The UN’s top investigative body on Palestine and Israel ruled on Tuesday that Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide in Gaza, in the most authoritative pronouncement to date.
The 72-page report by the UN commission of inquiry on Palestine and Israel finds Israel has committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and that Israeli leaders had the intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group.
The finding echoes reports by Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups that have reached the same conclusion over the past year.
But this is the first comprehensive legal probe by a UN body, serving as an indicator of a judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently hearing a case by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. The ICJ case is expected to take several years to be concluded.
“For the finding on Israel's responsibility for its conduct in Gaza, the commission used the legal standard set forth by the International Court of Justice. This is therefore the most authoritative finding emanating from the United Nations to date,” Navi Pillay, the commission's chair, told Middle East Eye.
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“Reports generated by the United Nations, including by a commission of inquiry, bear particular probative value and can be relied upon by all domestic and international courts.”
Pillay, a prominent jurist who previously served as the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, said all states had an unequivocal legal obligation to prevent the genocide in Gaza. She also urged the UK government to review its stance on the Gaza genocide, including its refusal to label it as such.
“The obligation to prevent genocide arises when states learn of the existence of a serious risk of genocide and thus states, including the UK, must act without the need to wait for a judicial determination to prevent genocide,” she said.
Another member of the commission, Chris Sidoti, told MEE that states must act now to prevent genocide. “There is no excuse now for not acting,” he said.
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