GENEVA

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk on Tuesday accused Israel of inhumanity in its military operations in Gaza, describing the situation in the Palestinian territory as "catastrophic" and calling for urgent international intervention.

In an interview with Austria's public broadcaster O1, Turk said Israel's conduct in Gaza in recent months "no longer has anything to do with respect for fundamental principles of humanity."

“It is very clear that we must talk to the current Israeli government very, very strongly and exert pressure to ensure that these serious violations of international law do not occur,” Turk said.

The UN official expressed alarm over what he described as the mass and repeated displacement of civilians in Gaza. He criticized Israel’s designation of large swaths of the territory as military zones.

“About 80 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip is now military areas where people are not allowed to stay,” Turk said. “There are no more words to describe it.”

The commissioner’s remarks follow a May 16 news conference in Geneva where he accused Israel of pursuing policies amounting to ethnic cleansing.

“It looks like a push for a permanent population transfer in Gaza that disregards international law and amounts to ethnic cleansing,” he said at the time.

Turk cited continued Israeli bombardments, destruction of neighborhoods, and the blockade of humanitarian aid as factors contributing to further displacement and humanitarian suffering in the enclave.

“We have to stop this madness,” he said.

Israel has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing and maintains that its military actions are in response to security threats posed by Hamas and other militant groups operating in Gaza.

The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands and drawn increasing international concern, with humanitarian agencies warning of worsening conditions for civilians caught in the crossfire.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.