A United Nations commission has said Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
The panel is called the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. It released a report on its findings on Tuesday.
At a news conference in Geneva, the chair of the commission, Navi Pillay, said, “The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a moral outrage and a legal emergency. Member states must act now.”
She added, “There is no need to wait for the International Court of Justice to declare it a genocide.”
The report covers the period from the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023 until July 31, 2025.
The commission says its analysis is based on “the determination of genocide” under the Genocide Convention of 1948.
It cites various findings, including the killing of more than 60,000 Palestinians. The commission said Israeli security forces have also forced their displacement, and have blocked essential aid, food and water.
The commission concludes that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces “committed and are continuing to commit” these and other “criminal acts of genocide.”
It also says “the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have had and continue to have the genocidal intent to destroy” the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The report also says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has incited “the commission of genocide” in speeches and statements.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, strongly condemned the report. He said: “Israel categorically rejects the libelous rant published today by this commission of inquiry. It spreads malicious, the malicious genocide narrative.”
He adds that “the report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods.”
But commission chair Pillay defended the report, saying, “I wish they’d tell us where we went wrong on these facts, or just cooperate with us.”