A UN committee released a report on Wednesday detailing violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing both sides of war crimes and alleging the huge loss of life in the Gaza Strip amounts to crimes against humanity.
The report consists of two parallel investigations, one focusing on the Oct. 7 attack on Israel led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and the other on the Israeli military’s response. It is one of the most detailed examinations to date of the conflict, and provides legal analysis that may be used in future criminal cases related to the Gaza war.
Let’s take a closer look at the committee’s findings.
What did the report find?
The report said 800 civilians were among the more than 1,200 people killed by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in the Israeli attack on October 7. In addition, more than 250 people, including 36 children, were taken hostage, the commission said.
The committee accused Israeli forces of responding to the Hamas-led attacks with what amounted to collective punishment against Palestinians, causing civilian casualties and committing crimes against humanity. The Gaza Strip Health Ministry has now said more than 37,000 people have been killed, although it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The commission said both sides were responsible for killing civilians despite describing themselves as non-combatants.
The report also highlighted that the conflict has taken a heavy toll on children, not only in terms of casualties on both sides but also in the large number of orphans it has created.
The report criticized Israel for failing to ensure its capacity to collect forensic evidence, particularly in relation to accusations of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas, “undermining the prospects for future judicial processes, accountability and justice.”
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry was led by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, Australian human rights law expert Chris Sidoti and Indian human rights and social policy expert Miloon Kothari.
The three-member committee interviewed victims and witnesses and also examined open source data, including satellite imagery, forensic records, photographs and videos.
The commission noted that Israel had not participated in the investigation and accused the commission of bias. It also said that Israel had obstructed the commission’s efforts to contact key witnesses in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. The commission was unable to enter Gaza, so it conducted many interviews remotely. It also met with victims and witnesses who had fled to Egypt and Turkey to escape the conflict.
What acts were deemed war crimes?
The committee said the widespread use of heavy weapons, airstrikes and artillery fire in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip would inevitably result in large numbers of civilian casualties and amount to “deliberate direct attacks against the civilian population, particularly affecting women and children.”
Israel acted “with the intent to inflict maximum harm”, took no precautions and did not consider proportionality in its actions, the report said.
After analysing 80 Israeli evacuation orders from October to December 2023, the committee said Israel had failed to provide the protection Gaza civilians had a right to expect by complying with its orders. The committee said displaced people “were targeted along evacuation routes and in designated safe zones”, adding that some evacuation orders indicated “an intent to forcibly displace populations” and may amount to crimes against humanity.
Pointing to the blockade of Gaza, the commission said Israel had “used starvation as a weapon of war,” adding: “Israel has taken measures to withhold vital supplies and cut off the supply of water, food, electricity, fuel and other essentials, including humanitarian aid, which amount to collective punishment and retaliation against the civilian population.”
As for Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups involved in the October 7 attacks, including civilians who joined the crossing into Israel, the commission accuses these groups of deliberately kidnapping and killing civilians, saying that “many of the abductions were accompanied by significant physical, psychological and sexual violence.” The commission documents widespread allegations of sexual violence by the October 7 attackers, which are violations of international humanitarian law and may be considered war crimes.
The report also said Israeli soldiers who were sick, wounded, captured or incapacitated by fighting were killed, which may also amount to war crimes.
What were the findings on sexual violence?
The report said fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed sexual violence, particularly against women, and reviewed images of partially or fully disrobed bodies showing signs of such abuse, as well as credible witness accounts of exposed genitals and women with their hands tied.
The commission said it was unable to independently verify the reported allegations of rape, sexual torture and genital mutilation, and noted that Israel had denied it access to witnesses, crime scenes and unredacted recordings of testimonies.
The report said the sexual violence was “not an isolated incident but was carried out in a similar manner in multiple locations,” but said the commission found no credible evidence that militants had been ordered to carry out sexual violence on October 7.
The committee accused Israel of committing sexual and gender-based violence during its attacks on Gaza, including torture, ill-treatment and sexual humiliation.
Detained Palestinians were forced to “walk completely or partially naked” in public and were forced to walk completely or partially naked while “being subjected to sexual harassment,” the report said.
Most of these acts were committed against men and boys, the commission said, and Palestinian women also suffered psychological violence and sexual harassment.
What are Israel and Hamas saying about this report?
The committee said Hamas denied all accusations that its forces committed sexual violence against Israeli women during the October 7 attack.
The Israeli mission to the United Nations in Geneva said the report “reflects the commission’s systematic anti-Israel discrimination.”
Israel said the commission had ignored Hamas’ use of civilians as “human shields,” a accusation it addressed in the report, briefly noting that there was not enough evidence to support claims that militants had infiltrated widespread civilian populations.
The Israeli delegation also said the commission had “outrageously and repulsively” falsely equated Hamas with the Israeli military regarding sexual violence.
