UN inquiry accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza

GENEVA (Reuters) —  A United Nations Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited such acts.

The findings, released on Tuesday, cite large-scale killings, blockages of humanitarian aid, forced displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure — including a fertility clinic — as evidence of genocidal intent.

“Genocide is occurring in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, head of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and a former International Criminal Court judge. She said responsibility for the “atrocity crimes” rested with Israeli authorities “at the highest echelons” who, she alleged, had orchestrated a campaign aimed at destroying the Palestinian population in Gaza.

Israel rejects report

Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, dismissed the 72-page report as “scandalous” and “fake,” calling it the work of “Hamas proxies.” He said Israel “categorically rejects the libellous rant published today by this commission of inquiry.”

Israel has long accused the body of political bias and declined to cooperate with its investigation.

The commission’s report is the strongest UN-linked finding so far, though it does not officially represent the position of the United Nations as the body operates independently. The UN itself has not formally labelled the Gaza conflict as genocide but faces growing international pressure to do so.

Israel is already fighting a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. It has rejected such accusations, maintaining that its military campaign is an act of self-defence.

Scale of conflict

The war in Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, according to the report, while international monitors warn that parts of the territory are facing famine.

Under the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as crimes committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

The commission found that Israel had committed four of the five listed acts: killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting life conditions calculated to bring about destruction of the group; and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

The inquiry cited interviews with victims and witnesses, testimony from doctors, verified open-source material, and satellite imagery gathered since the start of the conflict.

It further noted that statements by Israeli leaders — including Mr Netanyahu — amounted to “direct evidence of genocidal intent,” pointing to a letter written by the prime minister to soldiers in November 2023 in which the Gaza operation was compared to a “holy war of total annihilation.”