News - Middle East: A United Nations Commission of Inquiry (CoI), established by the UN Human Rights Council, concluded that Israeli authorities “intended to kill as many Palestinians as possible” and have committed the crime against humanity of extermination.

According to the “most authoritative assessment” to date, Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide in Gaza.

The report cited direct targeting of civilians, including children, and mass killings in “far larger numbers" compared to previous wars.

Israel intentionally created life-threatening conditions by withholding essential supplies, acts it deemed “calculated” to achieve the “destruction of Palestinians,” the report said.

The inquiry's report follows a two-year investigation and builds on a growing number of assessments labeling Israel's actions as genocide.

A March report from the commission concluded that Israel had committed acts consistent with genocide and had weaponized sexual violence, though it stopped short of formally declaring a genocide was underway.

In response, Israel issued a statement to the ABC rejecting the findings as “distorted and false” and demanding that the commission be immediately disbanded.

Based on the 1948 Convention, the commission found that Israeli authorities and security forces are responsible for four out of the five recognized acts of genocide.

These include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately imposing conditions of life intended to bring about its physical destruction, and enforcing measures aimed at preventing births within the group.

The commission further stated there was “no military necessity to justify the pattern of its conduct” and that Israeli attacks showed “no intention to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians.”

“The commission finds that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be drawn based on the pattern of conduct of the Israeli authorities,” the report said.

Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's July claim that there was “no starvation in Gaza” and “no policy of starvation,” the commission found evidence of a deliberate intent to impose it.

The report stated that Israeli authorities used mechanisms like the so-called US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to “maintain total control over aid distribution,” a policy that was only relaxed to allow aid airdrops after a months-long blockade had already caused a severe crisis.

The GHF has been widely criticized by the UN and aid groups for both its insufficient aid delivery and the perilous security around its distribution points, where gunfire and attacks continue to cause mass casualties.

The report noted that Israeli forces deliberately created “unbearable conditions of life” for a besieged population, intentionally fostering “an atmosphere of panic and terror” — including through attacks on civilians during evacuation operations.

Meanwhile, the UN CoI called on countries to stop supplying arms and equipment to Israel that may be used for “genocidal acts.”

The report's release precedes the United Nations General Assembly in New York by one week, where several nations are expected to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.

The death toll from Israel's genocidal war launched in October 2023 has surpassed 64,900, with nearly 165,000 others injured.

Source: Press TV