U.N. Report Accuses Israel Of Committing Genocide In Gaza

A detailed human rights report by a United Nations expert argues there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza — a major accusation as the war approaches six months of heavy fighting.

Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza qualifies as genocide on at least three grounds, according to the report by Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories. Albanese published her report, titled “Anatomy of a Genocide,” on Tuesday before presenting it to the greater Human Rights Council.

“History teaches us that genocide is a process, not a single act. It starts with the dehumanization of a group as ‘other,’ and the denial of that group’s humanity, and ends with the destruction of the group in all or in part,” she said before the council. “The dehumanization of Palestinians as a group is the hallmark of their history — of ethnic cleansing, dispossession and apartheid.”

The latest hostilities began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. About half of the hostages were released during a temporary pause in fighting several months ago, and around 30 of the remaining captives are believed to be dead. Albanese’s report includes a condemnation of Hamas and its attack, and calls for the release of remaining hostages.

Since the October attack, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in the territory and wounded about double that number, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. That death toll does not include those still buried under the rubble of structures that have been razed by soldiers. Much of the Palestinian population has been displaced, with many on the brink of starvation, as Israel has restricted how much aid can enter the enclave.

“By analysing the patterns of violence and Israel’s policies in its onslaught in Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met,” the report stated.

Israel, which did not attend the Human Rights Council session on Tuesday, rejected Albanese’s findings, saying the report’s use of the word genocide was “outrageous.”

“Israel utterly rejects the report. It is simply an extension of a campaign seeking to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish State,” the Israeli mission to Geneva said in a statement. “Instead of seeking the truth, this Special Rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality. It is yet another stain on her biased mandate, and only brings the Human Rights Council further into disrepute.”

The 1948 Genocide Convention — enacted after the Nazi’s genocide of Jews — codifies the term as an international crime committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

In order for genocide to legally have been committed, an accused country or group has to meet two main criteria: It must have committed one or more of the specific acts mentioned in the convention, and there must be evidence of its intention to carry out said acts in order to destroy the targeted group.

In her report, Albanese claims that Israel has committed at least three acts of genocide as defined in the convention: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part.

“The survivors will carry an indelible trauma, having witnessed so much death, and experienced destruction, homelessness, emotional and material loss, endless humiliation and fear,” the report states.

“Such experiences include fleeing amidst the chaos of war without telecommunications and electricity; witnessing the systematic destruction of entire neighborhoods, homes, universities, religious and cultural landmarks; digging…