UN calls Israeli offensive in Gaza ‘genocide’
A UN investigation commission has labelled Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as ‘genocide’. While the declaration was hailed as a historic moment, the Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the report as ‘baseless and distorted’. Navi Pillay, the chairwoman of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, made the announcement in an interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday (16 September). “We have identified Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yav Gallant on the basis of their statements and instructions,” said Navi Pillay. “They are all representatives of states, so states are responsible under international law.” “Therefore, we say that the State of Israel committed genocide.” The report said that, in addition to the statements made by Israeli officials, a number of circumstantial evidence proved to the commission the intent to commit genocide. According to the commission, the Israeli authorities and security forces acted with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza. However, the Israeli ambassador in Geneva rejected the report’s findings as scandalous, false and defamatory. The published report said that four of the five acts of genocide defined under international law have occurred since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023. These include killing members of a group, causing serious physical and mental harm, intentionally creating a situation that The report cited public statements by Israeli leaders and the conduct of soldiers as evidence of ‘genocidal intent’. The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the report as “baseless and distorted”, alleging that the three experts on the commission were actually acting as Hamas representatives and were relying on Hamas’s false propaganda, which has already been refuted. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also said that, contrary to reality, Hamas was the one who attempted genocide in Israel. They killed 1,200 people, raped women, burned families alive and declared the killing of every Jew.
