Contacted by theAFPthe Israeli authorities had not reacted to these accusations at the end of the afternoon.
In a report covering the period from October 7, 2023, the date of the start of the war triggered by the deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, to July 2024, the UN special committee is alarmed by “massive civilian losses” and of the use of “starvation as a weapon of war”.
“Through its siege of Gaza, its obstruction of humanitarian aid, its targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated appeals from the UN, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel intentionally causes death, starvation and serious injury,” the committee said in a statement.
The methods of war used by Israel “correspond to the characteristics of a genocide”, according to this special UN committee, created in 1968 and responsible for investigating Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, conquered the previous year by Israel (West Bank and Gaza Strip).
This is not the first time Israel has faced such accusations since the war began more than a year ago.
The report, due to be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, says Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza will have long-term consequences.
“By destroying vital water, sanitation and food systems, and contaminating the environment, Israel has created a deadly mix of crises that will inflict grave harm on generations to come,” the committee denounces.
In another report published Thursday, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) affirms that the repeated evacuation orders of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip lead to forced population displacements constituting “a crime against humanity “.
“Statements by senior officials with command responsibility show that forced displacement is intentional and part of Israeli state policy, and therefore constitutes a crime against humanity,” the report details, recalling that the “forced transfer” of civilians is a “war crime” under international law.
The Israeli authorities, for their part, say they are calling on the inhabitants of entire sections of the Gaza Strip to evacuate due to military imperatives and thus say they are participating in the protection of civilians.
“Unfounded” accusations for Washington
The United States on Thursday denounced the findings of a special UN committee that Israel's methods of warfare in the Gaza Strip “fit the hallmarks of genocide,” calling them “unfounded.” “This is something we unequivocally disapprove of,” responded US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel. “We believe that this type of wording and these types of accusations are most certainly unfounded.”
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