Brennen Brothers, news editor

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) concluded in a report that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. According to the UN, The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (The Commission) was formed on May 27, 2021, and their mission was to “investigate in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since [April 13, 2021] and establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack on southern Israel, which led the Israeli military to launch a campaign in Gaza, where 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Since then, 64,964 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, writes the BBC. They continue to share that 90% of homes are damaged or destroyed. Water, sanitation, and hygiene systems are gone. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that there is an estimated one million people in Gaza who are facing famine, with compromised means of survival after the Israeli military placed Gaza under a displacement order. The UN calls for a ceasefire, protection of civilians, and humanitarian access across the Gaza Strip.

Three members sit on the UN panel. Chair Navi Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief; Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer; and Miloon Kothari, an Indian expert on housing and land rights, shared the BBC. 

According to the BBC, the report states that under international law, four of the five genocidal criteria have been met since the start of the Israeli-Hamas war in 2023. This includes “killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejects these reports, stating that they are “distorted and false.” They also accused The Commission of “serving as Hamas proxies.” Israeli President Herzog also denies the report, saying his words were misinterpreted.

The UN shares a quote from Pillay, “The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza […] When clear […] evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity. […] All States are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
BBC journalists asked UN human rights chief Volker Türk if he would use the word genocide when discussing Israel’s actions in Gaza. He said, “It’s for the court to decide whether it’s genocide or not, and we see the evidence mounting.” Another case was brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa, which also accuses Israeli forces of genocide. The BBC states that this hearing could take years to conclude.