“Every international legal norm has been violated by the actions of the Israeli authorities”
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The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
On the 23rd of June, the United Nations Human Rights Council launched the report of its commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel. The inquiry specifically looked at human rights violations against Palestinian children in those territories. Speaking at a press conference, my next guest summarized the report's findings, saying every international legal norm has been violated by the actions of the Israeli authorities towards Palestinian children, and they need to be held accountable. And he went on to ask these questions.
I have three questions today for Israeli people.
What are the main findings of the UN report on Israeli actions?
Through this press conference, I want to speak to them directly. What kind of people are your soldiers who would allow a 14-year-old child to bleed to death over a 45-minute period? What kind of people are your military leaders that would inculcate a culture that soldiers feel free to do this, acting with total impunity? What kind of people are your leaders when they give orders, they make statements that encourage this kind of conduct, not merely permit it, but encourage it?
Well, now joining us live from Sydney is United Nations Commissioner Chris Sidoti. Chris, good morning and welcome.
Thank you very much. It's nice to join you.
Now, let's talk about the inquiry, first of all, when and why it was instituted. We know it reported in June, but when did it all begin?
Our report in June was the 17th report that we have produced over the last five years. The Commission of Inquiry was established in May 2021 at the time of an earlier round of fighting in Gaza. This war has been going on for a century. It's not as though it began on the 7th of October 2023 or any other specific recent date. In 2021 there was an escalation of violence. The Human Rights Council held an emergency session and decided to establish our Commission of Inquiry. So we've been going now for five years and, as I say, we've produced 17 reports in that time looking at different aspects of this conflict.
Now, the findings that emerged were, I suppose, confirming what many of us had seen on television, that thousands and thousands of children have died. And, you know, there were excuses by the Israelis that this was collateral damage and so on. But there's no doubt that children were killed deliberately.
There is no doubt for us. We examined the evidence as we were required to do. We collect the evidence ourselves. We don't rely on second-hand reports. We interview witnesses. We look at digital evidence, that is, videos, audios, photographs. We've got access to both medical reports, X-rays, scans. We have independent medical pathologists who examine all the medical evidence we have. We have military experts who tell us about the nature of conflict or operations that would lead to particular types of injuries. So we collect the evidence. We examine the evidence. We form our conclusions on that basis. And for us, on the basis of the evidence that we've collected and examined, it's quite clear that children have been deliberately targeted, that tens of thousands of children have been killed, often as a result of the bombardment of residential sections of towns and often as a result of individual targeting.
Those tens of thousands don't even include the children who have died as a result of diseases that could not be treated in hospitals, particularly since Gaza really is a hotbed of infection.
What questions does Chris Sidoti pose to the Israeli public?
There is no other way to describe it. When you have sewerage flowing through the streets, water that is undrinkable, the figures don't... count the number of children who have died of preventable diseases or pre-existing conditions that simply could not be treated, or the children who have died as a result of starvation. So the figures are astounding.
Now, you mentioned children being targeted directly by snipers, children being killed in drone operations from the skies. The Israelis, of course, deny wrongdoing, don't they?
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