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UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: Fear of “possible risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip”
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Cia Pak / dpa
International pressure on Israel is growing. At the end of March, the UN Security Council voted for a ceasefire in the Gaza war for the first time. Now the UN Human Rights Council is also commenting on the situation in the Gaza Strip - and is pushing for a stop to arms sales to Israel.
In a resolution, the Geneva-based body demanded that all arms deliveries to Israel be stopped because of the "possible risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip." 28 of the 47 members of the Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution, six voted against and 13 abstained.
It is the first time that the UN Human Rights Council has taken a position on the six-month-long war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, the Council has no way of enforcing compliance with its resolutions.
Berlin is sticking to arms exports
An export ban had previously been requested by the International Court of Justice. As a prominent former supporter of Israel, Canada has already stopped supplying weapons, and the USA and France have recently sharpened their criticism of Israel's actions. The German government is also critical of the Israeli military's harsh actions in Gaza, but wants to continue arms exports.
The most recent war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7th, in which, according to Israel, around 1,140 people were killed and around 250 others were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 31,800 people have been killed so far. The number of victims cannot currently be verified, but is used by international organizations and is considered credible.
mrc/dpa