Israel may have committed war crimes in Gaza, says UN human rights chief

The UN high commissioner for human rights spoke to the Human Rights Council, chronicling the “most significant escalation of hostilities since 2014” that left devastation and death in the Gaza Strip before a cease-fire last week.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet delivers a speech virtually during a special session on Monday (Martial Trezzini/Keystone/AP)

The UN human rights chief has said that Israeli forces may have committed war crimes in the latest, 11-day war with the militant group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip.

The remarks by Michelle Bachelet came as the UN’s top human rights body opened a one-day special session to discuss the plight faced by Palestinians in the fighting this month. She said that Hamas’ indiscriminate rocketing during the conflict was also a clear violation of the rules of war.