UN Drops Bombshell Report on Israeli Strikes in Gaza

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released its “first in-depth investigation into the events occurring on and since October 7, 2023.” The report blames the Israeli occupation for the ongoing crisis in Gaza. It suggests that October 7 could mark a turning point toward even stricter Israeli occupation unless international law is promptly enforced.

The UN expert Francesca Albanese urges nations to come together and impose sanctions on Israel. Israel and the US did not attend the meeting held on Tuesday with the Human Rights Council and claim that the findings are fabricated. 

In a clear and deliberate violation of international law, Israel intended to commit these crimes: mass murder of civilians, widespread civilian destruction, and the collective punishment and dehumanization of Palestinians in Gaza. Palestinians were deliberately targeted and killed, not as collateral damage or unintended victims of Israeli military operations.

Israeli diplomats in Geneva called the use of genocide “outrageous,” arguing that Hamas is responsible for the conflict, not Palestinian civilians. The war was triggered when Hamas fighters entered southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli reports.

The UN Report

The commission defers the question of genocide to the ongoing investigation by the International Court of Justice. However, it accuses Israel of holding Gaza’s entire civilian population hostage to achieve its political and military objectives. 

Israel callously violates and degrades essential Palestinian human needs, leading to a worsening situation. “As of March 2024, 1.1 million people face catastrophic levels of food insecurity.” This highlights a policy of deliberate mass dehumanization of Palestinians.

Although Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using “human shields” since 2008, the UN has found that it is Israel employing this illegal tactic. When adversaries of the West take hostages, they are labeled terrorists by officials and mainstream media. By violently punishing Palestinian civilians to achieve its political aims, Israel is engaging in a textbook example of terror.

The report’s conclusion also identifies occupation as the root cause of the issue. It is the basis for the sexual and gender-based violence that Israel intentionally inflicts on Palestinians to humiliate their community. The report states, “This viciousness is naturally tied to the broader setting of imbalance and drawn out occupation, which has made the conditions and defense for gender-based violations, encourage emphasizing subordination of the occupied people.”

Francesca Albanese vs Israel

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, has been labeled as “antisemitic” for speaking against the years of violence in Palestine inflicted on Palestinians by Israel. The U.S. ambassador in Geneva, Michele Taylor, claims that Francesca using the term “Jewish lobby” in a tweet on X in 2022 disregards the feelings of the holocaust and the years of discrimination that Jews have faced. 

When asked if her work on the report had led to threats, Albanese replied that she does receive threats, but none have required extra precautions. Still, it does not affect her commitment or the results of her work.  Israel has criticized Albanese, accusing her of “delegitimizing the very creation and existence of the State of Israel,” a claim she denied.

 Albanese stated that one of her key findings was that Israel’s executive and military leadership, along with soldiers, have intentionally “subverted their protection functions to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.”

“This policy represents an Israeli state policy of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” she asserted, and characterized it as part of a “longstanding settler-colonial process of cleansing.”