Israel’s war conduct in Gaza ‘consistent with the characteristics of genocide,’ UN Special Committee finds

Israel’s war conduct in Gaza “is consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” including mass civilian casualties and using starvation as a weapon, according to a new United Nations Special Committee report released Thursday.

“Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population,” the UN committee said in a press release.

“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” the committee said.

The UN committee added that Israeli officials have publicly supported policies to destroy “vital water, sanitation and food systems” in Gaza as well as prevent access to fuel.

Israel earlier this year rejected what it called the “grossly distorted” accusation of genocide leveled against it by South Africa, arguing in the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) that its war was fought in self-defense and that it was targeting Hamas rather than Palestinians, following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel.

The UN Special Committee is composed of three UN member states, including Malaysia, Senegal and Sri Lanka.

The UN report comes after the US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report detailing Israel’s forced mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza in a deliberate and systematic campaign that amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity.

In a response to the HRW report on Thursday, the Israeli military said it is “committed to international law and operates accordingly,” and that it issues evacuation orders to protect civilians from combat.

Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza after weeks of intense Israeli military operations in recent weeks have told described a chronic lack of food and people dying of hunger, as aid agencies warn that the area is on the brink of famine.

But after a US deadline for Israel to improve getting humanitarian aid into Gaza expired this week, the Biden administration assessed that Israel is not blocking aid and so is not violating US law governing foreign military assistance. The State Department said that while changes were needed, progress had been made, so there would be no disruption to US arms supplies.

But the US view is a stark contrast with the bleak picture on the ground, where much of the aid that reaches Gaza is not being distributed.

The accounts of desperate civilians echo the World Health Organization’s warning last Friday of “a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.”