A new report by a UN commission finds that Israel intended to murder civilians en masse, inflict wide-scale civilian destruction, and collectively punish Palestinians in Gaza — holding them hostage to its political aims.
By Bashir Abu-Manneh, Jacobin
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued its “first in-depth investigation into the events that took place on and since 7 October 2023.” The report holds the Israeli occupation responsible for the ongoing catastrophic situation in Gaza. But it also alludes to the possibility that October 7 is a watershed moment for even harsher Israeli occupation unless international law is urgently implemented.
While both Hamas and Israel are found to have committed war crimes (including sexual violence), Israel is also sanctioned for committing “crimes against humanity of extermination, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer, and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment.”
In clear and deliberate violation of international law, Israel intended to commit these crimes: to murder civilians en masse, inflict wide-scale civilian destruction, and collectively punish and dehumanize Palestinians in Gaza. Palestinians were murdered. They didn’t die as collateral damage or as unintended victims of Israeli military operations, but as Israel’s deliberate targets.
Recent Posts
“Gunboat Diplomacy”: U.S. War In Latin America Feared As Hegseth Launches “Operation Southern Spear”
Take Action Now “…it’s time for those of us here to stand up and say that where we will not support any attempt to bring back the old…
Did A Federal Judge Sink Super PACs?
Take Action Now The judge blocked a ban on Super PACs in Maine — but legal activists discovered a kill switch inside the ruling.By David Sirota…
The Corporate Centrists Cannot Hold: ‘Big Tent’ Democrats Cave Once More
Take Action Now The perils of unprincipled, performative so-called “resistance.”By Christopher D. Cook, Common Dreams Wow, seriously? The…
One Weird Trick To Get Rid Of Chuck Schumer
Take Action Now Any single Senate Democrat can force a vote on Schumer’s job as minority leader.By Whitney Curry Wimbish, The American Prospect…