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\u201cThe Board of Peace has been set up pursuant to a plan that was submitted to the Security Council that has been voted upon and accepted,\u201d said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Commission of Inquiry, we see our task as investigating into violations of human rights. And that task we understand to be the mandate that the UN has given us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Commission of Inquiry \u2013 one of the Human Rights Council\u2019s top investigative mechanisms \u2013 was set up by the forum\u2019s 47 Member States in May 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In November last year, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2803 welcoming the establishment of the Board of Peace as a \u201ctransitional administration\u201d and to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza.<\/p>\n
In November last year, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2803 welcoming the establishment of the Board of Peace to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n Last September, the Commission\u2019s then Chair, former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, declared that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks that killed some 1,200 people in Israel in October 2023, sparking the war. Israel strongly denied that claim.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to investigate violations of human rights by all duty-bearers and in both territories,\u201d said Mr. Muralidhar, who expressed hope that the Commission\u2019s earlier findings \u201cwill feed into some adjudicatory system to deliver lasting justice to the people in these two territories\u201d.<\/p>\n On the agenda this year, the Commission plans to investigate \u201cattacks by armed Palestinian militias on others within these two territories\u201d, he continued, before stressing the independent nature of the panel.<\/p>\n Responding to questions about the Board of Peace, the chief investigator said that he expected the peace plan it was pursuing \u201cto accommodate the interests of all the people in the conflict zone<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n At a press conference in Geneva, the panel of independent human rights experts \u2013 who do not work for the UN and are not paid for their work \u2013 also condemned the reported killing of three Palestinian journalists in central Gaza<\/strong> in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you’re killing a journalist, it means you have something to hide,\u201d said Commissioner Florence Mumba.<\/p>\n The panel also gave its reaction to the dramatic destruction of the headquarters of UN Palestine relief agency UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, highlighting its key role in supporting Palestinians for decades.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael needs to think very carefully before it rejects the work that UNRWA has done, the important work that has relieved Israel of its obligations,\u201d said Chris Sidoti. \u201cOf course, there will be consequences for human rights\u2026children have a right to education, all people have a right to the highest attainable standard [of] physical and mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Pillay retired last October at the age of 83, followed by fellow commissioners Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last November, a new panel was appointed by the Human Rights Council \u2013 reintegrating Mr. Sidoti – along with fellow jurists Mr. Muralidhar of India and Ms. Mumba of Zambia.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Commission chair noted that funding shortages had prevented the panel from investigating the supply of arms and settler violence, despite this being part of its mandate from the Human Rights Council.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of a shortage of finances, we could not go into those areas,\u201d Mr. Muralidhar explained to journalists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nGenocide claim<\/strong><\/h2>\n
UNRWA focus<\/strong><\/h2>\n