War in Gaza: UN accuses Israel and Hamas of “crimes against humanity” in devastating report

A new report from the UN Human Rights Council accuses Israel and Hamas of committing a series of war crimes and human rights abuses since October 7, when the current war between them broke out.

The report, carried out by members of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, accuses both parties from committing crimes of war for attacks against the civilian population and “murders or intentional homicides.”

The investigation, which runs until the end of 2023, specifically accuses Israel of crimes against humanity for torture, “extermination” and “gender-based persecution against Palestinian men and boys.”

The Israeli government rejected the report’s conclusions and accused the UN commission of pursuing “a narrow-minded political agenda” against Israel.

The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week. It was conducted through hours of interviews with victims and witnesses, medical reports and information from open sources.

The researchers, led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, say Israel’s use of heavy weapons in populated areas of Gaza constituted un war crime because it was a direct attack against the civilian population that was intended to cause “maximum damage, ignoring the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions.”

They also accuse Israel of other war crimes, such as famine, arbitrary detention and death and mutilation of “tens of thousands of children”. The report also claims that Israel has imposed a “total siege” on Gaza that limits energy, food and water to civilians, which the investigation says amounts to “collective punishment.”

Other crimes against humanity committed by Israel, according to investigators, were “the extermination, murder, gender-based persecution of Palestinian men and boys, forcible transfer of the population, torture and inhuman and cruel treatment.”

Israeli forces are also accused of sexual violence for publicly stripping Palestinians naked, which, according to investigators, was intended to “humiliate the community at large and accentuate the subordination of an occupied people.”

Israel – which refused to cooperate with the investigation – was quick to reject the report, accusing it of “systematic discrimination against Israel”.

Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, accused the commission of trying to draw a false equivalence between Hamas and the Israeli military regarding sexual violence.

The report also accuses the Palestinian militant group Hamas of a series of abuses during its October 7 attacks on Israeli territory, in which 1,200 people died and 251 were kidnapped.

He points out that they collected evidence of widespread sexual violence committed against Israeli women and a pattern of mass murders in public shelters.

According to the report, Hamas militants kidnapped hostages “without regard to age or sex,” and some were shot, killed and paraded.

“Many kidnappings were carried out with a significant physical, mental and sexual violence and degrading and humiliating treatmentwhich in some cases included parading the kidnapped women,” the investigation indicates.

“Women and women’s bodies were used as trophies of victory by male perpetrators,” she adds.

They also highlighted that Israeli children were traumatized by witnessing the murders of their parents and siblings. Many of them were also victims of kidnapping.

Hamas has not yet commented on the accusations.

The report itself does not carry any sanctions, but could be used in possible future prosecutions of Israeli and Hamas leaders.

Michael Becker, professor of international human rights law at Trinity College Dublin, told the BBC that the International Criminal Court (ICC) – which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli and Palestinian leaders – would likely rely on the report to find new lines of research, but was unlikely to serve as “direct evidence” in the case.

He added that there was “no doubt” that South Africa would refer the report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as part of its lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

He noted that the ICC “often refers to these types of reports in its decisions” but warned that South Africa would have to convince judges that the report is “methodologically sound.”

Following the report’s publication, Pillay said it was “imperative” that anyone accused of committing crimes in the conflict “be held accountable”.

“The only way to end recurring cycles of violence, including aggression and retaliation by both sides, is to ensure strict compliance with international law,” he added.

About Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri and Ismail Haniya There is already an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuand the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallantare also the subject of similar orders.

Wednesday’s report specifically attacks rhetoric used by some unnamed Israeli officials, which could amount to “incitement” and constitute “other serious international crimes”.

More than 37,120 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, the UN is set to add for the first time the Israeli army, Hamas and the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad to its list of offenders for violating children’s rights.

The UN’s annual report on children in armed conflict – seen by the BBC and scheduled for publication on Thursday – is designed to flag offenders and get them to commit to implementing UN measures to protect children. minors.

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