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UN condemns Israel


A destroyed ambulance in the city of Shijaiyah in the Gaza Strip

Not for the first time - think, Amnesty International and other prominent human rights organisations - has Israel been the subject of criticism in relation to its actions in with regard to the Palestinians.  This time it's the turn of the UN.   The Israelis will, doublessly true to form, dismiss this latest Report.  

"A new U.N. report reveals that Israel was responsible for the deaths of more Palestinians in 2014 than in the previous half-century. The annual report by U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) states that more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and more than 17,000 were injured last year in occupied Palestinian territory.

The majority of the incidents occurred in the second half of the year, after the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir, leading to daily riots and protests in East Jerusalem.

UNOCHA reports that about 4,000,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain under an Israeli military occupation that prevents them from exercising many basic human rights.

According to the report, Fragmented Lives:

Palestinian civilians across the oPt [occupied Palestinian territory] continue to be subject to threats to their lives, physical safety and liberty from conflict-related violence, and from policies and practices related to the Israeli occupation, including settler violence. 2014 witnessed the highest civilian death toll since 1967 due to the July-August hostilities in Gaza, and a significant increase in Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank. There was also a marked increase in Israeli casualties, as a result of Gaza hostilities and from tension in East Jerusalem. Although the context in which civilians are killed or injured and their property destroyed and damaged varies, there is a pervasive crisis of accountability, with no effective remedy for the vast majority of alleged violations of international law, to ensure justice for the victims and to prevent future violations."

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