UN specialists charge Israel with committing acts of genocide and sexual violence in Gaza
UN experts have alleged that Israel has committed acts of genocide and sexual violence in Gaza.
TroibNews 
Israel has been accused of committing "genocidal acts" against Palestinians by systematically targeting women's healthcare facilities during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, along with employing sexual violence as a strategy of war, according to a new report released by United Nations experts on Thursday.
The allegations outlined in the report were dismissed by Israel's permanent mission to the UN in Geneva as unfounded, biased, and lacking credibility.
"Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births, one of the categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention," stated the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
The commission further noted that these actions, combined with an increase in maternity deaths due to restricted access to medical supplies, amounted to the crime against humanity of extermination.
The report also charged that Israel's security forces employed forced public stripping and sexual assault as routine procedures to penalize Palestinians following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023.
Israel, however, rejected these claims.
"The IDF has concrete directives . . . and policies which unequivocally prohibit such misconduct," said the permanent mission to the UN in Geneva in its statement, adding that its review processes adhere to international standards.
In a prior report published by the Commission in June 2024, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups were accused of serious human rights violations during their attack on October 7, 2023, including torture and degrading treatment.
As a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Israel was instructed by the International Court of Justice in January 2024 to take measures to prevent acts of genocide amid the war against Hamas. However, it is not a party to the Rome Statute, which grants the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over individual criminal cases involving genocide and crimes against humanity.
Additionally, South Africa has initiated a genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
The conflict escalated following a cross-border raid by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered a devastating war in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. Israeli sources report that Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during the same period.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
The allegations outlined in the report were dismissed by Israel's permanent mission to the UN in Geneva as unfounded, biased, and lacking credibility.
"Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births, one of the categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention," stated the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
The commission further noted that these actions, combined with an increase in maternity deaths due to restricted access to medical supplies, amounted to the crime against humanity of extermination.
The report also charged that Israel's security forces employed forced public stripping and sexual assault as routine procedures to penalize Palestinians following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023.
Israel, however, rejected these claims.
"The IDF has concrete directives . . . and policies which unequivocally prohibit such misconduct," said the permanent mission to the UN in Geneva in its statement, adding that its review processes adhere to international standards.
In a prior report published by the Commission in June 2024, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups were accused of serious human rights violations during their attack on October 7, 2023, including torture and degrading treatment.
As a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Israel was instructed by the International Court of Justice in January 2024 to take measures to prevent acts of genocide amid the war against Hamas. However, it is not a party to the Rome Statute, which grants the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over individual criminal cases involving genocide and crimes against humanity.
Additionally, South Africa has initiated a genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
The conflict escalated following a cross-border raid by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered a devastating war in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. Israeli sources report that Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during the same period.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
