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November 18, 2024 | 08:07 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel has condemned the United Nations (UN) for what it calls 'anti-Israel engineering' after a UN committee said that Israel's warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide.
'The UN has broken its own record in biased reports, choosing Israel and anti-Israel engineering,' said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, 16 November 2024.
A special UN committee stated in a report that Israel 'deliberately caused deaths, starvation, and serious injuries' in Gaza, accusing it of 'using starvation as a method of war'.
However, the ministry dismissed the allegations as 'false claims'.
'The report is a horrific example of the transformation of the UN into an organization used as a pawn by terrorists attacking civilians in democratic countries,' said the Ministry in a statement shared by spokesperson Oren Marmorstein at X.
The UN committee said 'through its siege of Gaza, hindrance of humanitarian aid, along with targeted attacks and killings of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated calls from the UN, binding orders from the International Court of Justice, and Security Council resolutions, Israel deliberately caused deaths, starvation, and serious injuries'.
However, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists that 'its activities are only aimed at neutralizing the terrorist capabilities of Hamas'.
The United States, Israel's biggest supporter, rejected the allegations of the UN committee, calling them 'baseless'.
Pope Francis Criticizes Israel
Pope Francis suggested that the global community study whether Israel's military operations in Gaza constitute genocide against the Palestinian people, in one of his most explicit criticisms of Israel's actions in the year-long war.
In quotes published on Sunday, 17 November 2024, from a forthcoming book, the Pope said that some international experts claim 'what is happening in Gaza exhibits characteristics of genocide'.
'We must carefully investigate to evaluate whether this is in line with the technical definition (of genocide) formulated by legal experts and international organizations,' the Pope said in the quote, published by the Italian daily La Stampa.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Pope's statement.
Last December, South Africa brought a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention. In January, judges at the court ordered Israel to ensure its forces did not commit acts of genocide. The court has not made a final determination on this case - whether genocide has occurred in Gaza.
Francis, the leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, usually avoids taking sides in international conflicts and emphasizes de-escalation. However, he recently escalated his criticism of Israel's behavior in the war against Hamas.
In September, he condemned the deaths of children in Palestine in Israeli attacks on Gaza. He also sharply criticized Israel's airstrikes in Lebanon as 'beyond the bounds of morality'.
Francis had never before publicly labeled the situation in Gaza as genocide. However, last year, he was at the center of controversy after meeting with a group of Palestinians in the Vatican, who insisted he had personally used the word with them, while the Vatican said he had not.
The Vatican did not comment on Francis's latest statements, but its news site reported on Sunday about excerpts from the book, including genocide comments.
Last week, Francis met in the Vatican with a delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, who advocate for the release of family members and others still detained.
REUTERS | AL JAZEERA
Editor's Choice: Pope Francis Suggests International Study into Possible Genocide in Gaza by the Israeli Military
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