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Israel Issues Detailed Response Refuting UN Human Rights Office Accusations of Indiscriminate Bombing

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 5, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

Israel has issued a detailed response refuting a recently published report by the United Nations Human Rights Office accusing the Jewish state of carrying out several indiscriminate military strikes against Palestinians in Gaza, lambasting the UN findings as “flawed,” “biased,” and “legally unsound.”

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its report last week accusing Israel of “war crimes” between October and December as the Israeli military waged its campaign in Gaza following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

OHCHR’s “Thematic Report” claimed that Israel violated international humanitarian law and should be held accountable.

“In view of Israel’s well documented failure to ensure full accountability for serious violations of international human rights law by its security forces, remedies at the international level are also necessary to address the accountability gap,” the report stated.

In the report, the UN office outlined six “emblematic incidents” in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) allegedly struck heavily populated areas in Gaza without sufficient concern for civilian well-being. The six strikes highlighted by the report targeted residential buildings, markets, refugee camps, and schools.

Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas, which rules Gaza, has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the IDF.

Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’ widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.

Nonetheless, the UN office claimed that Israel is responsible for “immense” death and destruction in Gaza and alleged that members of the IDF might bear “criminal responsibility” for recklessly killing Palestinian civilians.

In response to the report, Israel published a rebuttal to what it described as a “factually, legally, and methodologically flawed” assessment.

“It [the UN report] commonly relies on partial information and overlooks operational considerations and other aspects crucial to clearly assess the situation,” the Israeli response stated, disputing accusations of war crimes and other alleged human rights violations. 

Israel notably challenged the way that the UN obtained its information, arguing that the OHCHR does not have the relevant “expertise” or the complete “facts on the ground” to make an accurate legal assessment of Israel’s actions.

“The document relies entirely on public information, ignoring the fact that often, information that formed the basis for military
attacks cannot be published,” the Israeli response stated, noting it would compromise ongoing operations and national security more broadly to disclose much of the IDF’s information or intelligence related to its strikes in Gaza.

“Since facts are the basis of any legal analysis, any ambiguity or incomplete information regarding the targets and circumstances compromise the ability to judge the legality of an attack,” the Israeli response added. “Therefore, the chosen methodology by which OHCHR analyzes these strikes, which includes mainly relying on alleged results and media coverage, leads to an inaccurate understanding of which targets were struck, the military importance given to each target, and
the operational constraints. It is clear that OHCHR’s note suffers from these flaws, leading to a misapplication and unjust accusations of violations.”

Israel also defended itself against accusations by the OHCHR that it had violated international humanitarian law.

“Hamas systematically and unlawfully embeds its military assets within heavily populated areas, and carries out its military activities, amongst, behind, and under its own civilians,” the Israeli government argued, noting that according to international law there are circumstances under which “civilian objects” can become “legitimate military targets” when they “contribute to [a] military action by their purpose or use.”

In its report, the OHCHR did not address how it distinguished between civilians and combatants in Gaza, instead focusing on how Israel carried out several strikes on Hamas targets in “a relatively small and dense area” with civilians as well.

The OHCHR also suggested that Israel failed to warn Gazan civilians of impending strikes in all but one of the six incidents it discussed.

In response, Israel reiterated its policy of warning Gazans by dropping “millions of leaflets over areas of expected attacks” and “broadcasting over radio and through social media messages.” In certain instances, Israel noted, the IDF even made “individual phone-calls” alerting civilians that they were in danger.

Israel also called out the UN office for relying on casualty figures from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza. Experts have cast doubt on the reliability of such figures for systematically overcounting the number of casualties and not distinguishing between civilians and terrorists. In its response, Israel detailed multiple specific examples of the Gaza Ministry of Health releasing incorrect casualty information.

In one example, Israel highlighted how a male commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, which is allied with Hamas, was as a “female” civilian. Other examples listed known Hamas fighters as civilians.

Since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages during their Oct. 7 onslaught, the UN has repeatedly lambasted Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza to free the captives and dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities, calling on Jerusalem to halt its offensive.

Beyond its formal response, Israel’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva responded to the OHCHR’s report on X / Twitter.

“OHCHR has been echoing Hamas narratives and spreading unfounded allegations,” the Israeli mission posted. “This report shows the deep-rooted bias against Israel that has existed in OHCHR for decades. Regardless, Israel will continue to operate in accordance with the law, to protect its population against Palestinian terrorists, and bring back home the 120 hostages still held in Gaza.”

About half of the hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 were either released as part of a temporary ceasefire in November or rescued, some dead and others alive, by Israeli forces in special operations.

The post Israel Issues Detailed Response Refuting UN Human Rights Office Accusations of Indiscriminate Bombing first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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