UN Commission Finds Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza

Strategic Insights -

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel has found evidence of genocide in Gaza. The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021, investigated alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law during the war in Gaza. The commission's report, published as the Israeli military began a ground offensive to seize Gaza City, found that Israeli authorities have committed all but one of the five acts outlined in the UN's 1948 genocide convention.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UN commission found indications of intentions to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group, which it said amount to genocide.
  • The commission's report cites the conduct of military forces on the ground and statements by Israeli authorities, including explicit statements containing "dehumanising sentiments that encourage hatred ... and violence against Palestinians."
  • Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the conclusions, calling the report a "fake report" based on "falsehoods" and accusing the commission of serving as Hamas proxies with "antisemitic positions."
  • The report was published as the Israeli military began a ground offensive to seize Gaza City, with over 64,000 people killed in Gaza so far, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
  • Genocide is defined by the United Nations as an act committed with intent to "destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group," which can include any of five acts: killing, causing "serious bodily or mental harm," imposing measures to prevent births, forcibly transferring children or "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."
  • The UN report found that Israeli authorities and security forces "committed four of the five genocidal acts" as set out by the 1948 convention.
  • Israel's military campaign in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
  • Two prominent Israeli human rights organizations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, concluded that there has been deliberate intent by Israeli decision-makers to target the whole population of Gaza rather than strictly combatants and to destroy life for the Palestinian people and the enclave's health and civilian infrastructure.

Statistics:

  • Over 64,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with most of those killed being women and children.
  • The figure is likely to be an undercount, according to the ministry.
  • 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 250 people were taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

Sources:

  • The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
  • The UN Human Rights Council.
  • Gaza's Health Ministry.
  • The International Association of Genocide Scholars.
  • B'Tselem.
  • Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.