Israel committed genocide in Gaza, says UN commission

A United Nations (UN) independent international commission of inquiry has deemed that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The commission said the 72-page report released Tuesday is the “the strongest and most authoritative UN finding to date” on the war.

At least 64,964 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since fighting began in October 2023, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The UN commission has been investigating the events for the last two years, concluding that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

They include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

The three-member expert panel is chaired by Navi Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief who was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda’s genocide; Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer; and Miloon Kothari, an Indian expert on housing and land rights.

“The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza,” Pillay said.

“The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide, through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.”

The report also came as Israel began a ground offensive in Gaza, marking a pivotal moment in the war.

Until the invasion, Gaza City was one of the areas in the besieged enclave yet to be occupied by the IDF.

Other cities in Gaza, including Rafah and Khan Younis, have been largely destroyed and flattened by Israeli strikes and demolitions.

Israel’s foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the UN commission report, denouncing it as “distorted and false”.