Shawdesh Desk:

Dozens of the United Nations’ independent experts on Thursday condemned Hamas’s “horrific crimes” and said Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip “amounts to collective punishment”.

“There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime,” the experts, who are mandated by the UN but do not speak on its behalf, said in a joint statement.