UN urges Israel to prevent ‘acts of genocide’ in Gaza

The UN has expressed serious concerns about the risk of genocide in Gaza and denounced the worsening violence in the occupied Palestinian territories. In a report published Monday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accuses the Israeli army of having committed “serious violations of international humanitarian law”, likely to constitute war crimes.

The document emphasizes that, despite the stated objective of freeing the hostages, many Israeli strikes resulted in “unlawful” deaths. Since the start of the war unleashed after the attacks of October 7, 2023, nearly 73,000 people have been killed in Gaza according to the local Ministry of Health.

High Commissioner Volker Türk called on Israel to allow the return of displaced Palestinians and to end its “illegal presence” in the occupied territories. The UN is also concerned about the escalation of violence in the West Bank, accusing settlers and Israeli forces of acting “with complete impunity”.

The report also condemns Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for human rights violations and indiscriminate shooting against Israel.

For his part, Ajith Sunghay, head of UN human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, estimated that the ceasefire had allowed neither “real accountability” nor calling into question the “prolonged occupation” which he considers to be the root cause of the conflict. He warned that the lack of justice and continued impunity risked fueling further violence.

For a growing number of experts, NGOs and international bodies, it is no longer just a war but a methodical genocidal process aimed at making Gaza uninhabitable and definitively breaking the Palestinian presence on the territory. Massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, famine used as a weapon of war, forced displacement, repeated bombing of refuge areas, hospitals and camps for displaced people: all elements which fuel accusations of genocide against the Israeli government. Despite this, many of the great Western powers continue to support or diplomatically protect Israel, at the cost of a growing discredit of international law and the institutions supposed to defend it.