UN experts discovered more than 390 bodies in the Al Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals, including women and children, and there are cases of “people buried alive.”
UN human rights experts expressed this Monday their “horror” at the discovery of mass graves with bodies of people who showed signs of torture, execution and having been buried alive by the Israeli army.
“We are horrified by the details surrounding the mass graves recently discovered in the Gaza Strip. More than 390 bodies were discovered in Al Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals, including women and children. many of which appear to have signs of torture and summary executions and possible cases of people being buried alive”, they noted, in a statement.
They highlighted, on the other hand, that women and children “are among those most exposed to dangers” in this conflict. Almost half of the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed are children and a third are women.
Among the more than 78 thousand injured, around 75% are women and of the more than eight thousand missing, more than half are women and childrenaccording to estimates by UN experts.
These figures represent an average of 63 women murdered per day, of which 37 are mothers. A total of 17,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned since the start of the Israeli offensive.
Additionally, 1.7 million internally displaced people and another 1.1 million residents of the Gaza Strip suffer from “catastrophic levels” of food insecurity.
UN experts also highlight cases of missing Palestinian women and girls and criticize the Israeli government for failing to do so. an “independent, impartial and effective” investigation into allegations of sexual assault and violence against women and girls.
They also denounced the destruction by Israeli troops of the main fertility clinic in the Palestinian enclave, where around three thousand embryos were stored.
The care provided to pregnant or lactating women remains deplorable, due to direct bombing of hospitals and the deliberate denial of access to health centers by Israeli snipers, coupled with a lack of beds and medical resources. , which put 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women at risk. and 30,000 newborns facing an unimaginable risk,” they warned.
More than 183 women give birth in the Gaza Strip every day without any painkillers and “hundreds of babies died due to lack of electricity in incubators.”
These “terrible conditions caused a 300% increase in spontaneous abortions and placed 95% of pregnant and lactating women in a situation of severe food poverty“, they added.
Around 700,000 women and girls in the Gaza Strip do not have the means to face their menstrual cycle with privacy and dignity.
Overall, the “unprecedented destruction” of housing and the precariousness of daily life “disproportionately affected women and girls.”
The UN experts also declared themselves “horrified that women are attacked by Israel with such zeal, with discriminatory and disproportionate attacks. It seems that they spare no means to destroy their lives and deny them their fundamental rights.“,
In line with this, they demanded that Israel “end all hostilities” and that States “immediately end all arms exports,” as they “cannot continue to ignore that weapons are used to kill women and children.” innocent.” There are no more excuses.”
The document is signed by the special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, causes and consequences, Reem al Salem; the special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese; by the special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal; by the special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri; by the special rapporteur for the rights to drinking water and basic sanitation, Pedro Arrojo Agudo; by the special rapporteur for the Human Rights of internally displaced persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur; and by the special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms during the fight against terrorism, Ben Saul.
These experts are part of the Special Procedures body of the UN Human Rights Council, which is the main body of experts in the UN Human Rights system. They are independent experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, with whom they collaborate on a voluntary basis, and not employees of the organization.
Source: Observadora
