Gaza (Quds News Network)- A United Nations inquiry has concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a landmark finding following nearly two years of bombardment, mass killings, forced displacement, aid blockade, and starvation.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that there was “circumstantial evidence” that led to their findings of genocidal intent.
The new report said there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.
“The Commission concludes that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” the report found.
The report also holds Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant responsible, among others, identifying them based on their statements and the orders that they’ve given.
However, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed the inquiry findings as “fake” in a post on X, and alleged that the report’s authors were “serving as Hamas proxies”.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The three-member expert panel is chaired by Navi Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief who was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda's genocide.
A number of international and Israeli human rights organisations, independent UN experts, and scholars have also labeled Israel’s war in Gaza genocide against Palestinians.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is meanwhile hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israeli forces of genocide.
Israeli police barred Al-Aqsa preacher Sheikh Ekrima Sabri from Friday prayers without explanation, triggering sharp condemnation over the unlawful restrictions on worship in occupied Jerusalem.
US Vice President JD Vance claimed that more humanitarian aid is now entering the Gaza Strip than at any time in the past five years. Palestinians, however, rejected this claim, confirming that Israel continues to impose restrictions on the entry of aid despite the ceasefire.
France has rejected a visa to prominent human rights advocate and Director-General of Al-Haq, Shahwan Jabarin, who was scheduled to address the European Parliament’s human rights committee in Strasbourg, a move that “undermining efforts towards accountability and advocacy for Palestinian rights.”