A United Nations envoy on Tuesday called on Israel to investigate the deaths of more than 1,500 civilians during the 2014 Gaza war and to make the findings public, Reuters reported.
Makarim Wibisono, a former Indonesian ambassador, issued his first report to the UN Human Rights Council since becoming its special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories last June.
Some 2,256 Palestinians were killed during the July-August conflict, of whom 1,563 were civilians including 538 children, while 66 Israeli soldiers and five civilians died, Wibisono claimed.
“The stark disparity in casualty figures on the two sides … reflects the (skewed) balance of power and the disproportionate cost borne by Palestinian civilians, raising questions as to whether Israel adhered to the international law principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions,” Wibisono said, according to Reuters.
Most civilian victims were “not simply bystanders on the street in the wrong place at the wrong time”, he claimed. “Most victims were families killed in missile strikes on their own homes, usually at night.”
Wibisono did mention the fact that the high level of destruction and casualties was due to the fact that Hamas heavily entrenched its terrorist network in the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, a fact which Israel proved several times during the fighting.
Wibisono replaced Richard Falk as the UN’s investigator of Israel last year. Falk was known for his anti-Israel stance and, before stepping down, accused Israel of a campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies against Palestinian Arabs.
His replacement’s report is based on interviews with victims in Amman and Cairo or witnesses on video calls in Gaza. A separate report on possible war crimes committed by both sides is to be issued by a UN commission of inquiry soon. The chairman of that commission, William Schabas, was forced to step down last month after it was revealed he did some consultation work for the Palestine Liberation Organization in 2012.
Wibisono’s comments come a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused the UNHRC of being obsessed by allegations of Israeli abuses and said the United States would defend Israel against efforts to isolate it.
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has pointed out that Israel went to “extraordinary lengths” to limit civilian casualties in Gaza.
Dempsey acknowledged recent reports criticizing civilian deaths during the 50-day Gaza war but told an audience in New York he thought the Israel Defense Forces “did what they could” to avoid civilian casualties.
