Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians killed in clashes the previous day in the Israeli military operation during the funeral in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2023. AFP
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, clearly angered by the impact of the Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp, said the operation had left over 100 civilians injured, forced thousands to flee, damaged schools and hospitals and disrupted water and electricity networks.
Israel’s two-day major raid destroyed the Jenin camp’s narrow roads and alleyways, killed 12 Palestinians and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. One Israeli soldier also was killed.
Guterres also criticized Israel for preventing the injured from getting medical care and humanitarian workers from reaching everyone in need.
The U.N. chief again called on Israel “to abide by its obligations under international law," and to exercise restraint and use only proportional force.
“The use of airstrikes is inconsistent with the conduct of law enforcement operations,” he stressed.
Guterres reminded Israel that “as the occupying power, it has a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is protected against all acts of violence.”
The secretary-general's condemnation followed a statement by three U.N. independent human rights experts on Wednesday saying that the Israeli airstrikes and ground actions “amount to egregious violations of international law and standards on the use of force and may constitute a war crime.”
The experts on human rights in the Palestinian territory, on the rights of the internally displaced, and on violence against women and girls called for Israel to be held accountable for its illegal occupation and violent acts to perpetuate it.
The Israeli army claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on militant groups in the operation at the camp which ended Wednesday.
Ahead of the Israeli withdrawal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry out similar operations if needed.
This comes after more than a year of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The Jenin camp and an adjacent town of the same name have been a flashpoint since the violence began escalating in the spring 2022.
Guterres said he understands Israel’s legitimate concerns with its security. “But escalation is not the answer,” he said, "it simply bolsters radicalization and leads to a deepening cycle of violence and bloodshed.”
“Restoring the hope of the Palestinian people in a meaningful political process, leading to a two-state solution and the end of the occupation, is an essential contribution by Israel to its own security,” the secretary-general stressed.
Israel demands retraction
Israel’s United Nations ambassador called on Guterres to retract his condemnation of the country, but the UN refused.
U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said Friday the secretary-general conveyed his views “and he stands by those views.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the U.N. chief’s remarks “shameful, far-fetched, and completely detached from reality.” He said the Israeli military action in Jenin “focused solely on combating the murderous Palestinian terror.”
Haq, the U.N. spokesperson, said Guterres “clearly condemns all of the violence that has been affecting the civilians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, regardless of who is the perpetrator.”
The U.N. Security Council discussed Israel’s military operation in Jenin behind closed doors Friday at the request of the United Arab Emirates and received a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari.
At least 190 Palestinians, and 26 Israelis, have been killed this year, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources from both sides.
Yet, the Security Council took no action.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state, a goal supported by the United Nations and the international community.
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