Global conflicts intensified last year as warring factions pushed boundaries, says UN's rights chief

Warring sides have pushed past acceptable limits in the past year, the UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday, including in the Gaza Strip, which is presently controlled by Israeli forces who have killed over 37,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7.

Turk spoke while giving his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council's 56th session in Geneva.

“I am appalled by the disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law by parties to the conflict in Gaza,” said Turk.

“Israel's relentless strikes in Gaza are causing immense suffering and widespread destruction,” he said, adding that there has been unconscionable loss of life and suffering.

Turk said since Israel escalated its operations into Rafah in early May, nearly one million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced yet again, while aid delivery and humanitarian access have deteriorated even further.

“Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, and in some cases, in densely populated areas, putting them and Palestinian civilians at further risk. They must be released,” said the Human Rights chief.

He added that the situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is deteriorating rapidly, raising serious concerns about unlawful killings.

During the same period, 23 Israelis were killed in the West Bank and Israel in clashes with or attacks by Palestinians, including eight Israeli security forces members.

“Israel's relentless strikes in Gaza are causing immense suffering and widespread destruction, and the arbitrary denial and obstruction of humanitarian aid have continued. Israel continues to detain arbitrarily thousands of Palestinians,” said Turk.

“This must not continue.”

Turk urged that the UN Security Council's and the International Court of Justice's binding decisions be respected.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.