Genocide charge levelled on Israel

A UN inquiry commission finds 'reasonable grounds' to blame Tel Aviv for deliberate acts of killing of Palestinians in Gaza

- Agencies

A United Nations commission of inquiry has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since the outbreak of the war with Hamas in October 2023.

In a 72-page report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said there were “reasonable grounds” to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law had been carried out. These include killing members of a group, causing serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.

The commission cited statements by Israeli leaders and patterns of conduct by Israeli forces as evidence of genocidal intent. “Genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference” that could be drawn from Israel's actions, it stated.

Israel's foreign ministry categorically rejected the findings, denouncing the report as “distorted and false”. It accused the three-member panel of acting as “Hamas proxies” and relying “entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others” that had “already been thoroughly debunked”.