Commission created by the Human Rights Council states that Netanyahu and other authorities “incited genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Israel calls “distorted and false” report.
An independent commission of inquiry from the UN Human Rights Council accused Israel on Tuesday (16/09) of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
According to the commission, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “incited genocide” in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli authorities “did not adopt measures against them to punish this incitement.”
The report is released on the same day Israel began its terrestrial offensive against the city of Gaza, which was accompanied by an intensification of bombings against the city.
The three -member commission stated that four of the five United Nations Convention criteria for the prevention and punishment of genocide crime were met. Article 2 of the Convention defines genocide as any action “committed with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.
The commission was created by the UN’s main Human Rights Council, but does not speak for the United Nations. The team was led by the former UN Human Rights Secretary, South African Navi Pillay.
The committee’s findings are the latest accusations of genocide against the Netanyahu government, while Israel continues its war against the Palestinian radical group Hamas that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza.
Although neither the commission nor the council of 47 member countries to which it works can take action against a country, the conclusions can be used by promoters of the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the International Court of Justice (CIJ), an agency of the UN.
The Israeli offensive began after the Hamas terrorist attacks south of Israel on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 dead, plus 251 hostages.
UN authorities and several others claim that, as part of his current military offensive, Israel would be committing war crimes, including ethnic cleaning and deliberate hunger. More than 63,000 Palestinians, including at least 20,000 children, would have been killed, according to Gaza Ministry of Health, linked to the Hamas government.
Israel calls “distorted and false” report
Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated that “categorically rejects this distorted and false report.”
“Three individuals serving as representatives of Hamas, notorious for their openly anti -Semitic positions – and whose horrible statements about Jews were convicted worldwide – today another” false “report on Gaza,” the ministry reported.
Like the United States under the government of President Donald Trump, Israel does not recognize the UN Human Rights Council as authority and often accuses the council and its bias committees.
Earlier this year, the Trump government, an important Israel ally, removed the United States from the UN Human Rights Council.
Genocide accusations are especially sensitive in Israel, a country founded as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust and where Holocaust memories play an important role in national identity.
Commission asks for the end of the sending of weapons
To reach its conclusion about genocide, the commission claimed to have analyzed the conduct of Israeli security forces and “explicit statements” of Israeli civil and military authorities, among other criteria.
In particular, experts cited the number of dead, Israel’s “total siege” to Gaza, and the blockade of humanitarian aid that led to hunger, a policy of “systematic destruction” of the health system and attacks on children.
The four crimes mentioned by the commission are to kill members of a group; cause serious physical or mental damage to members of a group; deliberately imposing calculated living conditions on the group to cause their physical, total or partial destruction; and measures designed to prevent births within a group.
The commission urged other countries to suspend weapons transfers to Israel and prevent individuals or companies from performing actions that can “contribute to genocide in Gaza.”
“The international community cannot remain silent in the face of the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Pillay said. “When clear signs and evidence of genocide arise, the absence of action to prevent it equals complicity.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza and vehemently manifested against alleged crimes, but did not accused Israel of committing genocide. He cited international law and argued that only an international court can make a final and formal decision on genocide.
Critics argue that this can take years and insist that thousands of people, many of them civilians, are being systematically killed in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is judging a case of South African genocide against Israel.
Originally published by DW on 09/16/2025
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/09/16/comissao-da-onu-acusa-israel-de-genocidio-em-gaza/
