‘Strong Possibility’ of Gaza War Crimes

The top human-rights official of the United Nations said Wednesday that it is likely both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes during fighting in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes on civilian homes and Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians suggest a “strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated in a manner that could ammount to war crimes,” Navi Pillay said in Geneva. Opening a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, she condemned both sides, saying “The actions of one party do not absolve the other party of the need to respect its obligations under international law.” Israel’s U.N. ambassador fired back: “There can be no moral symmetry between a terrorist aggressor and a democracy defending itself.”