Israel's "systematic" attacks on sexual and reproductive health in Gaza are "genocidal acts," according to the findings of a United Nations commission of inquiry on Thursday, which the Israeli prime minister described as "false and absurd."
"The commission found that Israeli authorities have partly destroyed the ability of Palestinians in Gaza – as a group – to have children, through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care," it said in a statement.
According to a 1948 UN convention, five types of acts can be considered as constituting genocide.
And the Commission considers that two of them were committed in Gaza: "measures aimed at preventing births" and the "intentional infliction" of a group of people to conditions of life "calculated to bring about their physical destruction."
The three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate violations of international law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
– “Genocidal acts” –
Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer and member of the commission, explained at a press briefing in Geneva that the crime of genocide concerns both action and intent, and that the report had so far only examined action.
"We have not concluded that genocide has occurred. We have identified a number of acts that constitute the categories of genocidal acts under the law. We have not yet examined the question of the genocidal objective," he explained.
"We will soon be able to comprehensively address the issue of genocide," he added.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, told AFP that the report "confirms what happened on the ground: genocide and violations of all humanitarian and legal norms." He called for the swift appearance of Israeli leaders before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "instead of focusing on the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the terrorist organization Hamas in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the UN has once again chosen to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including absurd claims of sexual violence."
For his part, Chris Sidoti accuses the Israeli authorities of "obstructing" the work of the commission and of "chronic lying."
– IVF Clinic –
In this new report, the commission points to the destruction by Israeli security forces of the largest in vitro fertilization clinic, al-Basma, which stored thousands of embryos.
This destruction "aimed to prevent the birth of Palestinians in Gaza" and constitutes in its eyes "a genocidal act", according to the commission, created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021.
It also concludes that this destruction "was aimed at destroying the Palestinians of Gaza as a group."
The committee is also examining the consequences of Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid in the context of the war in Gaza, which began after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Israeli security forces "deliberately imposed living conditions aimed at bringing about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza," according to the commission, which also considers this an act of genocide.
"Women and girls have died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to conditions imposed by Israeli authorities, which denied them access to reproductive health care – acts that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination," also noted the commission, which has previously accused Israel of crimes against humanity and Hamas of war crimes.
NGOs, including Amnesty International, and independent UN experts have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. In November, a UN special committee also ruled that Israel's methods of warfare in Gaza exhibited "the hallmarks of genocide."
For its part, South Africa is behind a complaint for genocide against Israel before the International Court of Justice.
English 
French