UN-backed independent commission accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza
An independent United Nations commission concluded in a report published Tuesday, September 16, 2025, that Israel has been committing genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza since October 2023. The commission stated that the crime is accompanied by a clear intent to “destroy” the Palestinian people and involves the direct responsibility of top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Commission chair Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that “responsibility lies with the State of Israel” and that the genocide “is ongoing” in the Palestinian enclave.
The report, however, is issued in the name of the commission and does not constitute an official UN document.
Israel immediately rejected the findings. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gideon Sa’ar dismissed it as a “biased and false report” and called for the immediate dissolution of the commission.
The document comes nearly two years after the war began, triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the Islamist movement, which has governed Gaza since 2007.
The commission asserts that Israel has committed “four of the five genocidal acts” defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.
It names President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as having directly incited these crimes.
“There is a clear intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza,” Pillay stated, adding that Israeli leaders “orchestrated a genocidal campaign” and calling on the international community not to remain silent.
Though the commission lacks judicial authority, it is collaborating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which it claims to have submitted thousands of pieces of evidence.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, nearly 65,000 people have been killed since the Israeli offensive began—a figure considered credible by the UN. Numerous NGOs, independent experts, and South Africa before the International Court of Justice have previously described Israel’s actions as genocidal, but Israeli authorities continue to firmly reject these allegations.
