The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that Israel’s shelling of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip “could amount to war crimes.”

“Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of the devastation following the Israeli airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, we express serious fears that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes,” the UNHCR wrote in message on Platform X (formerly Twitter).

Israel repeatedly bombed the Jabaliya refugee camp yesterday and today, causing significant property damage in this densely populated area and killing several dozen people, according to Gaza-controlled Hamas and images from AFPTV, the AFP television .

Israel said on Tuesday it had targeted a Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, believed to be one of those responsible for the Palestinian Islamist movement’s deadly October 7 attack.

These unprecedented attacks have left at least 1,400 people dead, mostly civilians brutally murdered, while more than 240 are being held hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel responded with an incessant artillery and air force pounding the Gaza Strip.

According to the health authorities of Hamas, these strikes killed almost 8,800 people, including 3,648 children.

The principle of proportionality is one of the cornerstones of the laws of war defined by the Geneva Conventions. Although civilians and civil structures should not be harmed, the death of civilians during an armed conflict does not in itself constitute a war crime. Belligerents may launch proportionate attacks on military targets even if they know that civilians may be affected.

An attack is a crime that is deliberately directed against the civilian population, in accordance with the principle of discrimination, or if the amount of damage caused to civilians is excessive in relation to the expected military advantage.

This last point falls within the principle of proportionality invoked by the High Commission. It does not itself decide whether a war crime has been committed, but that is a decision for justice to make.

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 and is the only independent international court that investigates the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is not a member of the ICC.