Senior independent investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a charge rejected outright by Tel Aviv.
In a report released on Tuesday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, called on Israel and all states to uphold their obligations under international law “to end the genocide” and punish those responsible.
“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Danny Meron, dismissed the Commission’s conclusions, describing the 70-plus page report as “cherry-picked.”
He said the findings “promote a narrative serving Hamas and its supporters in attempting to delegitimize and demonize the state of Israel. The report falsely accuses Israel of genocidal intent, an allegation it cannot substantiate.”
At a Geneva press conference, Pillay and fellow Commissioner Chris Sidoti explained that their investigation into the war in Gaza, which began with Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, had concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces “committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
These included killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting life conditions intended to destroy Palestinians, and imposing measures to prevent births.
Pillay said responsibility for these crimes “lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons,” citing “explicit statements” denigrating Palestinians by both civilian and military officials.
The Commission added that Israel’s actions, “including imposing starvation and inhumane conditions of life for Palestinians in Gaza…genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations.”
The panel highlighted Israeli military operations marked by “killing and seriously harming unprecedented numbers of Palestinians” and the imposition of a “total siege, including blocking humanitarian aid leading to starvation.”
According to the UN’s aid coordination body OCHA, nearly one million people remain in Gaza City, where famine has been confirmed. Residents face daily bombardment and “compromised access to means of survival after the Israeli military placed the entire city under a displacement order.”
The Commission also documented “systematic destruction” of healthcare and education, as well as “systematic” acts of sexual and gender-based violence.
The report said Israeli conduct also involved the “direct targeting” of children and a disregard of International Court of Justice orders requiring Israel to allow “the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians throughout Gaza.”
“The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Pillay said.
“When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” she added. “All States are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council convened an urgent debate on last week’s Israeli strike on Hamas’s political leadership in Qatar.
The attack on a Doha neighborhood reportedly killed six people, including five members of Hamas, and drew condemnation from the Security Council and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who called it a “flagrant violation” of Qatari sovereignty and territorial integrity.
At a Security Council briefing, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo said the strike posed “a serious threat to regional peace and security” and undermined international mediation efforts to end the Gaza war and secure the release of hostages.
