The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices stated that “Israel’s war on Gaza conforms to the characteristics of genocide with the large number of victims and the life-threatening conditions deliberately imposed on the Palestinians there.”
In a report issued on Thursday November 14th, the committee said: “Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that deprive Palestinians of basic life-sustaining necessities such as food, water and fuel. These statements, combined with the systematic and unlawful interference in humanitarian aid, make clear Israel’s intention to exploit life-saving supplies for political and military gain . ”
The report of the committee – established by the UN General Assembly in December 1968 – covers the period between October 2023 and July 2024 and examines developments in the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, but focuses on “the disastrous impact of the current war in Gaza on the rights of the Palestinians . ”
“Through its blockade of Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, and despite repeated appeals by the United Nations, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and Security Council resolutions, Israel is deliberately causing death, starvation and severe injury, using starvation as a tool of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population, ” the committee said .
The report documents how “the intense Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza has destroyed basic services and caused an environmental disaster that will have long-term health effects.”
“By early 2024, 25,000 tons of explosives – the equivalent of two nuclear bombs – had been dropped on Gaza, causing widespread destruction, the collapse of water and sanitation systems, the devastation of agriculture and toxic pollution, ” the committee said .
The report raises serious concerns about Israel’s use of AI-enhanced targeting systems to guide its military operations and the impact on civilians, “particularly evident in the disproportionate number of women and children among the casualties.”
“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting with minimal human supervision, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard for its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian casualties , ” the committee said .
“Israel’s escalating censorship of the media, suppression of dissent and targeting of journalists are deliberate efforts to prevent global access to information,” the committee added.
The UN committee noted that social media companies “disproportionately remove” pro-Palestinian content, compared to posts that incite violence against them .
The Committee condemned the ongoing campaign of distortion against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and against the United Nations in general .
The committee called on UN member states to abide by their legal obligations “to prevent, halt and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law.”
“It is the collective responsibility of every state to stop supporting the attack on Gaza and the apartheid regime in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, ” she said .
The Committee will submit its report to the current session of the General Assembly on the eighteenth of this month .
It is noteworthy that the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1968 to consider the human rights situation in the Syrian Golan, the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – and the Gaza Strip . The Committee consists of 3 UN member states: Malaysia, Senegal and Sri Lanka .
