A United Nations commission of inquiry has concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since the outbreak of war with Hamas in October 2023.
In a report released this week, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said there were “reasonable grounds” to determine that Israeli forces and authorities had carried out four of the five acts of genocide defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention. These include: killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life intended to destroy the group, and imposing measures to prevent births.
The panel, chaired by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, cited statements by Israeli leaders and what it described as a “systematic pattern of conduct” by the Israeli military as evidence of genocidal intent. It pointed to mass civilian deaths, forced displacement, the destruction of vital infrastructure, and an attack on Gaza’s largest fertility clinic that destroyed thousands of embryos and reproductive samples.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 64,905 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military campaign, while more than 90% of homes in the enclave are damaged or destroyed. Essential systems — including healthcare, water, sanitation, and electricity — have collapsed, and UN-backed experts have declared a famine in Gaza City.
Israel’s foreign ministry, however, strongly rejected the findings, dismissing the report as “distorted and false.” A spokesperson accused the commission’s three experts of acting as “Hamas proxies” and relying on “falsehoods laundered by others” that had been “thoroughly debunked.”
“In stark contrast to the lies in the report, Hamas is the party that attempted genocide in Israel — murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and openly declaring its goal of killing every Jew,” the statement said.
The Israeli campaign in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The UN inquiry, first established in 2021 to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territories, now accuses Israel of actions that could amount to the most serious crime under international law.
The report is expected to intensify global debate over accountability and the role of the International Criminal Court in addressing alleged war crimes and genocide in the ongoing conflict.
Source – My News Ghana
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