U.N. Warns of ‘Atrocity Crimes’ in Gaza

The United Nations human rights chief said on Friday that Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip might amount to crimes against humanity, one of his most forceful public denunciations yet, reflecting the rising international backlash against the way Israel is waging war against Hamas.

Around the same time, Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, at a joint news conference in London with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, said that Israel was conducting “ethnic cleansing” in northern Gaza, “and that has got to stop.”

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights based in Geneva, said in a statement: “Unimaginably, the situation is getting worse by the day. The Israeli government’s policies and practices in northern Gaza risk emptying the area of all Palestinians. We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.”

He reminded world leaders that the U.N. genocide convention imposes a binding obligation on states to act when there is a risk of such crimes being committed. “The international rule of law is being progressively dismantled,” Mr. Türk said. “Either the world ashamedly fails those who so desperately need help, or we stand united and put a stop to this.”

The Biden administration, Israel’s most important ally, has criticized Israel’s yearlong campaign in Gaza against Hamas, saying that while Israel was justified in retaliating for the Oct. 7, 2023, assault, the resulting destruction and casualties have been excessive. But it has not gone nearly as far as Mr. Türk, Mr. Safadi and others in condemning Israel’s conduct or demanding that it end.

“It’s getting worse, unfortunately, every time we meet,” Mr. Safadi said. “Not for lack of us trying, but because we do have an Israeli government that is not listening to anybody.”