UN Report Condemns Israel’s Methods in Gaza as “Consistent with Genocide” …reports Asian Lite News
A report from the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices accuses Israel of engaging in tactics in Gaza that amount to genocide.
The report, which spans October 2023 to July 2024, outlines a grim picture of life-threatening conditions inflicted on the Palestinian population, which the committee says constitutes “collective punishment” and highlights intentional deprivation of essential resources such as food, water, and fuel. Released on Thursday, this document emphasizes that these actions contravene international humanitarian law and may qualify as crimes against humanity.
The committee highlighted statements from Israeli officials endorsing policies that deny Palestinians access to basic necessities, alleging that Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war. “Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life,” the committee reported. The UN body asserts that these actions, combined with Israel’s systematic blockage of humanitarian aid, demonstrate a strategy of “instrumentalizing life-saving supplies for political and military gains.”
The committee, formally known as the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, was founded in 1968 by the UN General Assembly to monitor human rights conditions in the occupied Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The current committee comprises representatives from Malaysia, Senegal, and Sri Lanka. Its latest findings focus heavily on the effects of the war on Palestinian civilians, presenting a stark portrayal of widespread devastation and human suffering in Gaza.
The UN report details what it calls an “extensive” Israeli bombing campaign, claiming it has destroyed essential services in Gaza and created what the report terms an “environmental catastrophe.” By early 2024, according to the report, more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives, a destructive force equivalent to two nuclear bombs, had been dropped on Gaza.
The bombings led to the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure, causing severe environmental pollution and agricultural devastation. This has, the report states, resulted in a “lethal mix of crises” that will have long-lasting health impacts on Gaza’s population, harming generations to come.
The committee’s report is set to be presented at the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly on Monday, where it is expected to spark considerable debate. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence and testimonies from various human rights organizations that have raised concerns over Israel’s policies in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
The report also highlights Israel’s alleged use of artificial intelligence technology to select targets with minimal human oversight, resulting in disproportionately high civilian casualties. This, according to the committee, reflects a failure to distinguish adequately between civilian and military targets—a core principle of international humanitarian law. Women and children have been disproportionately affected, the report claims, raising what it calls “serious concerns” about Israel’s adherence to its obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
Beyond physical attacks, the committee condemns Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza, accusing Israeli authorities of weaponising these supplies to achieve political and military objectives. According to the report, Israel’s consistent blockage of essential aid—despite repeated calls from the United Nations, binding orders from the International Court of Justice, and Security Council resolutions—has exacerbated the suffering of Gaza’s population. These actions, the committee argues, contribute to a situation where basic survival is compromised, with “death, starvation, and serious injury” being inflicted on a vulnerable population.
The report also accuses Israel of targeting journalists and censoring pro-Palestinian content on social media, limiting global awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The committee’s findings claim that Israeli authorities have escalated efforts to prevent information from reaching international audiences, and it points to social media companies’ removal of pro-Palestinian posts as evidence of this systematic silencing. According to the committee, these measures aim to shield Israeli operations from scrutiny and limit the dissemination of information about the conditions on the ground.
In addition to media censorship, the committee cites a continuing “smear campaign” against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the broader UN apparatus. These attacks, it argues, are designed to undermine the credibility of humanitarian organizations and sever the limited aid lines still reaching Gaza. The committee warns that this strategy could dismantle international legal structures and set a dangerous precedent, one that would allow atrocities to go unchecked if left unaddressed.
The report concludes by urging UN member states to uphold international law and hold Israeli authorities accountable. It calls for states to fulfill their legal obligations by intervening to prevent ongoing violations, emphasizing that Israel’s practices in Gaza violate international law and constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute. “Upholding international law and ensuring accountability for violations rests squarely on member states,” the committee states. Failure to respond, it argues, weakens “the very core of the international legal system” and risks setting a precedent that would allow similar actions to go unpunished elsewhere.
The committee also highlighted the legal obligations of all states to prevent violations of international law, including what it describes as an “apartheid system” operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It called on the international community to use all diplomatic and legal channels to pressure Israel to cease policies that violate Palestinian rights.
As international focus shifts to the report, the UN Special Committee hopes to rally member states around a call for heightened accountability and an end to the policies it condemns. Whether these findings will prompt further international action remains uncertain, but the committee’s report seeks to underscore the immediate need for intervention to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian and legal situation in Gaza.
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