Geneva, Switzerland - Israel's repeated use of heavy bombs in densely-populated Gaza indicates repeated violations of the laws of war and may constitute crimes against humanity, the UN said Wednesday, highlighting six attacks that killed at least 218 people.

In only the latest investigation into possible Israeli war crimes, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provided details on the six attacks, which it said were typical of a pattern.

They involved the suspected use of up to 2,000-pound bombs on residential buildings, a school, refugee camps, and a market.

The OHCHR said it had verified 218 deaths in those attacks, which were carried out in the early months of the war on October 7, but said it had information indicating the number of fatalities "could be much higher".

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"The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimize to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel's bombing campaign," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

The report concludes that the series of Israeli strikes, exemplified by the six attacks carried out between October 9 and December 2, suggested that Israel's military had "repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war", the statement said.

Among the relentless bombings launched by Israel after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks were strikes on Ash Shujaiyeh neighborhood, in Gaza City on December 2 last year.

It caused destruction across a diagonal span of some 420 feet, destroying 15 buildings and damaging at least 14 others, the UN report said.

The extent of the damage and the craters visible and seen on satellite imagery indicated that around nine 2,000-pound GBU-31 bombs were used, with investigators receiving information that at least 60 people were killed.

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GBU-31s, along with 1,000-pound GBU-32s and 250-pound GBU-39s – many of which are supplied by the US – "are mostly used to penetrate through several floors of concrete and can completely collapse tall structures," UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters.

"Given how densely populated the areas targeted were, the use of an explosive weapon with such wide area effects is highly likely to amount to a prohibited indiscriminate attack."

Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR's office in the Palestinian territories, said that the report focused heavily on Israeli actions, since the weapons used by Israel's military were far more destructive.

The missiles fired by Hamas, while "absolutely unacceptable," he said, "have not caused significant killing during the war" by comparison.

The report highlighted Israel's unlawful targeting was not only a violation of the laws of war.

When committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, in line with an official state or organizational policy, it "may also implicate crimes against humanity," it said.

Israel harshly criticized the report, suggesting it aimed to "lambast and single-out Israel, while further shielding Hamas terrorists in Gaza".