The UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories has determined that the actions of the Israeli authorities since the beginning of the escalation of the conflict with Palestine can be assessed as genocide.
The document covers events from 7 October 2023 to July 2024. “The events described in this report lead the Special Committee to conclude that Israel’s policies and practices during the reporting period may amount to genocide,” the document states. “The targeting of Palestinians as a group, the life-threatening conditions created for Palestinians in Gaza as a result of military action and restrictions on humanitarian assistance, resulting in physical destruction, increased miscarriages and stillbirths, and the killing and causing serious bodily harm and psychological trauma to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are violations of international law.”
The report notes that the mass killing of civilians in Gaza “is not a proportionate response, and in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli colonial settlers, military and security personnel continue to violate human rights and humanitarian law with impunity.”
The report’s authors also concluded that “senior Israeli government and military officials should be held accountable, including for using dehumanizing language and inciting violence.”
The Special Committee recommended that UN member states urgently “cease all transfers of offensive weapons, including arms, explosives, artillery and/or ammunition to Israel” and “review financial transfer policies that allow religious and charitable organizations to finance activities in Israel that further perpetuate the apartheid system.” In addition, the Committee stated the need to “hold accountable for violations of international law those individuals involved in settler violence or abuses in Gaza,” According to the special committee’s report.
The UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories was established in December 1968. It submits annual reports to the UN General Assembly. The above-mentioned document will be submitted to the GA next week. The Israeli authorities believe that the resolution establishing the special committee is discriminatory and does not allow committee members to visit the occupied territories.
