UN inquiry finds Israel is committing genocide, calls for arms embargo

A United Nations commission of inquiry has determined that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. 

A 72-page report from the commission cites statements from Israeli officials and a pattern of conduct by the Israeli army as evidence of genocidal intent.

The UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed four of the five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, just one of which would legally constitute a genocide. The commission says Israel has killed members of a group, caused serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicted conditions to destroy the group, and attempted to prevent births.

“The Commission concludes that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” reads the report.

The commission can’t take action against the country, but the new findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials, or the International Court of Justice, which has a pending genocide case against Israel.

The panel had previously concluded that Hamas and other Palestinian groups had committed war crimes on October 7, 2023, and that Israel had committed war crimes in their ensuing attacks on Gaza. However, the panel had stopped short of referring to Israel’s actions as genocide.

The 3-member panel includes Australian attorney Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer, and Indian scholar Miloon Kothari. It’s chaired by a South African former UN human rights chief  Navi Pillay, who presided over the international tribunal on Rwanda’s genocide. 

Pillay explained the panel’s findings in a New York Times op-ed.

“Some argue that the term “genocide” is too grave to apply while Israel’s war continues,” she wrote. “But the law is explicit: The obligation to prevent genocide arises the moment a serious risk is evident. That threshold was crossed long ago in this war. In January 2024 the International Court of Justice put all states on notice that there was a serious risk that genocide was being committed in Gaza. Since then, the evidence has only deepened, and the killing has multiplied.”

“What does this mean for the international community? It means its obligations are not optional. Every state has an obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs,” she continued. “That obligation requires action: halting the transfer of weapons and military support used in genocidal acts, ensuring unimpeded humanitarian assistance, stopping the mass displacement and destruction, and using all available diplomatic and legal means to stop the killing. To do nothing is not neutrality. It is complicity.”

The commission is calling on governments to stop sending weapons to Israel and ensure that those within their jurisdiction aren’t aiding the genocide.

Israel refused to cooperate with the inquiry. 

“It is obvious to my country, as it should be to any fair-minded observer, that there is simply no reason to believe that Israel will receive reasonable, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment from the Council, or from this Commission of Inquiry,” declared Israel’s former ambassador to the UN Meirav Eilon Shahar, after the commission was established to investigate alleged abuses against Palestinians in May 2021.

In February 2025, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“I’ve always felt that the U.N. has tremendous potential,” Trump told reporters at the time. “It’s not living up to that potential right now . . . They’ve got to get their act together.”

On X, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the new report as “fake.”

“The report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others,” said the ministry. “Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry.”

This week, Israel launched a ground offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City. It’s yet another escalation in an assault that has lasted for nearly two years.

The new attacks have forced tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee and killed at least 78 people so far.

“There was heavy bombardment here, and it was difficult to reach people,” rescuer Bashir Hajjaj told Al Jazeera. “We took out many, many martyrs and wounded people. The situation was very difficult due to the shelling, the helicopters, the missiles, drones and the F-16 aircraft.”