By Elisenda Calvet Martínez, Universitat de Barcelona
The Conversation – On September 16, 2025, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem and Israel issued its third report on the situation in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
For the first time, the COI has recognised that genocide has been committed, and continues to be committed, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It demands that Israel immediately implements a “complete and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza, and that it ensures unhindered access to humanitarian aid, including food, clean water, medical equipment and medicine in all Gaza.
What’s in the report?
The report is a legal analysis of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. It thoroughly examines all the elements of the definition of the crime of genocide established by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of 1948.
The COI based its conclusions on its own investigations, and relied on the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals to examine the evidence gathered. The facts included in the report – a non-exhaustive list – are those that experts have considered relevant to the analysis of genocide.
The report analyses events in the Gaza Strip between October 7 2023 and July 31 2025. This means it does not account for events that occurred before the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, or human rights violations in the West Bank during this period.
The COI drew its finding of genocide by applying the criteria of “reasonable grounds to conclude”. This is the standard of proof used by most international commissions of inquiry on human rights. It differs from the criteria of “beyond reasonable doubt” used in criminal tribunals – this is consistent with the complementary role played by international human rights commissions in judicial investigation processes.
All this is to say that, according to international standards of proof, the report provides enough verified evidence to determine that Israel’s conduct constitutes a crime of genocide.
What is the evidence?
By analysing the elements of the definition of genocide, the COI concludes that Israeli forces have committed 4 of the 5 acts that constitute genocide committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as per the 1948 UN Convention. Namely, these are:
- killing members of the group
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
According to the UN report, all these acts are being done with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the group of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The report details specific, recorded acts that fit these definitions. These include attacks on civilians on evacuation routes, around 500 attacks on healthcare facilities, failure to use precision-guided “smart” weapons in densely populated residential areas, and deliberate attacks targeting medical personnel and aid workers.
It describes the mistreatment and torture of more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, as well as rape and other sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian detainees. The report also highlights the systematic and intentional destruction of maternity facilities, an increase of 300% in miscarriages since October 7, 2023, as well as attacks on Gaza’s largest fertility clinic, which destroyed around 4,000 embryos.
The report also finds evidence of Israel intentionally destroying areas of agricultural land, destroying 110 cultural and religious sites, and damaging 70 % of schools.
More than 90% of Gaza’s residents (about 1.9 million people) have been displaced, while Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza has cut off supplies of water, food, electricity, fuel and other essential supplies, including humanitarian assistance. The report finds that Israel is using starvation as a method of warfare, and that it has weaponised access to basic supplies.
Genocidal intent
To be considered genocide, all of these acts need to be committed with the special intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Based on the direct and circumstantial evidence available, the COI has drawn the following conclusion:
“The Israeli authorities intended to kill as many Palestinians as possible through its military operations in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and knew that the means and methods of warfare employed would cause mass deaths of Palestinians, including children.”
The direct evidence draws from statements made by Israeli authorities, which have repeatedly dehumanised Palestinians and “explicitly called for vengeance, destruction and annihilation”. Additionally, the report concludes that “the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the pattern of conduct of Israeli security forces in Gaza is evidence of genocidal intent.”
“Genocide 25,” Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3, 2025
Will it make a difference?
The report concludes that Israel has failed to prevent genocide, is still committing genocide, and has failed to punish genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It calls on all States to prevent genocide by ceasing the transfer of weapons to Israel, and to ensure that individuals and corporations do not contribute to it.
It also compels States promote domestic investigations, and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in gathering evidence of the crime and incitement of genocide.
Lastly, the COI recommends that the Prosecutor of the ICC expands its investigations of the situation in Palestine, and that it includes genocide in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Before the COI report, other UN mechanisms had already determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Nevertheless, this report is groundbreaking in its level of detail. The evidence it offers is so overwhelming that it leaves little room for doubt, or for the argument that Israel is acting in self-defence.
The report’s long-term impact remains to be seen, though its finding may have spurred the recent push to recognise a Palestinian State in various European countries.
Elisenda Calvet Martínez, Profesora de Derecho Internacional Público, Universitat de Barcelona
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