GENEVA, April 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Friday, April 12, that the dispatch of an international force to the occupied Palestinian Territories "can no longer be deferred".

"My own view is that the situation is so dangerous and the humanitarian and human rights situation so appalling ... that I think the proposition that a force should be sent in there ... can no longer be deferred," Annan told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"It is urgent, it is imperative," he said.

Annan was speaking to journalists after addressing the U.N. Human Rights Commission, where he called the military offensive in the Palestinian Territories "an affront to the conscience of mankind".

The body is holding its six-week annual session in Geneva until April 26 on the backdrop of a deadly two-week ruthless military offensive by Israel into the West Bank.

Annan said he was concerned about the “appalling” humanitarian situation in the Palestinian camps, especially the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin where the Israeli army killed hundreds of Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority has called on the United Nations to launch an international inquiry into Israeli "massacres" at the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank, a senior official said Friday.

"I've been working very closely with the U.N. humanitarian agencies and others to see what one can do to give assistance and support to the people," Annan told reporters. "Once we get access to the camps, I think we're all going to have a lot of work to do."

Israel has sealed off the camps and prevented aid workers and media people from going in, saying there was a “situation” in there.

In a strongly worded speech, Annan said the U.N. cannot remain neutral in the face of “massive” human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Addressing the annual session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva on Friday, Annan said military force could only be used in accordance with international law.

He told reporters separately that the rights violations were so “appalling” that an international force should be sent immediately to the region.

Targeting civilians and disproportionate use of force violated international humanitarian law and were unacceptable, he said, adding that in the occupied Palestinian Territories, human rights violations were being carried out “on a massive scale”.

“One of the lessons of history is that the United Nations cannot afford to be neutral in the face of great moral challenges. We are faced with such a moral challenge today,” Annan told the commission members.

“Wanton disregard for human rights and humanitarian law is something we cannot accept. We must let those responsible know they face the verdict of history,” he continued.

The same applied to armed resistance movements, he noted. Condemning suicide bombings, he said the killing of innocent civilians “undermines the cause it purports to serve”.

Echoing a diplomatic initiative by Switzerland, the U.N. chief said a first step would be for the leaders of both sides to make an immediate commitment to respect basic human rights norms and humanitarian law.

This is essentially the message Switzerland asked Spain – currently president of the European Union Council of Ministers - to pass on to Annan and the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, at a meeting about the Middle East crisis in Madrid on Wednesday, April 10.

Switzerland believes a commitment to respecting humanitarian law and human rights is an essential first step, and should precede even a ceasefire.

In his speech, Annan mounted a vigorous defense of the Geneva Conventions, saying they should be respected by all parties to a conflict. He rejected suggestions that they should be reinterpreted.

“Their purpose is crystal clear and their wording is broad enough to apply in all armed conflicts, no matter what the specific circumstances,” Annan said. “From now on they should be obeyed.”

The 53-nation Human Rights Commission is scheduled to vote Friday on an Arab-sponsored resolution that accuses Israel of “gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

Calls for an international military deployment in the Middle East, approved by the United Nations, have been growing in recent days.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Monday, April 8, thought should be given to solving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians under the auspices of the United Nations with "military means".