By Jessica Park 

On September 16, 2025, the United Nations commission investigating the war in Gaza concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Commission urges Israel and all states to uphold their legal obligations under international law by taking immediate action to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.

The Commission has spent the past two years investigating the events since October 7, 2023. It found that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. These include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and trying to stop Palestinian births.

Statements made by Israeli civilian and military authorities indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”

She further stated, “Responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza. The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.”

The Commission’s findings are based on a detailed examination of both genocidal acts and the intent behind them. The Commission documented:

The killing and seriously harming unprecedented numbers of Palestinians; 

Imposing a total siege, including blocking humanitarian aid leading to starvation; 

Systematic destruction of the healthcare and education systems in Gaza; 

Committing systematic acts of sexual and gender-based violence; 

Directly targeting children; 

Carrying out systematic and widespread attacks on religious and cultural sites;

And the ongoing disregard for the orders of the International Court of Justice.

To determine genocidal intent, the Commission used the “only reasonable inference” standard set forth by the International Court of Justice in the case of Bosnia v. Serbia. It concluded that those statements are direct evidence of genocidal intent. The Commission also found that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations.

According to Pillay, Israel has openly ignored the International Court of Justice orders and warnings from member states, UN offices, human rights organizations, and civil society groups, continuing their strategy of destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza. “The Israeli authorities had no intention to change their actions and continued their genocidal campaign in Gaza for nearly two years. Israel must immediately end the genocide in Gaza and comply fully with the orders for provisional measures of the International Court of Justice,” she added.

The Commission also found that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement. 

The Commission calls on the Israeli Government to comply immediately with its international legal obligations, including to end the genocide in the Gaza Strip and fully implement the provisional measures orders of the International Court of Justice. It further demands that Israel must end its policy of starvation, lift the siege, and facilitate and ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid into Gaza. 

The Commission recommended that Member States cease the transfer of arms and other equipment that may be used for the commission of genocidal acts to Israel; ensure individuals and corporations in their territories and within their jurisdiction are not involved in aiding and assisting the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide; and take action on accountability through investigations and legal proceedings against individuals or corporations that are involved in the genocide directly or indirectly. “The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza. When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” said Pillay. “Every day of inaction costs lives and erodes the credibility of the international community. All states are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”