UN rights chief wants next Israeli govt to ‘change course massively’

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday he hopes a new Israeli government will “change course massively” and respect international law, as the country’s political future hung in the balance after hard-fought elections.

“The message is: don’t continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that’s what we have frankly seen in the current environment,” he told reporters in New York.

“Israel has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively,” the Austrian diplomat added.

Earlier this week, Turk warned that Israel’s military occupation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raised serious concerns of “ethnic cleansing”.

“Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law,” he said in a statement Monday.

With more than 85% of ballots counted in Israel’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority, making Israeli Arab parties possible kingmakers.

The Tuesday vote was the first election since the Oct 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.