The UN rights chief raised concerns on Monday about the blatant “genocidal rhetoric” from Israeli officials regarding Gaza, urging decisive global intervention to “stop the bloodshed.”
He described the occupied Palestinian territory as “already a graveyard.”
In his opening statement at the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session, Volker Turk condemned “Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the indescribable suffering and widespread destruction it has caused.”
The aunts of Palestinian sisters Layan Salem, 2, and Eman Salem, 5, who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent, react next to their bodies during their funeral in Gaza City, on September 8, 2025. — Reuters
“Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, its infliction of indescribable suffering, and widespread destruction, its obstruction of vital aid leading to civilian starvation, its targeting of journalists, UN staff, and NGO workers, and its repeated war crimes are alarming the global conscience,” he stated.
“I am appalled by the blatant use of genocidal rhetoric and the disgraceful dehumanization of Palestinians by senior Israeli officials.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized that nearly two years after the conflict began following Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel, “the region desperately needs peace.”
“Gaza is a graveyard,” he told the council.
Both Israel and the United States withdrew from the council shortly after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Turk’s remarks followed the Israeli military’s bombing of a residential tower in Gaza City on Sunday, the third attack in as many days, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a “deepening” military assault on Gaza’s urban center.
The UN estimates nearly one million people remain in and around Gaza City, where it officially declared a famine last month, warning of an impending “disaster” if Israeli attacks continue.
“Further militarization, occupation, annexation, and oppression will only escalate violence, retribution, and terror,” Turk cautioned.
He asserted that Israel had “a legal duty to implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice to prevent acts of genocide, punish incitement to genocide, and ensure sufficient aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.”
The UN rights chief criticized the international community for “failing its duty.”
“We are failing the people of Gaza,” he declared.
“Where are the decisive measures to prevent genocide?” he asked, urging nations to do more to “prevent atrocity crimes.”
“They must halt the arms supply to Israel that risks breaching war laws,” he stated.
“We need action now to end the bloodshed.”
