A team of three independent experts working for the UN’s top human rights body, focusing on Israel and the Palestinian territories, has resigned, citing personal reasons.
The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, avoided cooperating with the panel and rejected all of its requests to travel to the region.
Neither the independent experts nor the panel have any power over countries, but are intended to highlight rights abuses and gather information on suspected perpetrators that could be used by the International Criminal Court or other courts focused on international justice.
The resignations, announced by the UN-backed Human Rights Council, which established the panel, come as violence continues in the Palestinian territories and there is little sign of abating Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the October 7 attacks.
Navi Pillay, the former UN human rights chief who led the commission for the past four years, said in a letter to the council’s president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 due to “age, health issues and the weight of several other responsibilities.”
