UN probe condemns Israel over ‘extermination’, crimes against humanity in Gaza

An independent United Nations investigation has concluded that Israel has committed crimes against humanity, including the crime of “extermination,” during its unrelenting aerial and ground offensives against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“The crimes against humanity of extermination; murder; gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment were committed,” the Commission of Inquiry said in a Wednesday report, due to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week.

The siege of Gaza represents a “collective punishment against the civilian population,” according to the UN report, which censured Israel for withholding water, food, electricity, fuel and humanitarian aid for “strategic and political gains.”

The report went on to detail cases of sexual violence by Israeli forces in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Victims were interrogated or abused while naked or partially dressed, blindfolded, and were made to kneel or keep their hands tied behind their backs, the report found.

Many were forced to strip in public and walk while being sexually harassed, with their family members forced to watch. While both men and women were victims of sexual violence, men and boys were targeted in particular.

The report also highlighted the inflammatory rhetoric used by senior Israeli officials, including president Isaac Herzog and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which the UN commission said amounted to incitement and “may constitute other serious international crimes.”

UNICEF: ‘Absolute devastation of Gaza already happened’

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder has said that “so much suffering is being inflicted on Gaza.”

Some Israeli officials had called for “violence and the killing of Palestinians, the erasure of the Gaza Strip, vengeance, collective punishment, noting that there are no innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, planning for new Israeli settlements on the rubble of the Gaza Strip and calling for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza to third states,” the report further said.

“The immense numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza and widespread destruction of civilian objects and infrastructure were the inevitable result of a strategy undertaken with intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions,” the commission pointed out.

It also urged Israel to immediately call a ceasefire, end its practices of sexual abuse against Palestinians, and to allow access for further investigations.

“It is imperative that all those who have committed crimes be held accountable,” commission chair Navi Pillay said.

“The only way to stop the recurring cycles of violence, including aggression and retribution … is to ensure strict adherence to international law,” she added.

Israel waged the atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship after Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping regime on October 7.

At least 37,164 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 84,832 individuals have sustained injuries. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.

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