kiryat Shmona on 9 October, a day after five others were injured in a rocket attack on Haifa.
“Amidst this escalating violence, we are appalled by sweeping inflammatory language on multiple sides. Recent language threatening Lebanese people as a whole and calling on them to either rise up against Hezbollah or face destruction like Gaza, risks being understood as encouraging or accepting violence directed against civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international law. Ongoing denigration of the UN, in particular UNRWA, is unacceptable. This kind of toxic rhetoric, from any source, must stop,” Shamdasani said.
Over the last week, the Israeli military has intensified operations in North Gaza, further severing the area from the rest of the Gaza Strip and risking afresh the lives of civilians in the area. Intense strikes, shelling, quadcopter shootings and ground incursions have occurred over the past few days, hitting residential buildings and groups of people, causing numerous casualties and – once again - mass displacement of Palestinians in the area.
“Attacks on hospitals also continue. One strike on Al-Yaman Al-Saeed Hospital, serving as an IDP shelter, in Jabalya Camp, killed 17 Palestinians including children and women. On 9 October, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation within 24 hours of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya – the largest operating hospital in North Gaza – impacting hundreds of injured, other patients, and medical workers as well as residents that rely on the hospital,” the spokesperson said.
“The killing, destruction, as well as bellicose posturing by those in positions of power, must end. There is no alternative to resolution of this conflict than the negotiating table,” she said.
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