In the report released on Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory outlined Israel’s plans to destroy life in Gaza and expand its illegal settlements in the occupied territory, saying Israel is demolishing civilian infrastructure, repeatedly forcibly transferring Palestinians across the enclave and razing basic infrastructure.
“Since October 2023, Israeli officials have demonstrated a clear and consistent intent to establish permanent military control over Gaza and to change its demographic composition while systematically destroying Palestinian life in Gaza,” the report added, citing Israeli demolition of wells, sewage pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants, as well as the destruction of educational institutions, mosques and cemeteries.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,382 people and wounded 166,985 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble.
Israel launched its war after a Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people on October 7, 2023. Of the roughly 250 taken captive, some 48 still remain in Gaza. At least 20 of them are believed to be alive.
Last week, a United Nations inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide, a landmark moment after nearly two years of war that campaigners say is a war of vengeance without any specific goals.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes.
Responding to the UN’s most recent report, the Israeli mission in Geneva said, “Hamas has genocidal intent towards Israel, the report has everything backwards. This Commission does not miss an opportunity to reveal its true character and politically-driven agenda.”
Israel has dubbed the UN “anti-Israel”, though it has provided no evidence to back its allegations. At least 373 UN staff have been killed in the last two years in Israeli strikes.
The UN commission also highlighted Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank in the last two years.
“Israeli policies and actions implemented since October 2023 in the West Bank demonstrate clear intent to forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand Israeli civilian presence and annex the entirety of the West Bank, preventing any potential Palestinian self-determination and statehood and maintaining an indefinite occupation,” the UN report found.
Israel has launched a crackdown on the occupied West Bank since it began its devastating war on Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians. At least 18,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the last 23 months. Even before the October 7, 2023, attack inside Israel by the Hamas-led Palestinian groups, Israeli military and settler violence was at its highest in years.
The UN concluded its report by calling on the Israeli government to immediately end the genocide in Gaza, as well as “recognize and ensure the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”
