Gaza - New York: Europe and the Arabs
An independent international commission of inquiry affiliated with the United Nations stated that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It urged Israel and all states to fulfill their legal obligations under international law to "end this genocide and punish those responsible." According to the UN Daily News Bulletin, a copy of which we received Wednesday morning, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel was established by the Human Rights Council in 2021. The commission said in a press release that it had investigated the events that occurred on October 7, 2023, and since then, over the past two years. In a report issued yesterday, it concluded that "Israeli authorities and security forces committed four of the five acts of genocide" defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: "murder, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births." The commission added that explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and patterns of conduct by Israeli security forces "indicate that the acts of genocide were committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part." For the Palestinians as a group in the Gaza Strip.
Navi Pillay, Chair of the Independent International Commission, said, “Responsibility for these horrific crimes lies with the Israeli authorities at the highest levels, who have orchestrated a campaign of genocide for nearly two years now with the specific intent of destroying the Palestinians as a group in Gaza.”
She added that the Commission also concluded that Israel “failed” to prevent the perpetration of genocide and punish its perpetrators, through its “failure” to investigate the acts of genocide and prosecute the alleged perpetrators.
According to the press release, to prove genocidal intent, the Commission applied the “sole reasonable inference” standard set by the International Court of Justice in the case of Bosnia v. Serbia and analyzed statements by Israeli authorities.
The Commission concluded that this constituted direct evidence of “genocidal intent.” It also analyzed the pattern of conduct of the Israeli authorities and security forces in Gaza, including “starvation of Palestinians and imposition of inhumane living conditions on them in Gaza,” and found that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from the nature of the Their operations."
Recommendations
The Committee urged the Government of Israel to immediately comply with its international legal obligations, including "ending the genocide in the Gaza Strip" and fully implementing the provisional measures orders issued by the International Court of Justice.
It stressed the need for Israel to end its policy of starvation, lift the blockade, and facilitate and ensure widespread and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as unhindered access for all UN personnel, including those of UNRWA and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and all recognized international humanitarian agencies providing and coordinating aid.
The Committee called on Israel to immediately cease the activities of the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation."
The Committee recommended that Member States halt the transfer to Israel of arms and other equipment that might be used to commit genocide; ensure that individuals and companies in their territories and jurisdictions are not complicit in aiding or abetting genocide; and take accountability measures through investigations and legal proceedings against individuals or companies directly or indirectly implicated in genocide.
"The international community cannot remain silent about the campaign of genocide," said Committee Chair Navi Pillay. The collective punishment carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza. When clear signs and evidence of genocide appear, failure to take action to stop it constitutes complicity.
She added that every day of inaction costs lives and undermines the credibility of the international community. She emphasized that all states are “legally obligated to use all means at their disposal to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel was established by the UN Human Rights Council on May 27, 2021, “to investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law that preceded and occurred on 13 April 2021.”
Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-30/1 also requested the Commission of Inquiry “to investigate all the underlying root causes of the recurrent tensions, instability, and protracted conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, or religious identity.” "ethnic or religious".