According to a UN report, Israel’s targeted attacks on women’s healthcare facilities in Gaza could be classified as “genocidal acts”. The report by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry accuses Israeli security forces of employing sexual violence as a weapon of war in their efforts to “dominate and annihilate” the Palestinian population.
The comprehensive 49-page report details assaults on maternity wards and other healthcare facilities for women in Gaza, including the destruction of an IVF clinic and restrictions on essential supplies. The report asserts that these actions significantly diminish the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza.
The UN strongly condemns the methods used by Israeli security forces as constituting two categories of genocidal behavior outlined in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention. This includes intentionally inflicting living conditions designed to destroy Palestinians and measures intended to inhibit births.
The document also finds that sexual violence has been integrated into the standard operating procedures of Israel’s security forces, including forced nudity, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Such conduct is deemed by the UN to be war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The UN report asserts that the pattern of sexual violence is a strategic tool for Israel’s military to destabilize, subdue, oppress, and demolish the Palestinian populace. The report accuses Israel’s civilian and military leaders of condoning or tacitly encouraging such heinous acts.
Earlier, the UN issued a separate report scrutinizing the sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. It documented widespread violations against Palestinians and the recently intensified scale of abuse by Israel, especially against Palestinian men and children.
The latest assertion suggests a deliberate strategy by Israel to humiliate and intimidate, evident in documented cases where Palestinians have been stripped and subjected to sexual exploitation before being filmed and photographed.
While acknowledging a recent case where a soldier was sentenced for assaulting Palestinian detainees, the report criticizes the inadequate response of the Israeli military justice system, calling for enhanced accountability and the protection of victims through international legal mechanisms.
The report also points to the disproportionate number of female deaths in Gaza and the destructing of infrastructure as another facet of the gendered violence. These actions have resulted in an elevated death toll among women and girls compared to previous conflicts.
Egyptian and Hamas officials have expressed support for Donald Trump’s recent statements denying the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which aligns with their long-held opposition to such proposals.
