New bombshell UN report accuses Israel of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians

 

A new UN report found that Israel carried out “genocidal acts” by deliberately targeting fertility facilities with the intention of preventing births among Palestinians in Gaza. The report also detailed systematic sexual abuse against Palestinians.

A new report released by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory accuses Israel of systematically employing sexual, reproductive, and gender-based violence against Palestinians during its assault on Gaza. The findings, presented alongside public hearings in Geneva, also highlight the systematic destruction of reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza and describe a “broader strategy to undermine Palestinian self-determination.” The report finds that Israel’s conduct has amounted to carrying out “genocidal acts” under international law, in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the report, these crimes include forced nudity, sexual harassment, and other forms of inhumane treatment carried out under orders or with implicit approval from senior Israeli military and civilian leaders. Most importantly, the report concluded that the deliberate destruction of reproductive healthcare facilities, combined with restrictions on humanitarian assistance, were measures “intended to prevent births among Palestinians in Gaza,” which the report called “a genocidal act under the Rome Statute and Genocide Convention.” The Commission added that “this was done with the intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza as a group” and that “this is the only inference that could reasonably be drawn from the acts in question.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the report as “antisemitic” and called its findings “lies,” noting that “it is not a coincidence” that Israel withdrew a month ago from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which he also called “antisemitic.” The UNHRC, based in Geneva, is the international body that mandated the Commission of Inquiry which produced the report.

Issued on Thursday, the UN report is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Commission has previously reported on issues such as the blockade of Gaza and the impact of military operations on Palestinian civilians. This latest report shifts focus to sexual and gender-based violence, presenting new evidence that these practices form a deliberate element of Israel’s assault on Gaza.  (more...)

New bombshell UN report accuses Israel of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians