Members of a United Nations committee said on Tuesday that Israel was obstructing their investigation into possible human rights abuses that occurred on October 7 and during the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas. But they said the commission still shared substantial evidence with the ICC.
Chris Sidoti, one of the three members of the committee, told a briefing for diplomats that “we are faced not only with a lack of cooperation but also with the information we receive from Israeli witnesses and victims regarding Efforts to obtain evidence related to the October 7 attacks were actively obstructed.” Geneva. The committee was established in 2021 to investigate human rights violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Israel accuses the committee of bias and says it will not cooperate with what it calls “anti-Israel, anti-Semitic organizations.”
It has not allowed the committee to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, and in January directed Israeli medical staff treating freed hostages and victims of the Oct. 7 attack not to cooperate with the team, which is headed by former Israeli Prime Minister Naveen Pi. Led by Navi Pillay. United Nations human rights chief.
Ms. Pillay said the committee had investigated crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups as well as Israeli forces in Gaza. She said the commission had shared more than 5,000 documents, including videos and other materials, with the ICC under its mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold accountable such crimes. Crimes against humanity.
The ICC opened an investigation into potential crimes in Gaza and the West Bank in March 2021, but has been criticized by some lawyers for a lack of apparent progress in prosecutions. The court is not part of the United Nations system.
“We look forward and expect to see progress in the ICC investigation this year,” Ms Pillay said.
The committee said it began collecting digital evidence in the early hours of October 7 and interviewed Palestinians and their families who were evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment during visits to Egypt and Turkey.
The commission will report its findings on the conflict in Gaza to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in June and the United Nations General Assembly in October. But the committee has also been given additional authority to request reports on Israeli settler violence and weapons shipments to Israel, and plans to provide those reports next year.
