World cannot ignore this report on genocide by Israel

The juxtaposition said so much. Yesterday, a United Nations commission of inquiry released a 72-page report concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

- BEL TREW

Marking the first time a UN body has ever reached that conclusion, it was "the strongest and most authoritative UN finding to date", its authors said.

As the press conference to launch the findings was underway, my phone started buzzing. The director of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City was sending a slew of messages.

Israel had launched a massive bombing raid overnight to herald the start of Benjamin Netanyahu's deeply controversial forced evacuation of the Gaza Strip.

Under that bombardment, Shifa chief Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya was describing to me the catastrophic situation inside his wards. "The bombing didn't stop for a single moment. My medical teams are exhausted and worn out," he said, sending me photos of wounded children lying on the floor of a hospital corridor.

"There are cases of amputation. We don't have anaesthesia."

After weeks of forced evacuation orders and bombastic statements by the Israeli prime minister, forces launched their operation into the most populous city in the besieged Strip.

The divisive plan was even opposed by top members of Netanyahu's own security apparatus. Many of the families of the remaining 48 hostages and captives held by Hamas militants in Gaza have said it will be a death sentence for their loved ones, as they begin a sit-in outside Netanyahu's home.