The accusations made are serious.
UN experts reported, Monday February 19, accusations of violence, particularly sexual, targeting Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank, attributed to Israeli forces.
They demand an “independent and impartial investigation” and press Israel to cooperate.
Arbitrary executions and detentions, sexual assaults, "inhuman" treatment... Appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, the seven independent experts are alarmed by "flagrant violations of human rights" based on "allegations credible”.
To collect this information, the team of seven experts relied on a variety of sources, including “testimonies from victims and eyewitnesses, but also from civilian or international organizations working with civilians,” explains Reem Alsalem. , United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences.
“We then cross-referenced this information with other sources to assess its credibility.”
She specifies having received this data directly by e-mail, by telephone or by tools like Zoom and emphasizes that it is "often impossible to give more details, as this could endanger the sources".
Arbitrary executions and detentions
Women have been particularly affected since the start of the war in Gaza.
Women and children represent 70% of the victims of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
At least two mothers have been killed every hour since October 7, according to UN Women's Gender Alert.
Also read: When Unicef tries to locate and help orphans in Gaza
Among the testimonies received, experts report women and girls who were "arbitrarily executed in Gaza, often with members of their family, including their children", while the victims were in places of refuge or They were trying to escape the armed forces.
“Some of them were said to have been holding pieces of white cloth [symbol of peace, Editor’s note] when they were killed by the Israeli army or affiliated forces,” the statement said.
A video published and verified by the Middle East Eye website in January showed a woman, Hala Rashid Abd al-Ati, shot and killed while her grandson flew a white flag and they tried to escape the city from Gaza.
In addition to the executions, the Israeli army has carried out since October 7 the "arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and girls", including human rights defenders, journalists and humanitarian workers, according to UN experts. , in a context where the use of administrative detention has exploded.
This emergency measure allows incarceration without charge or trial for an indefinite period.
Testimonies report “inhuman and degrading treatment”: beatings, deprivation of food, medicine and feminine hygiene products.
A case of women being held in a cage in Gaza, exposed to rain and cold without food, has been reported.
Also read: Administrative detention of Palestinians in Israel: “We don’t know where he is”
Reem Alsalem draws attention to a point not included in the press release: some of those detained are considered by Israel to be "illegal combatants", which places them outside the framework of the law.
She points out that "most of them have never appeared before a military court" and that "some women have been arrested in their homes or on the streets in Gaza, solely on the basis of allegations of links to Hamas , without any proof. We can therefore say that they were kidnapped by the Israeli authorities."
At least two inmates raped
Among the other accusations made against the Israeli army, “multiple forms of sexual assault”.
The UN rapporteurs speak of rapes allegedly suffered by at least two detainees.
Other detainees described being subjected to humiliation and degrading treatment, being "stripped and searched by male Israeli army officers."
In this video from AJ Plus France, verified by France 24 Observers, we can see a group of women among the detainees stripped naked and gagged in a stadium.
The difficult documentation of sexual violence can be explained by the few journalists and NGOs present in Gaza and an overloaded Gazan staff facing the same difficulties as the population.
Pierre Motin, advocacy manager at the French NGO Platform for Palestine, also highlights the culture of silence and fear that reign.
“This aspect was unknown and difficult to document, because it is difficult for victims to describe what they experienced,” he explains.
“It takes several weeks, even months, for information to come to light in cases of sexual violence.”
These violations of international humanitarian law are punishable under international laws governing armed conflict.
Several international bodies are already tackling the issue of human rights violations in the Palestinian territories.
The United Nations Special Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, created in May 2021, notably opened two investigations: one into the events of October 7 and their aftermath, and the other into allegations of sexual assault , committed against Israelis or Palestinians.
“Collaboration with this independent commission is essential to shed light on these crimes,” insists Reem Alsalem.
Legal remedies
Other legal actions are carried out at the international level.
In March 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian Territories during the 2014 Gaza War, by Israeli forces, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups.
“The elements provided by UN experts must be added to this investigation, the ICC Prosecutor's Office being competent to investigate all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Gaza,” calls Pierre Motin of the French NGO Platform for Palestine.
“We hope that France will clearly express its support for this investigation as it has already done for the ICC investigation in Ukraine.”
Another case is currently underway before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the UN.
The court is investigating allegations that the Israeli military committed "acts of genocide" against the Palestinian people in Gaza, a suit filed by South Africa last month.
The experts interviewed by France 24 consider that the accusations reported by the UN experts could be included in this investigation.
Also read Genocide”, “war” or “against humanity” crimes… What words for the Israel-Hamas war?
Me Johann Soufi, lawyer specializing in international criminal law, insists on Israel's imperative to open an investigation, as soon as "the allegations and the conclusions of the experts, based on testimonies that they considered credible, are made audience".
This United Nations report “reinforces the obligation of Israeli courts to self-initiate,” underlines this former head of the UNRWA Legal Affairs Office.
The lawyer also recalls that internal investigations within the Israeli army can be opened “to shed light on these facts which are extremely serious against Israeli soldiers”.
Furthermore, he recalls that the national courts of countries such as France, the United Kingdom or the United States which have nationals in the Israeli army "have the duty to investigate allegations of crimes committed by their nationals, regardless of the location of the said crimes."
Other modes of liability than those of the direct author can also be considered.
“The responsibility of the hierarchical superior may be engaged if he did not punish or prevent the crime.”
For its part, the Israeli representation to the UN in Geneva brushed aside these accusations in a message posted on and not by the truth.
Since the publication of the press release on Monday, Johann Soufi has been surprised by the "total dissonance" between the "firm and legitimate condemnation of the rape accusations by Hamas during the October 7 attack" and "the lack of reaction media and politicians" in the face of similar accusations denounced by UN experts.
The lawyer denounces this “double standard” which, for comparable facts, “requires an identical legal, political and diplomatic response”.
And Reem Alsalem concludes: “Our mission is to bring to the attention of the world the existence of these horrible situations and to emphasize that they are unacceptable.”
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