UN rights chief begins five-day Middle East visit in response to Gaza conflict
He United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsVolker Turk, began this Tuesday a visit to the Middle East which will last five days and begins in Egypt, where will visit the Rafá passon the border with the Gaza Strip, amid hostilities sparked after the October 7 attacks against Israel by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Turk’s office said This visit comes after the aforementioned attacks and “in the general context of 56 years of occupation of the Palestinian territories.”while adding that he will visit Jordan on Thursday and that he “requested access” to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
“A month of massacre has passedincessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” said Turk, who stressed that “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this whirlwind of pain”.
Thus, Turk’s office indicated that it would maintain meetings with officials, members of civil society, victims and UN workers to address the situation in the region, including a meeting this Thursday with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign AffairsSamé Shukri, and the secretary general of the Arab LeagueAhmed Aboul Gheit.
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