"Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law," high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay told a special session of the Council.
A top UN human rights official has asked for a mission to assess violations and possible war crimes, committed by both Israel and Hamas in the Gaza conflict, with death toll mounting to 750.
"Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law," high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay told a special session of the Council in Geneva.
"I remind this Council that violations of international humanitarian law may constitute war crime for which individual criminal responsibility may be invoked," she said suggesting that the Council consider authorising a mission to assess violations in the conflict to establish the relevant facts.
"The situation is 'intolerable'. The ceasefire called for by the UN Security Council must be implemented immediately. The violence must stop," Pillay said.
She stressed that the ongoing conflict had already caused the loss of hundreds of lives since Israel started its military operations 14 days back with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.
Pillay also asked for international human rights law to apply in all circumstances and at all times, and strongly asked the parties to the conflict "to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law to collect, care for and evacuate the wounded" and to protect and respect health workers, hospitals, and medical units and ambulances.
She also called on the parties to the conflict to allow the deployment of independent human rights monitors in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory to document any violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The special session was called in response to a request by Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group and the African Group, Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and Cuba on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In a message read out to the session, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory Richard Falk said "the use of force by an occupying power against security threats emanating from a population under occupation was permissible within the constraints set by international law."
There was no legal or moral justification for firing rockets at civilian targets, and such behaviour was a violation of international human rights, associated with the right to life, as well as constituting a war crime, he stated.
This included the fact that for the year prior to December 27 not a single Israeli death resulted from rockets fired from Gaza, he noted. Also, while Israel had been expected to lift or at least ease the blockade that had imposed severe hardships on the entire population of Gaza, it failed to do so.
Such a blockade does not alter the unjustifiable character of the rocket attacks, but it does suggest two important conclusions from a legal perspective. First, the scale of civilian harm resulting from Israeli unlawful conduct was far greater than that of Palestinian unlawful conduct, he said.
Secondly, any effort to produce a sustainable ceasefire should ensure that Israel as well as Hamas respect humanitarian law, which most concretely means that interferences with the access of goods for the maintenance of normal civilian life must end.
A joint statement by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said the terrible suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and the south of Israel demanded the Council's urgent attention.
Nothing less than ending the violence would be effective to improve the situation. In addition to those killed and wounded, thousands of Palestinians had been displaced, but there was no safe haven for them as had been shown by the incident at an UNRWA school, where Israeli shells killed 43 people and injured over 100, the statement added.
The lack of medical supplies and security had left the wounded without care and insecurity continued to restrict the movement of medical personnel. Medical facilities had been damaged. Children urgently needed access to food and psychological counseling, it added.
Health workers were exhausted and the insecurity had severely impaired food distribution, it said, adding that the lack of electricity was preventing people from cooking food.
The needs of the population were so great at this time that humanitarian organisations needed to operate around the clock, the agencies said, stressing that free and safe movement of the wounded had to be ensured. All parties to the conflict had to adhere to their obligations to protect the civilian population.
The Council will continue the session on Monday when it is expected to take action on a related draft resolution.
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