UN Inquiry Finds Israel Has Committed Genocide in Gaza
Photo Credit: Reuters
On Sept. 16, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held an urgent meeting to address the increasing evidence of human rights violations by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, prompting reaction from Israel, Canada, and the United States.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry later stated in a report that Israel’s government and armed forces have committed four out of the five acts that classify genocide, which were established by the United Nations. These acts were taken against the Palestinian people since the start of the war in October 2023. The UN’s 72-page report alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces have committed and continue to commit these four out of five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The acts of genocide that Israel has committed include: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions to bring harm or destruction to the group, and preventing births. Israel's foreign ministry has rejected and denounced the report as false, prompting the opinions and involvement of other countries, such as Canada and the US.
In 2021, the UNHRC formed the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory to investigate violations of international humanitarian rights. This council is headed by Navi Pillay, a renowned human rights lawyer and the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Commission stated that Israel has committed these genocidal acts through targeting civilians and deliberately inflicting conditions causing death, severely mistreating detainees, and forcibly displacing citizens. Additionally, it stated the destruction and denial of access to medical services, essential aid, water, electricity, fuel, and fertility clinics.
Pillay told the BBC that the Commission “looked at statements made by Israeli authorities indicating genocidal intent,” and “looked at the pattern of conduct of Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces to show that genocidal intent was the only possible inference.”
This announcement has put pressure on other countries, including Canada. Just five days after the report was published, Prime Minister Mark Carney officially recognized a Palestinian state. This policy change can be linked back to the topical report and pressure for other countries to speak up.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, declared that the international community “must exert all possible diplomatic, economic and political pressure to ensure an immediate and lasting ceasefire,” as well as compel “all states to halt arms and security transfers to Israel” to ensure “they are not contributing to Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” according to Amnesty International.
The Commission's report has shifted global attention toward international accountability, but has yet to result in immediate changes in the conflict. A week later, Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly in New York that his country “must finish the job” in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the accusations, calling them a “distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of inquiry,” a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry read, which also claimed that the Commission members were “Hamas proxies.” The statement declared that “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.”
Israel's representative in the UN, Daniel Meron, rejected the report as well, arguing that the report “relies solely on Hamas Falsehoods” and “cherry-picked data” rather than facts. Meron stated that “Israel remains committed to international law” and “aims to dismantle Hamas, and invest many efforts and resources in minimizing harm to the civilian population.”
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Issac Herzog, and Former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have also been accused by The Commission of the crime of incitement of genocide through their speeches and statements. Pillay observed that Netanyahu vowed to inflict “mighty vengeance” on “all of the places where Hamas is deployed” and “turn them into rubble.” President Herzog condemned the report, claiming that the commission had misinterpreted his words, according to Reuters.
Netanyahu and Gallant have arrest warrants against them issued by the International Criminal Court in November 2024 for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Israel is also facing an ongoing case with South Africa for the accusation of committing genocide, issued in December 2023. Despite these charges, Israel has repeatedly denied that its actions in the Gaza Strip comprise genocide, citing its right to defend itself.
Aside from Israel's response to this report, the US and Canada have shared mixed reactions. The US opposed a UN Security Council resolution, despite 14 other UN representatives being in favour of the plan for an immediate ceasefire. The US claimed that the resolution failed to mention Hamas’s responsibility and Israel's right to defend itself.
According to a press statement from the US Department of State, the US firmly rejects the idea of holding talks to discuss a two-state solution.
On the other hand, when Canada recognized Palestinian statehood on Sept. 21, Prime Minister Mark Carney proposed the idea of peacekeepers in Gaza. According to Carney, Canada is willing to participate in an international mission to “enforce peace.”