UN-BACKED human rights experts accused Israel today of a “systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence” during its latest bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a UN-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, as an “anti-Israel circus” that “has long been exposed as an anti-semitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.”
His statement did not address the findings themselves.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory report – which seeks to document in minute detail allegations and evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators – could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions to try to bring justice for victims and their relatives.
The commission’s research examines the widespread destruction of Gaza, use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities.
It said all three led to “disproportionate violence against women and children.”
The commission documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.
Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations.
“Our report finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination,” commission member Chris Sidoti told reporters in Geneva.
Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the allegations and accused the commission of relying on “second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources.”
Since the commission was set up in 2021 – long before Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel – Israel has refused to co-operate with it, accusing the investigative team and council of bias.
Mr Sidoti said the report “also concludes that Israel has carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.”
The commission stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights experts have.
Israel, home to many survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and their families, has vigorously denied such allegations.
The Israeli government claims it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians during its 15-month assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, injuring 111,955 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas.
Israeli forces have carried out a number of raids on hospitals, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.