June 9, 2022
Cited article by United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
HRRC condemns the ongoing violence resulting from the occupation of Palestine. While there is no justification for human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law by either side, the UN report indicates that the cycle of violence is rooted in the continued occupation of Palestine by Israel.
Article Summary
An Independent International Commission of Inquiry into occupied Palestine has issued its first report. This report "identified forced displacement, threats of forced displacement, demolitions, settlement construction and expansion, settler violence, and the blockade of Gaza as contributing factors to recurring cycles of violence". Recommendations were made that significantly point toward the root causes of the cycles of violence as being due to the asymmetrical nature of the conflict and Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands.
The report recommends that "ending the continued Israeli occupation and discrimination against Palestinians is essential to stopping the conflict and halting the persistent cycle of violence, while a ‘culture of impunity’ feeds resentment and fuels recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict". In assessments of previous commissions and fact-finding missions by the UN on Israel and Palestine, it was found that recommendations were not followed. There has not been accountability for Israel violating human rights and international humanitarian law, nor Palestinian armed groups indiscriminately firing rockets in Israel.
It is noted that ultimately the system of oppression is continuing the cycle of violence, and there is no sign that the ongoing occupation will cease.