Direct Evidence of Intent to Commit Genocide: United Nations Inquiry Analysis on Conduct in the Gaza Strip

A recent comprehensive investigative report from an independent investigative body has issued the strongest conclusions to date regarding events in Gaza.

The commission accuses Israel of perpetrating systematic destruction, stating that its military offensive was conducted “with the purpose to eliminate, totally or partly, an ethnic or community”.

Panel Composition

Established in 2021 by the international human rights body, the inquiry is staffed by three unaffiliated specialists and cannot speak on behalf of the entire United Nations.

Israeli representatives have dismissed the report “scandalous” and “fabricated”, claiming it was written by “supporters of Hamas”.

The Israeli government has refuted the genocide charges, citing its entitlement to defend itself following the offensive by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted hundreds.

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has taken the lives of over 64,000 individuals, predominantly non-combatants, and injured over 160,000 people.

Investigation Outcomes

To constitute an act of genocide under the international genocide convention, a minimum of one of five categories must have been committed. The commission alleges Israel of committing multiple.

Documentation includes accounts with affected persons, witnesses, and medical professionals, confirmed open-source documents, journalistic accounts, civil society assessments, and aerial photography.

Initial Finding: Lethal Actions

The commission cites figures indicating that as of recently, nearly half of fatalities in Gaza were females and minors.

The military utilized imprecise explosive weapons with a high collateral damage potential in densely populated areas… The quantity of munitions deployed following 7 October 2023 is unprecedented when compared with other worldwide hostilities.

Civilians in Gaza were struck in their residences, at clinics, in safe spaces (including schools and holy buildings), during relocations and in supposedly protected locations.

The inquiry also emphasized notable cases such as the fatal targeting of five children when their family car was struck near a fuel stop in the urban center.

Additional Finding: Harm Infliction

This includes the abuse of detainees and forced movement which led to grave and lasting health and trauma.

Further Finding: Systematic Deprivation

The document notes that large parts of Gaza has been rendered virtually uninhabitable, with extensive destruction of bakeries, learning centers, heritage locations, and religious buildings.

Evaluating the data in its entirety, investigators has concluded that Israeli authorities were aware of the significant chance that their actions… would lead to the eradication of the population… in whole or in part.

Fourth Charge: Reproductive Destruction

This part centers on the large percentage of young victims and the targeting on a fertility clinic in last December, which reportedly wiped out numerous reproductive materials.

Genocidal Intent

Legal scholars routinely highlight that proving genocidal intent is difficult due to the evidentiary burden of proof.

The inquiry concluded that remarks by Israeli leaders represent “explicit indication of extermination aims”.

Referenced instances include references to biblical wars and policy announcements that suggest an aim to eradicate the Palestinian population.

The head of the commission, a former legal expert who once led over a legal body for a prior genocide case, stated that the findings confirms the conclusion of extermination aims.