A United Nations Human Rights Council-appointed commission of inquiry has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, urging the international community to intervene and hold those responsible accountable.

In a report released Tuesday, the three-member panel said Israel had carried out four of the five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, including mass killings, inflicting serious harm, blocking humanitarian aid that caused starvation, and destroying Gaza’s health system.

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“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said commission chair Navi Pillay, a former U.N. rights chief and judge on the Rwanda tribunal. She added that responsibility lies with Israeli leaders “at the highest levels,” including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The inquiry, set up four years ago, has previously documented alleged human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank since Hamas-led attacks in October 2023. Although the body cannot directly impose penalties, its findings could support cases at the International Criminal Court or International Court of Justice, where South Africa has already filed a genocide lawsuit against Israel.

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Israel dismissed the report as “distorted and false,” accusing the commission of bias and antisemitism. Its Foreign Ministry said the document was the work of “Hamas proxies” and rejected the genocide allegations as a “blood libel.”

The report also urged states to suspend arms transfers to Israel and block actions that might contribute to the genocide, warning that inaction would amount to complicity.

More than 64,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the commission.

Source: Agency