(Geneva) Israeli and Palestinian representatives exchanged mutual accusations of “genocide” over the war in Gaza on Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, on the eve of 75e anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
” The attacks [commises par] Hamas on October 7 were motivated by genocidal ideology,” Yeela Cytrin, legal advisor to the Israeli mission in Geneva, told diplomats gathered at the European headquarters of the UN.
Palestinian representative Dima Asfour considered that “the man-made catastrophe” resulting from the massive bombings and the ground offensive of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip constituted “a textbook case of genocide”.
PHOTO SALEH SALEM, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Explosion in Gaza, October 11
Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was mentioned repeatedly during an event organized at the UN Human Rights Council as a preamble to the 75e anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted on December 9, 1948 by the UN General Assembly, was the first treaty devoted to human rights in the history of the United Nations, before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It was adopted in the aftermath of World War II, highlighting the horror of the Holocaust and emphasizing the obligation to prevent and punish such genocidal acts.
Yet, “75 years later, Jews are still the target of attacks, and still feel the violence of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews,” said Mr.me Cytrine. “Hamas and its supporters have encouraged the eradication of the Jewish people on social media for years,” she added.
“Even before the bodies of the October 7 victims cooled, anti-Semitism exploded both offline and online,” she continued.
PHOTO TAMIR KALIFA, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
An Israeli soldier walks near houses that were burned during the October 7 attack by Hamas militants in Beeri, a kibbutz near the border with the Gaza Strip, Israel, October 17.
And many are resorting to the tactic of “once again blaming the Jews for their own massacre and seeking to protect and defend the perpetrators of the killings” of which they are victims. “Many others choose to remain silent and indifferent,” lamented Mme Cytrine.
“What have we learned over the last 75 years? “, she said.
“Failure of the international system”
The Israeli government declared its desire to destroy Hamas after the attack perpetrated by the Islamist organization on October 7 in Israel which left some 1,200 dead, mainly civilians. Hamas also took 240 people hostage.
Israel responded with massive bombings and a ground offensive that left more than 15,500 dead in Gaza, 70% of them women and children, according to the Hamas health ministry.
Iran’s representative claimed that Israel was the perpetrator of a “horrible genocide” against the Palestinians while representatives of other Muslim countries accused Israeli leaders of “incitement to genocide.”
“Warning signs of genocide must prompt us to act,” said Mr.me Asour referring to the Genocide Convention.
However, “over the past eight weeks, after publicly broadcasting genocidal calls, Israel has begun dropping tons of explosives on Gaza with enormous destructive power,” said the Palestinian speaker.
She echoed a group of independent UN experts who in November deplored “the failure of the international system to mobilize to prevent genocide”.
Mme Asour denounced “a vast campaign of digital repression, including disinformation, censorship, online harassment and banning” of social networks, intended according to her to silence Palestinian voices.
She called on “tech companies and social media networks to immediately take steps to protect their users from online harm in light of the genocide taking place in Palestine.”