JERUSALEM: Israel has strongly rejected a United Nations investigation that concluded the country is committing genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday categorically dismissing the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report as distorted and false.
Israel called for the immediate abolition of the commission, accusing its authors of serving as Hamas proxies with openly antisemitic positions.
Commission chief Navi Pillay stated that genocide is occurring in Gaza and continuing to occur based on the independent investigation.
The UN investigators concluded that Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have incited the commission of genocide in Palestinian territory.
The commission found Israeli authorities committed four of the five genocidal acts listed in the 1948 Genocide Convention since October 2023.
These acts include killing group members, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting destructive living conditions, and imposing birth prevention measures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reports nearly 65,000 people killed since the war began, with UN agencies considering these figures reliable.
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once, with tens of thousands fleeing again as Israel intensifies operations in Gaza City.
The United Nations has declared a full-blown famine in Gaza City amid the ongoing military operations.
The current conflict was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians according to official Israeli figures.
Israel maintains that the UN report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods that have been laundered and repeated by others. – AFP