A United Nations committee released a report on Wednesday detailing violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing both sides of war crimes and concluding that the high number of casualties in the Gaza Strip amounted to crimes against humanity.
The report, which consists of two parallel investigations, one focusing on the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the other on Israel’s military response, is one of the most detailed examinations of the conflict to date and offers legal analysis that could be used in future criminal prosecutions related to the Gaza war.
Below are details of the committee’s findings.
What did the report find?
The report said Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups killed more than 1,200 people, including 800 civilians, when they attacked Israel on October 7. More than 250 others were taken hostage, including 36 children, the commission said.
The committee accused the Israeli army of collectively punishing Palestinians with its Hamas-led assault, which has killed and wounded civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity. The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 37,000 people have died, although it did not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
The commission said both sides were responsible for killing civilians, despite them claiming to be non-combatants.
The report also highlights the heavy toll the conflict has taken on children, with not only the deaths of children on both sides but also large numbers of children being orphaned.
It accused Israel of “undermining the possibility of future judicial proceedings, accountability and justice” by failing to ensure the ability to collect forensic evidence, particularly regarding allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry is led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, Australian human rights law expert Chris Sidoti and Indian human rights and social policy expert Miloon Kothari.
The three-member team conducted interviews with victims and witnesses, and also studied satellite imagery, forensic records and open-source data such as photos and videos.
The panel noted that Israel had not been involved in the investigation and accused the commission of bias. The commission also said Israel had hindered its communication with key witnesses in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. The commission conducted many remote interviews due to lack of access to Gaza. It also met with victims and witnesses who had fled to Egypt and Turkey to escape the conflict.
What acts are considered war crimes?
The committee said the large-scale use of heavy weapons, air strikes and shelling in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip inevitably resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, constituting a “deliberate and direct attack on the civilian population, with a particular impact on women and children.”
The report said Israel acted “with the intent to cause maximum damage” without taking precautions or considering the proportionality of its actions.
After analyzing 80 Israeli evacuation orders between October and December 2023, the committee said Israel had failed to provide Gaza civilians with the protection they were entitled to expect in accordance with its orders. The commission said evacuees were “targeted along evacuation routes and within designated safety zones,” adding that some evacuation orders indicated “an intent to forcibly transfer populations,” which could be a crime against humanity.
The committee noted that Israel’s siege of Gaza “uses starvation as a weapon of war”, adding: “Israel uses the withholding of essentials necessary to sustain life as a weapon, cutting off the supply of water, food, electricity, fuel and other basic supplies, including humanitarian aid. This constitutes collective punishment and reprisal against the civilian population.”
With regard to Hamas and other Palestinian militants involved in the October 7 attacks, including those involved in the crossing into Israel, the Commission accused these groups of deliberately abducting and killing civilians. The Commission also stated that “many of the abductions were accompanied by severe physical, mental and sexual violence.” The Commission documented numerous allegations of sexual violence by the October 7 attackers, which violated international humanitarian law and could be considered a war crime.
The report also said the killing of Israeli soldiers who were sick, wounded, captured or otherwise incapacitated in combat could also constitute a war crime.
What were the findings about sexual violence?
The report said militants from Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed sexual violence, particularly against women. It reviewed photos of partially or fully naked bodies showing signs of abuse. It also said it had obtained credible eyewitness testimonies describing women with exposed genitals and hands bound.
The commission said it could not independently verify allegations of rape, sexual abuse or genital mutilation reported in the news media. It noted that Israel had blocked it from accessing witnesses, crime scenes and unedited versions of recorded testimonies.
The report said the cases of sexual violence “were not isolated incidents but were committed in a similar manner in multiple locations.” However, the commission said it found no credible evidence that militants were ordered to commit sexual violence on October 7.
The committee accused Israel of committing sexual and gender-based violence, including torture, ill-treatment and sexual humiliation, during its offensive on Gaza.
Palestinian detainees were forced to “walk completely or partially naked” in public and “subjected to sexual harassment.”
The committee said most such acts were directed against men and boys, while Palestinian women also suffered psychological violence and sexual harassment.
What have Israel and Hamas said about the report?
The committee said Hamas denied all allegations that its forces committed sexual violence against Israeli women during the October 7 attack.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva said the report “reflects the committee’s systematic anti-Israel discrimination.”
Israel said the commission had ignored Hamas’ use of civilians as “human shields,” an allegation the report briefly addressed, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove militants were infiltrating the civilian population on a large scale.
The Israeli delegation also said the committee had “outrageously and disgustingly” falsely equated Hamas with the Israeli military on the issue of sexual violence.
