United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that the civilian cost of the recent occupation's aggression against the Gaza Strip had been enormous.

Bachelet expressed concern at the number of Palestinian children martyred in Israel's recent aggression against the Strip, with the United Nations Human Rights Office verifying that of the 48 Palestinian martyrs, at least 22 were civilians, including 17 children and four women.

According to the High Commissioner's statement, the number of child martyrs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has risen to 37 since the beginning of the year.

Bachelet said that international humanitarian law is clear and an attack expected to kill or injure civilians is prohibited, and called for "prompt and independent investigations into all incidents in which anyone has been killed or injured.