U.N. official sees possible Gaza war crime

GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A major U.N. humanitarian official, in a special Geneva session on Gaza, says violations of international humanitarian law may constitute war crimes.

Navy Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged independent investigations to determine if there were such violations in the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas and who was responsible.

Many victims of the Middle East conflict, she said, see their rights abused on a daily basis, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

Israel caught the brunt of Pillay's criticism. She said she particularly deplored what she called totally unacceptable strikes against clearly marked U.N. facilities where civilians were taking shelter.

She said the current crisis in Gaza follows an 18-month air, sea and land blockade which she said had caused a massive destruction of livelihoods and significant deterioration of infrastructure and basic services, including food and medicine.