TEHRAN – The Israeli regime is committing genocide in the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to an independent committee established by the United Nations.
This is the first time a UN agency has announced that the actions of the occupation regime in Gaza have passed thresholds under international law to meet genocide standards.
It referenced cases of mass murder, humanitarian blocs, forced evacuation, and the demolition of infertility clinics to support its genocide decisions, and worked with human rights groups and others who drew the same conclusions.
The UN Independent International Committee on Independent Inquiry on Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem (AL-QUDS), held accountable to Israeli leaders and called for an end to the lockdown and hunger policies.
In a report released Tuesday, the committee said it had investigated the events from October 7, 2023 and developments over the past two years. Israeli authorities and security forces concluded that they committed four of the five genocide acts defined in the 1948 Genocide Treaty.
• Kill Palestinians or force them in inhumane circumstances that led to their deaths
Causes serious physical or mental harm, including torture, displacement, and sexual offences.
•Deliberately impose inhumane living conditions calculated to result in physical destruction
• Implement measures aimed at preventing births
As listed in the Genocide Convention, if only one of the five criteria fails, a genocide threshold is passed. The investigation found four failed Israeli occupation regimes.
The report highlighted statements from Israeli civilians and military leaders and the explicit intention to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza, either in whole or in part, with patterns of behavior by security forces. The committee called on the Israeli regime and all states to fulfill their legal obligations under international law to end genocide and prosecute those responsible.
The most powerful UN discovery to date, the 72-page legal analysis reveals that Israeli soldiers carried out sexual and gender-based violence, including “rape and sexual torture,” as part of a “pattern of collective punishment,” and accuss Israeli occupation forces of “deliberately targeting children with the intention of killing them.”
Release of the findings, the Navi Pillay Committee stated: “The committee has discovered that Israel is responsible for committing genocide in Gaza. There is clear evidence of its intention to destroy Palestinians through actions that meet the legal standards of the Genocide Convention.”
Pillay further argued that the blame for these crimes lies on the highest class of Israeli authorities who have coordinated the Genocide campaign for nearly two years with the specific purpose of destroying the Palestinians as a Gaza group.
The report concludes that “Israel President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Joab Gallant have incited the Genocide Committee.”
Pillay also criticized the Israeli regime for not preventing or punishing genocide actions, and emphasized his reluctance to investigate or prosecute the perpetrators.
The committee noted that the report was based on previous investigations and legal investigations into Israeli attacks on Gaza, as well as the actions and statements of the authorities from October 7 to July 31, 2023.
The committee added that the majority of the victims were women, children and elderly people, and that they are considering further evidence against other individuals accused of inciting Gaza’s genocide.