UN Report Accuses Israel of Genocide in Gaza

An independent United Nations investigation has determined that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, citing multiple violations of international law since the outbreak of the 2023 conflict with Hamas.

The 72-page report, released Tuesday, concludes that four of the five acts of genocide defined under international law have been carried out.

"Furthermore, the Commission found that the Israeli authorities have (i) destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births; and (ii) deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians as a group, both of which are underlying acts of genocide in the Rome Statute and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (‘Genocide Convention’)," the report stated.

Navi Pillay, chair of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited genocide.

"Israel has committed genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and it is continuing with that genocide, which has been the most ruthless, prolong and widespread attack against the Palestinian people since 1948," she said during a briefing.

"The state of Israel bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, for the commission of genocide, and for the failure to punish genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. On incitement to genocide, the Commission concludes that many Israeli political and military leaders, including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ... had incited the commission of genocide," Pillay added.

The Commission called on the international community to take immediate action to halt Israel’s operations in Gaza and the occupied territories.

The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched rocket attacks and infiltrated Israeli border areas, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. In retaliation, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords, imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, and carried out widespread strikes.

The fighting has since expanded to Lebanon and Yemen, with missile exchanges between Israel and Iran. More than 65,000 Palestinians and around 1,500 Israelis have been killed.