UN Commission Accuses Israel of Genocide in Gaza; Israel Denies Allegations

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, directly implicating top officials such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in inciting these actions. The investigation cites evidence including mass killings, the blocking of humanitarian aid, forced displacement, and the destruction of infrastructure like a fertility clinic. The commission, led by former International Criminal Court judge Navi Pillay, determined Israel committed four of the five acts defined as genocide under the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention. These include killing, inflicting bodily or mental harm, imposing destructive living conditions, and preventing births.

The 72-page legal report draws on interviews, verified documents, and satellite imagery and represents the strongest U.N.-related finding on this issue to date, although the commission is independent and does not officially speak for the U.N. Israel, which is being tried at the International Court of Justice for genocide, denies the allegations and maintains it is acting in self-defense following the October 2023 Hamas attack. Pillay compared the events in Gaza to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, emphasizing the role of dehumanizing rhetoric by Israeli leaders. The U.N. faces increasing pressure to officially designate the situation as genocide.

Israel's foreign ministry categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false." A spokesperson accused the three experts on the commission of serving as "Hamas proxies" and relying "entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others" that had "already been thoroughly debunked."

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. At least 64,905 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The commission says it analyzed statements made by Israeli leaders and alleges that President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have "incited the commission of genocide." It also states that "genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference" that could be concluded from the pattern of conduct of Israeli authorities and security forces in Gaza.

The commission says the pattern of conduct includes intentionally killing and seriously harming an unprecedented number of Palestinians using heavy munitions; systematic and widespread attacks on religious, cultural, and education sites; and imposing a siege on Gaza and starving its population.

Israel's government insists that its efforts are directed solely at dismantling Hamas's capabilities and not at the people of Gaza. It says its forces operate in accordance with international law and take all feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians.

The commission says the acts of Israeli political and military leaders are "attributable to the State of Israel," and that the state therefore "bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish genocide." It also warns all other countries have an immediate obligation under the Genocide Convention to "prevent and punish the crime of genocide," employing all measures at their disposal. If they do not, it says, they could be complicit.

A number of international and Israeli human rights organizations, independent UN experts, and scholars have also accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is meanwhile hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israeli forces of genocide. Israel has called the case "wholly unfounded" and based on "biased and false claims."