UN commission says Israel continued genocide in Gaza during ceasefire; Israel rejects report

Geneva, Switzerland. A UN commission of inquiry said in a report published on Monday that Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza after the US-brokered ceasefire of last October. Israel rejected the report as part of a “misinformation campaign”.

Scope and findings of the report

The report was produced by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. It covers violations against Palestinian children from the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023, through September this year.

According to the commission, Israeli authorities went on carrying out “genocidal acts with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza”. It added that conditions in the occupied West Bank also kept worsening.

The commission had issued an earlier report in September last year. That report concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that senior Israeli officials, among them Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited such acts. Israel described those accusations as scandalous.

Heavy weapons and the Yellow Line

The commission found that during the ceasefire, Israeli forces kept using heavy munitions, drones, quadcopters, artillery and sniper fire in densely populated areas of Gaza.

It also said the so-called Yellow Line, presented as a temporary ceasefire demarcation, had pushed progressively further into Gaza and was turning into a de facto border. In the report’s view, this reflects Israel’s growing territorial control over the territory.

Israel’s response

Israel’s mission in Geneva said the latest report formed part of a misinformation campaign aimed at demonizing the State of Israel. Ambassador Daniel Meron said in a statement that efforts to destroy the Jewish state continue today through actors such as the UN Commission of Inquiry, which he said seek to weaken Israel’s legitimacy and to deny its right to exist and to defend itself.

Casualty figures

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.