Israel has committed genocide in Gaza – UN report
A report from an independent United Nations (UN) commission has found that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, has urged Israel and all states to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.
concluded that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces had committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The four are:
- Killing,
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm,
- Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births.
‘Intent to destroy’
The commission said that statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of Israeli security forces indicated that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.
“It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention,” said commission chair Navi Pillay.
“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,” she stated.
“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,” Pillay added.
‘Incited’
The report is based on all the commission’s previous investigations and the conduct and statements of Israeli authorities from 7 October 2023 until 31 July 2025.
The Israeli military had launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
The commission also concluded that Israeli president Isaac Herzog, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then defence minister Yoav Gallant, had “incited the commission of genocide” and that Israeli authorities had failed to take action against them to punish this incitement.
‘Stop transfer of arms’
The commission added that statements by other Israeli political and military leaders should also be assessed to determine whether they constituted incitement to commit genocide.
The commission recommended that UN member States:
- Stop the transfer of arms and other equipment that may be used for the commission of genocidal acts to Israel,
- Ensure that individuals and corporations in their territories and within their jurisdiction are not involved in aiding and assisting the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide, and
- Act on accountability through investigations and legal proceedings against individuals or corporations that are involved in the genocide, directly or indirectly.
Israel's foreign ministry said that it categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".