UN rights chief warns violence in Gaza reaches a peak in past week
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday warned that the violence in Gaza has reached a peak in the past week, with 60 people had been killed by the Israeli forces in just one day of May 14, a highest figure of one-day death toll in Gaza since the 2014 hostilities.
He told a UN Human Rights Council Special Session that the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory continues to deteriorate, saying that nobody has been made safer by the "horrific events" of the past week in Gaza, Xinhua reports.
According to the UN rights chief, on May 14 this week a total of 43 Palestinian demonstrators were killed by Israeli forces, and Israeli forces also killed a further 17 Palestinians outside the context of the five demonstration hot spots.
Another 1,360 demonstrators were injured with live ammunition that day.
Zeid also told the Special Session that since the protests began on March 30, 87 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli security forces in the context of the demonstrations, including 12 children.
What's more, 29 others, including three children, were killed in other circumstances, and over 12,000 people have been injured, more than 3,500 of them by live ammunition.
"Palestinians have exactly the same human rights as Israelis do. They have the same rights to live safely in their homes, in freedom, with adequate and essential services and opportunities," Zeid noted.
The UN rights chief called for an investigation that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice.
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