Overview

• An independent UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, determining four of the five acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention were met over the period from 7 October 2023 to 31 July 2025.
• The report details mass civilian killings, deliberate starvation and aid blockages, the systematic destruction of healthcare, sexual and gender‑based violence, and an attack on Gaza’s largest IVF clinic that destroyed thousands of embryos and reproductive samples.
• Commissioners said genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference from the evidence and named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former defence minister Yoav Gallant as having incited genocide.
• The Commission urged states to halt arms transfers to Israel, investigate potential complicity by individuals and corporations, consider sanctions, and ensure unhindered humanitarian access.
• Israel rejected the findings as biased and declined to cooperate; the analysis is authoritative but not a binding UN determination, and related proceedings at the ICJ and ICC continue.