A UN-sponsored independent inquiry into Israel’s conduct in the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported Sept. 15 that Israel has committed the international crime of genocide amid its military operations in the Gaza Strip.
A 72-page legal analysis from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli forces have committed genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza, including killing or seriously harming members of the group, as well as inflicting conditions of life “calculated to bring about [Gazans’] physical destruction in whole or in part,” and preventing births among the population. To support its conclusions, the commission cited the figure of 60,199 Palestinians killed since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, the fact that life expectancy in Gaza has dropped precipitously from 75.5 to 40.5 years, and that 46% of Palestinians killed were women or children. The panel also noted direct attacks on maternity wards and Gaza’s largest IVF clinic.
Additionally, the commission concluded that Israeli officials have demonstrated incitement to genocide, specifically naming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The panel referenced Herzog’s comment that an “entire nation” was responsible for the October 7 attacks, Gallant’s comment that Israel was fighting “human animals” and must “act accordingly,” as well as Netanyahu’s comparison of Gazans to the Amalekites—a people who were singled out for destruction in the Hebrew Bible. Netanyahu and Gallant are facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for using starvation as a method of war and crimes against humanity.
Navi Pillay, the Commission of Inquiry’s chair, said upon the report’s release:
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… 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.
Israel’s UN delegation in Geneva vehemently rejected the report as “libelous rant” by a non-judicial body to “demonize the State of Israel.” The delegation claimed that the “cherry-picked” facts and “Hamas falsehoods” were chosen to support “the malicious ‘genocide’ narrative,” and that the commission ignored atrocities committed by Hamas. Israel’s delegation also called for the Commission’s disestablishment, saying, “The Commission has proven time and again that it is not an independent and impartial human rights mechanism, but a hotbed of activism engaged in lawfare against Israel.”
Under the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the ICC, genocide is committed when specific acts, such as killing members of a group, are undertaken with the intention of destroying a group in whole or in part. In order to establish that a genocide has occurred, international tribunals must conclude that the underlying acts took place and that they were committed with the intention of destroying a group.
Israel is a party to the Genocide Convention but not a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC still exercises jurisdiction over Gaza owing to the State of Palestine’s accession to the Rome Statute.
From JURIST, Sept. 16. Used with permission. Internal links added.
See our last reports on the ICC case against Israel, genocidal rhetoric from Israeli officials, strikes on Gaza’s hospitals, and genocide accusations against Israel.
Photo: Jaber Jehad Badwan via Wikimedia Commons
UN General Assembly votes to support a two-state-solution
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted on Sept. 12 to endorse a declaration establishing a roadmap towards a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. The “New York Declaration,” first proposed in July, would include an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state.
Ten countries, including Israel and the United States, voted against the resolution, while 12 nations abstained. Sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, the declaration precedes what is set to be on the agenda for the 2025 UNGA General Debate.
The declaration comes at a time when several UN members have expressed their intention to formally recognize the Palestinian state, including France and several other EU Member States, which has been met with backlash from the US and Israeli diplomats.
The US Mission to the UN opposed the declaration, calling the General Assembly move “misguided and ill-timed,” and asserting that the resolution is “more of a gift to Hamas rather than an effort to end the conflict.” According to the statement, notions such as “the right to return,” referring to the potential return of Palestinian refugees displaced after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and their descendants, are detrimental to Israel as a Jewish state. (Jurist)
Partial suspension of EU-Israel trade agreement
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Israel’s actions during the annual State of the Union on Sept. 10, and announced a partial suspension of the Association Agreement. (Jurist)