ISRAEL “may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war” in Gaza and “implicate the commission of crimes against humanity,” the United Nations human rights office warned today.

The report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) builds up further evidence for legal cases facing and warnings from UN bodies and human rights organisations against Israel — pointing to its actions amounting to genocide and war crimes.

Looking into six Israeli attacks between October 7 and December 2 that caused a large number of deaths and destruction of infrastructure, the OHCHR said that Israeli forces “may have systematically violated the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”

The body assessed the kinds of weapons and methods used in the attacks, including the bombing of a school, refugee camps, residential buildings and a market.

“Israel’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities in Gaza since 7 October, including through the extensive use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, have failed to ensure that they effectively distinguish between civilians and fighters,” the report said.

“Civilian lives and infrastructure are protected under [international humanitarian law].

“This law lays out the very clear obligations of parties to armed conflicts that make protection of civilians a priority.”

OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said: “We felt that it was important to get this report out now, especially because in the case of some of these attacks, some eight months have passed, and we are yet to see credible and transparent investigations.

“We call first on the Israeli authorities to take steps to ensure that proper investigations, transparent investigations are held.”

In the absence of transparent investigations, there would be “a need for international action in this regard as well,” she said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said: “The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign.”

Amid concerns about Israel’s use of weapons in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that the United States is withholding its aid of weapons, which is slowing its attack on Rafah.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied delays aside from the heavy bombs paused by President Joe Biden in May over concerns of civilian killings, saying: “Everything else is moving as it normally would.”