The United Nations has released its first in-depth report on the October 7 attack in Gaza, finding that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes. The independent Commission of Inquiry’s report found that “a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Gaza.” The commission also found that the crimes against humanity of extermination; murder; gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment were committed. The report is based on interviews with victims, witnesses, and a study of verified open-source items, satellite imagery, and forensic medical reports.
The Commission of Inquiry report sheds light on the events of the October 7 attack and all that has happened since then. It found that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups “deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, took hostages and committed sexual and gender-based violence”. The report further said it found “significant evidence on the desecration of corpses, including sexualised desecration, decapitations, lacerations, burning, severing of body parts and undressing”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s crime amounted to denying Gazans humanitarian aid, thereby starving them. The report says that Israeli authorities are “responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity”.
The report is a damning indictment of both Israel and Hamas and calls for accountability for the war crimes committed. It is a reminder that all parties to a conflict must respect international law and human rights.
