The UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) has issued a report that states that both Hamas and Israel have committed war crimes on and after October 7, 2023.
The covers the period from 7 October to 31 December 2023, and the findings are based on interviews with victims and witnesses, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery, medical reports and verified open-source information.
The report accused Hamas of “intentionally directing attacks against civilians” and committing “murder or wilful killing.”
It also accused Hamas of “torture, inhuman or cruel treatment” and “indiscriminately firing projectiles towards populated areas in Israel.”
Additionally, the report accused Hamas of “the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity” noting during the 7 October attack “the desecration of corpses by burning, mutilation and decapitation” and “the sexualized desecration of both male and female corpses” and “sexual violence.”
Furthermore, the report listed what it said are Israeli war crimes, including “starvation as a method of warfare; murder or wilful killing; intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects; forcible transfer; sexual violence; outrages upon personal dignity” and says that “Israel inflicted collective punishment on the Palestinian population in Gaza.”
“7 October 2023 has marked a clear turning point for both Israelis and Palestinians, and it presents a watershed moment that can change the direction of this conflict; with a real risk of further solidifying and expanding the occupation.
“Amid months of losses and despair, retribution and atrocities, the only tangible result has been compounding the immense suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis, with civilians, yet again, bearing the brunt of decisions by those in power.”
UN Commission of Inquiry report
The report stressed that for Israelis, the attack of October 7 was unprecedented in scale in its modern history, “when in one single day hundreds of people were killed and abducted, invoking painful trauma of past persecution not only for Israeli Jews but for Jewish people everywhere.”
For Palestinians, the report noted that Israel’s military operation and attack in Gaza has been the longest, largest and bloodiest since 1948.
“It has caused immense damage and loss of life and triggered for many Palestinians traumatic memories of the Nakba and other Israeli incursions,” the report stated.
It was reported that the findings will be discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next week. The COI is composed of three independent experts.
Israel Rejects Report Findings
Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva has already rejected the findings.
Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said “The COI has once again proven that its actions are all in the service of a narrow-led political agenda against Israel.”
Israel does not cooperate with the commission, which it says has an anti-Israel bias.
The COI says Israel obstructs its work and prevented investigators from accessing both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Since October 7, the three-member commission has focused on the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.
The commission’s Chair, Navi Pillay, a former UN rights chief and an ex-International Criminal Court judge, averred, “It is imperative that all those who have committed crimes be held accountable.”
“Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza,” Pillay said.
Pillay added that Hamas and Palestinian armed groups must “immediately cease rocket attacks and release all hostages,” adding that the taking of hostages constitutes a war crime.
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