The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, alleging that the military campaign was aimed at “destroying the Palestinians.”
Commission chief Navi Pillay, a former UN human rights chief and judge, told AFP that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur,” stressing that “the responsibility lies with the State of Israel.”
The COI’s latest report, released Tuesday, said Israeli authorities and forces have since October 2023 carried out four of the five genocidal acts listed under the 1948 Genocide Convention, including:
- Killing members of the group
- Inflicting serious bodily and mental harm
- Imposing life conditions calculated to bring about destruction
- Measures intended to prevent births
The report directly named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of incitement to genocide and failing to curb inflammatory rhetoric.
Israel categorically rejected the findings, calling them “distorted and false” and demanding the immediate abolition of the COI.
The commission is not a legal tribunal, but its reports can add diplomatic pressure and supply evidence to courts such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), with which it says it is sharing documents.
The Gaza war erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in Israel, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s response has since left nearly 65,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures considered reliable by the UN.
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, with the UN recently declaring a famine in Gaza City as Israeli operations intensify.
Pillay warned that global inaction risked “complicity” in atrocity crimes.
“The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” she said.
While many NGOs and UN experts have already accused Israel of genocide, the UN itself has not formally made that designation. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year ordered Israel to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, while the ICC in May issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on war crimes charges.
Israel continues to reject all genocide allegations.
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