17 September 2025 | 12:30 CAT
3-minute read

Image: AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Samra

As of September 2025, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, chaired by Navi Pillay, has concluded that Israel is responsible for committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. This finding was presented to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the commission’s report on September 16, 2025.

The report found that four out of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention have been met. The report accuses senior Israeli officials of incitement and warns that international complicity may be unavoidable unless immediate action is taken.

Based on a 72-page analysis, the UN Commission — established by the Human Rights Council in 2021 — says there is compelling evidence that Israeli authorities have engaged in acts including:

• killing members of the Palestinian group in Gaza;
• causing serious bodily or mental harm;
• deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s destruction, in whole or in part;
• and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

Only one of the five items in the Convention — forcible transfer of children to another group — was not found to have been met.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Emeritus Professor Gilbert Achcar said the report adds to a growing body of evidence that atrocities in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.

“The reality is that there is now more than enough proof and statements about the reality of the genocide that is happening in Gaza. This report by the UN Commission is but one more piece to add to this,” he explained.

The report draws both on actions on the ground (such as destruction of infrastructure, restrictions on food, medicine, and other essentials, widespread displacement, attacks on civilian health institutions) and on statements by senior Israeli officials.

Top named individuals include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog. The Commission urges other states to stop arms flows to Israel, cease support enabling the ongoing operations, and to enforce accountability.

Achcar cautions that without a major shift in international politics, the findings may remain symbolic. “The world in which we are is no longer one where the rule of law and the international institutions and what used to constitute what they used to call the rules-based international order… all this is dead, it has collapsed,” he said.

Legally, the report, though not binding, may increase pressure on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case brought by South Africa and may bolster investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli leaders have not led to enforcement, and key allies continue to shield Israel diplomatically.

Achcar pointed to the political climate in Washington as a major obstacle.

“The present Israeli government is the most far-right government in the world,” he said, adding that it finds support from “a neo-fascist administration at the helm in the United States of America” and a wider rise of far-right movements globally.

For many observers, the UN report represents a critical moral and legal marker, reinforcing calls for an end to the violence and for justice for Palestinian civilians. Whether it prompts meaningful international action remains an open question.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.