UN Report: Independent Experts Accuse Israel of Committing Genocide in Gaza

The United Nations’ Human Rights Council-appointed investigative panel has released a damning report, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Published on Tuesday, the comprehensive report calls upon the international community to intervene and penalize those responsible for these atrocities.

The three-member team, comprising leading human rights experts, has been documenting alleged human rights abuses since the devastating October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, which were orchestrated by Hamas. Israel’s government has rejected the report, terming it a distorted and misleading portrayal of events.

The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, established four years ago, has repeatedly highlighted human rights violations in Gaza, as well as other Palestinian regions. Despite not having the power to enforce actions against a country, this report could serve as evidence for prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.

The report marks the final findings from the team led by former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. She served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The three members announced their resignation in July, citing personal reasons and the need for change within the commission.

Israel has chosen not to cooperate with the commission and has accused it, along with the Human Rights Council, of bias against Israel. Earlier this year, the United States, a key ally of Israel, withdrew from the council.

The report asserts that Israel has committed four out of the five “genocidal acts” as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention, three years following the end of World War II and the Holocaust. These acts include killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, imposing measures to prevent births in the group, deliberately inflicting conditions intended to cause physical destruction, and forcibly transferring children to another group.

While the criterion on forcible transfer has not been met, the commission asserts that Israel’s actions meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention. The responsibility for these atrocities, according to the report, lies with Israeli authorities at the highest level, during the nearly two-year war.

The report identifies Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as individuals who have incited genocide. Other leaders are not assessed in this regard. Commission member Chris Sidoti hopes that the report will reach people within Israel, stating that they have been betrayed by their government’s “abject refusal” to take action to save Israeli hostages following the deaths of over 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, and its continued engagement in a genocidal war that poses a threat to Israel’s security.

Israel vehemently denies these allegations, viewing them as antisemitic “blood libels.” In response to the report, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement categorically rejecting the findings, characterizing the panel as Hamas proxies with openly antisemitic views.

The report urges other nations to cease weapons transfers to Israel and prevent individuals or companies from engaging in actions that could contribute to genocide in Gaza. The commission emphasizes that the international community cannot remain silent on this genocidal campaign launched against the Palestinian people in Gaza, stating that failure to act amounts to complicity.

The current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has criticized Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza and spoken out against alleged crimes, but has not accused Israel of committing genocide. His office argues that only an international court can make a final, formal determination of genocide, with critics countering that this process could take years, during which thousands of people—many of them civilians—continue to be systematically killed in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice is currently hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel. Other countries, such as Spain, Mexico, and Libya, have requested that the U.N. court join this case.