A United Nations investigative committee reported on Tuesday that Israel is committing acts of genocide in Gaza, alleging that senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have incited such actions—claims that Israel has condemned as outrageous.
The committee cited various instances, such as the scale of killings, hindrance to aid, forced displacement, and the destruction of a fertility center, to support its conclusions regarding genocide. This position aligns with findings from human rights organizations and other entities that have reached similar conclusions.
Navi Pillay, the chair of the independent international commission investigating the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and a former International Criminal Court judge, stated, “Genocide is occurring in Gaza.”
She further noted, “The responsibility for these heinous crimes lies with the highest levels of Israeli authorities, which have led a genocidal campaign for nearly two years with the specific aim of eliminating Palestinians in Gaza.”
Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, dismissed the report as “disgraceful” and “false,” asserting it was produced by “Hamas agents.”
Meron told reporters, “Israel outright rejects the sensational claims published today by this investigative committee.”
Israel has refused to cooperate with the committee and accuses it of having a political agenda against the state and deviating from its mandate.
The committee’s legal analysis, comprising 72 pages, presents some of the strongest conclusions from the United Nations to date; however, the committee operates independently and does not officially represent the UN. The international organization has yet to use the term genocide officially, although it is under increasing pressure to do so.
Israel is currently facing a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accused of genocide. The country denies these allegations, pointing out its right to self-defense following an attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and the abduction of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza has reportedly led to the deaths of over 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while a global hunger monitor indicates that parts of the region are suffering from famine.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide from 1948, adopted in the aftermath of the mass killings committed by Nazi Germany against the Jews, genocide is defined as acts committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” For a determination of genocide to be made, at least one of five specific acts must occur.
The UN committee concluded that Israel has committed four of these acts: killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately imposing living conditions intended to destroy Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures aimed at preventing births within the group.
The committee presented evidence including interviews with victims, witnesses, and medical professionals, as well as verified open-source documents and analysis of satellite images collected since the war’s onset.
Dehumanization of Victims
The committee also determined that statements made by Netanyahu and other officials serve as “direct evidence of genocidal intent.”
It referenced a message Netanyahu sent to Israeli soldiers in November 2023, likening the Gaza operation to what the committee described as a “holy war of complete extermination” in the Old Testament.
The report specifically mentions Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Pillay, who hails from South Africa and presided over the UN tribunal for Rwanda, where over a million people were killed in 1994, remarked that the two situations are strikingly similar. She added, “When I reflect on the facts of the genocide in Rwanda, I find them remarkably akin to this. You dehumanize the victims. They become animals, and therefore, without a twinge of conscience, they can be killed.”
The International Court of Justice has also noted other Israeli statements concerning Gaza and Palestinians when issuing its emergency measures order in 2024, although it did not specifically name Netanyahu.
Pillay, who is set to retire in November, expressed hope that the committee’s report would lead to a broader awakening among nations.