Gaza war: UN experts accuse Israel of 'genocidal acts' and sexual violence

United Nations experts have accused Israel of increasingly perpetrating sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians and committing "acts of genocide" by systematically destroying maternal and child health and reproductive healthcare facilities. A report commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council documented alleged abuses, including rape, in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

The report also stated that the destruction of obstetrics and gynecology wards and embryos in fertility clinics in Gaza may indicate a strategy to prevent births within a specific group, which is one of the legal definitions of genocide. Israel responded by "categorically rejecting these unfounded allegations."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded angrily, calling the Human Rights Council "an antisemitic, corrupt, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body." He stated that the body did not focus on the war crimes committed by Hamas, but instead attacked Israel with "false accusations."

The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2021 to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Navi Pillay, chair of the commission and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the evidence collected "reveals a regrettable increase in sexual and gender-based violence," claiming that Israel is using these acts of violence to "intimidate Palestinians and perpetuate an oppressive system that undermines their right to self-determination."

The report stated that specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence—such as forced public stripping and exposure, sexual harassment including rape threats, and sexual assault—"form part of the standard operating procedure of Israeli security forces against Palestinians." The report also claimed that other forms of such violence, including rape and violence against genitals, "were committed under the explicit command or tacit encouragement of Israel's highest civilian and military leaders." The report did not provide examples of explicit commands from commanders or senior officials, but cited statements by Israeli ministers defending soldiers accused of severely abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military base last year.

Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer and member of the commission, told the BBC: "Sexual violence is now so pervasive that it can only be considered systemic. It has gone beyond the extent of random acts by rogue individuals." Israel has denied allegations of widespread abuse and torture of Gazan detainees, and insists that it is fully committed to international legal standards.

The report stated that the commission also found that Israeli forces systematically destroyed sexual and reproductive health facilities throughout Gaza during the 17-month war. The report concluded that restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities that deprive women and girls of access to reproductive healthcare, resulting in deaths due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, constitute the war crime of extermination, a crime against humanity. The commission also claimed that Israeli authorities have "partially destroyed the ability of Palestinians in Gaza as a group to reproduce" by "systematically destroying" sexual and reproductive health facilities, including maternity hospitals, obstetrics and gynecology wards in hospitals, and Gaza's main in-vitro fertilization clinic – the Al-Basma IVF Center in Gaza City.

The report concluded that this constitutes "two acts of genocide under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention, including deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinians and imposing measures intended to prevent births." The report stated that Al-Basma's embryology laboratory was attacked in early December 2023, reportedly destroying approximately 4,000 embryos, as well as 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilized eggs. The report stated that the commission determined through visual analysis of images that the damage was caused by large-caliber projectiles, most likely Israeli tank shells, and that the attack was deliberately carried out by Israeli forces. However, the Israeli military told ABC News at the time that they were unaware of the attack on the clinic. The BBC has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Mr. Sidoti said: "The deliberate destruction of medical facilities is a serious problem under international humanitarian law and human rights law. But from our analysis of this attack on the clinic, it appears to have been consciously and purposefully targeted to destroy reproductive services. The consequence of that is to prevent births." The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva said the report was a "shameless attempt to accuse the [Israel Defense Forces] and create the false impression of 'systematic' use of [sexual and gender-based violence]."

It criticized the commission's decision to allegedly "use information from second-hand single uncorroborated sources," saying this was inconsistent with established UN standards and methods. The statement also emphasized that the Israel Defense Forces has "specific instructions, procedures, orders and policies that expressly prohibit such misconduct," as well as mechanisms to investigate any alleged incidents of sexual violence.

The Israeli Prime Minister also dismissed the report's findings, calling the Human Rights Council an "anti-Israeli circus." Netanyahu said: "Instead of focusing on the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization, which was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the UN has once again chosen to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including unfounded allegations of sexual violence."

The International Court of Justice is hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israeli forces of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel strongly denies the accusation. In response to the unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military launched an operation to destroy Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in the region, more than 48,520 people have died in Gaza since then. The majority of Gaza's 2.1 million people have also been displaced multiple times. It is estimated that nearly 70% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed; healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.