In a scathing rebuke of Israel’s conduct in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, a United Nations special committee has issued a report accusing the Jewish state of policies and practices “consistent with the characteristics of genocide” against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. The explosive findings, released amidst a raging conflict now in its 14th month, further allege that Israel is deliberately using “starvation as a weapon of war” and operating an “apartheid system” in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
UN Committee: Israeli Actions in Gaza “Consistent with Genocide”
Established in 1968 to monitor the Israeli occupation in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the UN special committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories comprises representatives from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Senegal. Though the committee requested access to Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and Israel to conduct its investigation, the Israeli government did not respond, forcing the committee to base its findings on outside research.
The report minces no words, stating that the committee’s research raised “serious concerns of breaches of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including starvation as a weapon of war, the possibility of genocide in Gaza and an apartheid system in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” It goes on to assert that Israeli policies and practices during the period under review “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
“Civilians have been indiscriminately and disproportionally killed en masse in Gaza,” the report states, pointing to “life-threatening conditions imposed on Palestinians in Gaza through warfare and restrictions on humanitarian aid – resulting in physical destruction, increased miscarriages and stillbirths”.
Israel Accused of Using Starvation as “Weapon of Warfare”
In a particularly damning section, the UN committee accuses Israel of deliberately wielding food deprivation as a weapon against the Palestinian populace:
“Since the escalation of the conflict, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies depriving civilians of food, water, and fuel, indicating their intent to instrumentalise the provision of basic necessities for political and military objectives,” the report asserts.
The specter of mass starvation looms large over Gaza, as humanitarian groups warn of an impending famine in the northern part of the territory. Israel’s ongoing blockade and military operations have severely curtailed the flow of vital aid to the enclave’s beleaguered residents.
International Court of Justice Investigating Genocide Claim
The UN committee’s report comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) probes a case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to take interim measures to prevent genocidal acts, ensure humanitarian aid reaches Gaza, and preserve evidence pending the court’s final ruling. Israel, for its part, rejected the ICJ’s order, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting his country’s devotion to international law remains “unwavering.”
Israel Rejects Findings, Cuts Ties with UN Agency
While the Israeli government has yet to formally respond to the committee’s bombshell report, it has long dismissed the UN as biased against Israel. In a potential harbinger of the official reaction, Israel informed the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides essential services to Palestinian refugees, that it would sever all ties with the organization within three months.
As the Israel-Gaza war grinds on with no end in sight, the UN special committee’s report throws the conflict’s catastrophic human toll into stark relief. Its unequivocal condemnation of Israeli policies as potentially genocidal is sure to ignite fresh controversy on the international stage, even as civilians continue to bear the brunt of the suffering in Gaza.
