The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in their conflict that broke out exactly one month ago.

“The atrocities committed by the Palestinian armed organizations on October 7 were heinous, they were war crimes, as was the continued detention of the hostages,” said Volker Turk, visiting the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side today.

“Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian citizens is also a war crime, as is the illegal, forced evacuation of civilians,” he added.

Referring to humanitarian aid passing into Gaza through the Rafah, Turk said: “This lifeline is extremely thin.”

“I urge all parties to now agree to a ceasefire,” he continued, adding that the imperatives, in terms of human rights, are threefold: the delivery of adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza, the release of the hostages and an end to the occupation.

“We have fallen off the cliff and this cannot continue. The actions of one party do not excuse the actions of the other,” he stressed.

Israel is resisting UN and G7 calls for a humanitarian pause, insisting it will not agree to a ceasefire until all hostages are freed. Hamas, on the other hand, says it will not stop fighting as long as Gaza is under attack.

“In 56 years of occupation, the situation is the most dangerous we have faced for the people in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and the region,” Turk said.