GENEVA (16 November 2023) – Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the
aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making, UN experts said
today. They illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to “destroy the
Palestinian people under occupation”, loud calls for a ‘second Nakba’ in Gaza and the rest of the
occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate
impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.
“Many of us already raised the alarm about the risk of genocide in Gaza,” the experts said. “We are
deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate
ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s
strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international
system to mobilise to prevent genocide,” they said.
The bombardment and siege of Gaza have reportedly killed over 11,000 people, injured more than
27,000 and displaced 1.6 million persons since 7 October 2023, while thousands are still under the
rubble. Of those killed, about 41 per cent are children and 25 percent are women. On average, one
child is killed and two are injured every 10 minutes during the war, turning Gaza into a “graveyard
for children,” according to the UN Secretary-General. Almost 200 medics, 102 UN staff, 41
journalists, frontline and human rights defenders, have also been killed, while dozens of families
over five generations have been wiped out.
“This occurs amidst Israel’s tightening of its 16-year unlawful blockade of Gaza, which has
prevented people from escaping and left them without food, water, medicine and fuel for weeks now,
despite international appeals to provide access for critical humanitarian aid. As we previously
said, intentional starvation amounts to a war crime,” the experts said.
They noted that half of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed, including more than
40,000 housing units, as well as hospitals, schools, mosques, bakeries, water pipes, sewage and
electricity networks, in a way that threatens to make the continuation of Palestinian life in Gaza
impossible.
“The reality in Gaza, with its unbearable pain and trauma on the survivors, is a catastrophe of
enormous proportions,” the experts said.
“Such egregious violations cannot be justified in the name of self-defense after attacks by Hamas on
7 October, which we have condemned in the strongest possible terms,” the experts said. “Israel
remains the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory, which also includes the Gaza
Strip, and therefore
cannot wage a war against the population under its belligerent occupation,” they said.
“In order to be legitimate, Israel’s response must be strictly within the framework of
international humanitarian law,” the UN experts said. “The presence of underground tunnels in parts
of Gaza does not eliminate the civilian status of individuals and infrastructure that cannot be
directly targeted nor suffer disproportionately,” they said.
The experts also raised the alarm about the escalation of violence against Palestinians in the
occupied West Bank, by soldiers and armed settlers. Since 7 October 2023, at least 190 Palestinians
have been killed, more than 2,700 injured, and over 1,100 individuals displaced in the occupied
West Bank. On 9 November, Israeli forces also bombed, for the second time, the Jenin refugee camp
with heavy artillery and airstrikes, killing at least 14 Palestinians. The increasingly coercive
environment has also led to forcible displacement of several communities of pastoralists and
Bedouin People in the Jordan Valley and south of the Hebron Hills.
“We are deeply distressed at the failure of Israel to agree to – and the unwillingness of the
international community to press more decisively for – an immediate ceasefire. The failure to
urgently implement a ceasefire risks this situation spiralling towards a genocide conducted with
21st century means and methods of warfare,” the experts warned.
They also expressed alarm over discernibly genocidal and dehumanising rhetoric coming from senior
Israeli government officials, as well as some professional groups and public figures, calling for the
“total destruction”, and “erasure” of Gaza, the need to “finish them all” and force Palestinians
from the West Bank and east Jerusalem into Jordan. The experts warned that Israel has demonstrated
it has the military capacity to implement such criminal intentions.
“That is why our early warning must not be ignored,” the experts said.
“The international community has an obligation to prevent atrocity crimes, including genocide, and
should immediately consider all diplomatic, political and economic measures to that end,” the
experts said. They urged immediate action by UN Member States and the UN system as a whole.
In the short-term, the experts reiterated their call to Israel and Hamas to implement an immediate
ceasefire, and:
Allow unimpeded delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza;
Ensure the unconditional, safe and secure release of the hostages taken by Hamas; Ensure that
Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel are released immediately;
Open humanitarian corridors toward the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Israel, especially for those
that have been most affected by this war, the sick, persons with disabilities, older persons,
pregnant women and children;
They also recommended:
The deployment of an international protective presence in the occupied Palestinian territory under
the supervision of the UN;
Collaboration of all parties with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and Israel, and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the
investigation opened in March 2021, as well as crimes arising from the recent events, underlining
that the crimes committed today are partly due to a lack of deterrence and continued impunity;
Implement an arms embargo on all warring parties;
Address the underlying causes of the conflict by ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
territory.
“The international community, including not only States but also non-State actors such as
businesses, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the
Palestinian people, and ultimately end Israeli apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian
territory,” the experts said.
“We remind Member States that what is at stake is not only the fate of Israelis and Palestinians,
but a serious conflagration of the conflict in the region, leading to more human rights violations
and suffering of innocent civilians,” they said.
* The experts: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the
Independence of Judges and Lawyers; Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Chair), Claudia Flores, Ivana Krstić,
Haina Lu, and Laura Nyirinkindi, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; Surya
Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Ravindran Daniel (Chair-Rapporteur), Sorcha
MacLeod, Chris Kwaja, Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito, Carlos Salazar Couto, Working Group on the use of
mercenaries; Barbara G. Reynolds (Chair), Bina D’Costa, Dominique Day, Catherine Namakula, Working
Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human
rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme
poverty and human rights; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Damilola
Olawuyi (Chairperson), Robert McCorquodale (Vice-Chairperson), Elżbieta Karska, Fernanda Hopenhaym,
and Pichamon Yeophantong, Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations
and other business enterprises; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons,
especially women and children; Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a
democratic and equitable
international order; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing;
Ashwini K.P. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of
internally displaced persons; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older
persons; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Irene Khan Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Opinion and Expression; Ms Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls,
its causes and consequences; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery,
including its causes and consequences.
The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent
experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding
and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts
appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic
issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are
not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or
organisation and serve in their individual capacity.
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