"Massive" human rights violations are being committed in the Gaza Strip, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Monday as she kicked off a tour of the region.

The former Supreme Court of Canada justice, on a five-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, toured the area of Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza town where 19 members of the Al Athamna family were killed earlier this month in an Israeli artillery attack. Israeli officials have claimed it shelled the town in error.

A member of the Al Athamna family cries as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, left, stands in the house where relatives were killed earlier this month in northern Gaza Strip.
(Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)

"I'm basically here to express my concern and bring some comfort, I hope, by showing these victims that the world has not abandoned them," Arbour told reporters.

Israel has been operating in the area to halt Palestinian rocket strikes. Last week, an Israeli woman was killed in a rocket attack. 

Arbour was swarmed by residents flashing pictures of their dead and wounded relatives and calling for punishment of the Israeli soldiers responsible for the attacks.

She acknowledged their concern but also said the Palestinian leadership must offer the residents some hope.

"In my discussions with President [Mahmoud] Abbas, I also stressed the necessity for the Palestinian leadership to address within its means the question of securing the safety of civilians," she said.

No political judgments, Arbour says

Arbour told reporters that she's not going to make political judgments — that her judgments would be based on the human rights record.

"I will speak to the Palestinian Authority about their responsibility to enforce the law, to create an environment in which people can seek protection of the law and, of course, I will also speak to the Israeli authority.

She urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stop the "cycle of violence" and do more to protect civilians.

"The violation of human rights, I think, in this territory is massive," she said. "I think we can't continue to see civilians who are not the authors of their own misfortune continue to suffer to the extent of which I see."

Arbour was scheduled to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visit sites on both sides affected by the latest round of violence.

With files from the Associated Press