JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - The UN's top human rights official has insisted that the Israeli Government must not pursue a complete takeover of the Gaza Strip.
'A complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted,' insisted Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, after the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan for a full-scale Israeli military takeover in the battered enclave.
Türk pointed out that the development runs contrary to international law, referring to a ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must end its occupation and achieve a two-State solution giving Palestinians the right to self-determination. Any further escalation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel that has devastated Gaza and killed tens of thousands 'will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction and atrocity crimes', the UN rights chief said.
Türk said that rather than intensifying the conflict, 'the Israeli Government should put all its efforts into saving the lives of Gaza's civilians by allowing the full, unfettered flow of humanitarian aid'.
At the same time, all hostages must be immediately and unconditionally released by Palestinian armed groups, he continued.
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