An independent UN commission has concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. This comes at the same time the nation has launched its ground invasion in Gaza City following weeks of intense bombardments.

In a 72-page report from the International Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council, it is stated that Israeli authorities and security forces have committed four of the five genocidal acts as laid out in the 1948 Genocide Convention. These include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission and a former UN human rights chief.

“It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention. The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza,” she continued.

“The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide, through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.”

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Over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, and a “worst-case scenario famine” has also been declared in Gaza due to an aid blockade imposed by Israel. As of September 16, Israeli forces have launched a ground invasion of Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of residents remain.

In a video shared earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that previous actions in the territory were “only the beginning of the main, intensive operation”. He added, “I say to the residents of Gaza, take this opportunity and listen to me carefully: you have been warned — get out of there,” despite there being no safe place to go.

In a statement on X, the Palestinian foreign ministry has said that Israel has installed almost 1,000 iron gates severing the West Bank, and demanded “urgent international intervention”. In a separate update, they said that the latest ground invasion is “a deliberate targeting of civilians, turning Gaza City into a mass graveyard and an uninhabitable land, as is the case with the broader area of the sector.”