A United Nations-commissioned report has accused Israel of escalating the use of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians, and of engaging in “genocidal acts” through the destruction of maternal and reproductive healthcare infrastructure.
The report, produced by the UN Human Rights Council, details alleged violations, including rape, in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. It further asserts that the destruction of maternity wards and embryos at a fertility clinic could indicate a deliberate strategy to prevent births within a specific population group, a key legal component of genocide.
Israel has strongly refuted these allegations. “Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations,” stated an Israeli spokesperson.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with sharp criticism, labeling the Human Rights Council “an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body.” He further stated, “Instead of focusing on war crimes committed by Hamas, he said, it was attacking Israel with ‘false accusations’.”
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, conducted the investigation. The report is based on victim and witness testimony, including evidence gathered during public hearings in Geneva, as well as verified visual media and information from civil society organizations.
Commission chair Navi Pillay stated, “The evidence collected ‘reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence’ that she claimed was being employed by Israel against Palestinians ‘to terrorise them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination’.”
The report alleges that forced public nudity, sexual harassment, and sexual assault “comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ standard operating procedures toward Palestinians.”
It further claims that rape and violence against genitals were “committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership.”
While the report does not provide examples of explicit orders, it cites statements from Israeli ministers defending soldiers accused of mistreating a Palestinian detainee.
Commission member Chris Sidoti stated, “Sexual violence is now so widespread that it can only be considered systematic. It’s got beyond the level of random acts by rogue individuals.”
Israel denies allegations of widespread mistreatment and torture of detainees, emphasizing its commitment to international law. The report also alleges the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza, leading to deaths from pregnancy and childbirth complications, which it claims constitutes the crime against humanity of extermination.
The commission further alleges that Israeli authorities have “destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group” through the “systematic destruction” of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities, including the Al-Basma IVF Centre.
The report claims this amounts to “two categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention, including deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians and imposing measures intended to prevent births.”
The report details the destruction of approximately 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm samples at Al-Basma, attributing the damage to a large-caliber projectile, likely an Israeli tank shell.
Mr. Sidoti stated, “The deliberate destruction of a health facility is one serious issue for international humanitarian law and human rights law. But it does appear from our analysis of the attack on this clinic, that it was knowingly and intentionally directed towards the destruction of reproductive services. The consequence of this is the prevention of births.”
Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva criticized the report, stating it was “a shameless attempt to incriminate the [Israel Defense Forces] and manufacture the illusion of ‘systemic’ use of [sexual and gender-based violence].” They further criticized the use of “information from second-hand single uncorroborated sources.”
Netanyahu stated, “Instead of focusing on the crimes against humanity and the war crimes that were perpetrated by the Hamas terrorist organisation in the worst massacre carried out against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN has again chosen to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including baseless accusations of sexual violence.”
UN experts determined there were “reasonable grounds to conclude” the allegations were committed, and that “such systematic attacks were intentional,” according to Fernando Travesi. He added that the commission applied a different threshold of evidence than a court of law.
The International Court of Justice is considering South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel denies.
The conflict began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, resulting in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and 251 hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry reports over 48,520 Palestinian deaths in Gaza since then. The conflict has caused widespread displacement and destruction in Gaza.
