A United Nations-backed commission of inquiry accused Israel of committing genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza. The investigation also alleged that Israeli forces increasingly used sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said its evidence covered a wide range of violations following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Commission chair Navi Pillay said the findings showed a severe increase in sexual and gender-based violence and linked those practices to intimidation and a system of oppression.
The report followed two days of hearings in which Palestinians described alleged treatment in Israeli detention. Testimony included claims that detainees were kept naked for days, struck in the genitals and deprived of food. These were allegations presented to the inquiry; the supplied account did not describe individual criminal judgments or identify defendants convicted of those acts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the commission's conclusions as false, biased and antisemitic. He accused the UN Human Rights Council of focusing on Israel instead of crimes committed by Hamas. Israel had withdrawn from the council in February. Its permanent mission in Geneva said the country's armed forces had explicit directives and policies prohibiting such misconduct.
The commission's findings were separate from proceedings at the International Court of Justice. South Africa had brought a case at the ICJ alleging genocide during Israel's Gaza campaign, and the court ordered Israel in January 2024 to take measures to prevent genocidal acts. The commission's evidence could potentially be presented in future proceedings concerning war crimes or other human-rights violations, but publication of its report did not itself amount to a judicial conviction.
The inquiry also formed part of a broader examination of violence committed by all sides. A previous commission report, published in June 2024, accused Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups of sexual violence during the October 7 attack that triggered the war. The March findings focused on alleged Israeli conduct against Palestinians after that attack.
The report's most consequential conclusion concerned reproductive healthcare: the commission argued that deliberate, systematic destruction of those facilities met the threshold for genocidal acts. Israel denied the broader allegations and insisted its military rules barred the conduct described. The dispute therefore extended beyond factual claims about individual incidents to the commission's legal characterization, its assessment of intent and Israel's challenge to the legitimacy and impartiality of the UN body.
