A UNITED Nations special committee has declared that Israel’s warfare methods in the Gaza Strip amount to genocide, citing the regime’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war.
The findings, released on Thursday, come amidst ongoing international outrage over the Israeli regime’s actions, which have resulted in catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences.
The UN report documents atrocities committed by Israel since the onset of its war on Gaza in October 2023, up to July 2024.
The committee condemned the regime for imposing ‘mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally’ on Palestinians in the besieged territory.
According to the report, Israel’s siege tactics, coupled with its obstruction of humanitarian aid and repeated targeted attacks, are designed to cause ‘death, starvation and serious injury’, in direct violation of international law.
‘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,’ the committee said.
The UN’s top court earlier this year ordered the Israeli regime to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, but the report states that these directives have been ignored.
The committee specifically denounced the use of starvation as a method of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, a practice outlawed under international humanitarian law.
The report further highlighted the destruction of vital water sanitation systems, contamination of the environment, and the obliteration of essential services through relentless bombing campaigns.
These actions have unleashed what the committee called an ‘environmental catastrophe’ with long-term health consequences for the Palestinian population.
‘The impacts of this destruction will be felt for generations, even if a ceasefire were to be achieved,’ the report warned.
The UN also criticised the Israeli military’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its targeting systems. The committee described how the deployment of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, has led to disproportionate casualties among women and children.
‘The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard for its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,’ the report stated.
Arwa Damon, founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA), characterised the situation in Gaza as ‘a complete nightmare’.
She emphasised the ongoing suffering of children in the besieged territory, many of whom are in dire need of medical and mental healthcare.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, women and children make up nearly 70% of the fatalities caused by Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
A separate UN-backed assessment warned over the weekend that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified their assaults.
On Thursday, the Israeli army launched new strikes on multiple locations across Gaza, killing and injuring several Palestinians.
An attack on a school in western Gaza resulted in the deaths of three civilians and left ten others wounded. The regime also targeted Gaza City, Jabalia, and Nuseirat refugee camps, following an earlier massacre of 33 Palestinians on Wednesday.
Northern Gaza remains under an unrelenting siege, with residents trapped in their homes and deprived of access to food, water, and medical supplies. In central Gaza, Israeli artillery strikes on Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps inflicted further devastation.
The death toll from Israel’s genocidal war, which began in October 2023, now exceeds 43,700, with more than 103,000 Palestinians injured. The atrocities have drawn widespread condemnation but little action from the international community, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens.
