According to a UN report, the methods used by Israel in Gaza present “the characteristics” of genocide. The Jewish state accuses the organization of being “anti-Israeli”. For his part, Pope Francis also mentioned these accusations in a forthcoming book.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denounced as “biased” and “anti-Israeli” a report by a special UN committee which found that Israel’s methods of warfare in the Gaza Strip “correspond to the characteristics of a genocide“. This report “is a shocking example of the transformation of the UN into an organization used as a pawn by terrorists“, according to a press release from the ministry shared during the night from Saturday to Sunday by its spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, on X.
Israel intentionally causes death
The document, which is to be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, was drafted by a special UN committee, established in 1968 and tasked with investigating Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, conquered the previous year by Israel (West Bank and Gaza Strip).”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“, estimated the committee in a press release on Thursday.
Israel defends itself
These are “false claims“, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which highlights that the war waged for more than a year by Israel against Hamas only aims to “dismantle terrorist installations“of the Palestinian Islamist movement. As it often does, the ministry asserts that it is the Islamist movement which”uses civilians as human shields“and not Israel which aims”to the population of Gaza“.”Israel remains fully committed to facilitating continued aid delivery“, adds the press release, which suggests that the UN has failed in its task of distributing international aid to Gazans.
Humanitarian organizations, including those reporting to the United Nations, regularly claim to encounter significant blockages, particularly administrative ones, in operating in the besieged Palestinian territory in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.
The United States has already “unequivocally” disapproved of the conclusions of the UN report, deeming its accusations “unfounded”.
A heavy toll
The war was sparked by the unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, from the Gaza Strip. It led to the death of 1,206 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in Gaza.
The Israeli response in Gaza left 43,846 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.
Pope Francis addresses accusations of genocide
Pope Francis raises for the first time the accusations of “genocide” in Gaza targeting Israel, in a forthcoming book, extracts of which were published on Sunday in Italy.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide. This should be studied carefully to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by lawyers and international bodies“, believes the Pope.
These words are taken from Francis’ new book, “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world“, to be published Tuesday in Italy, Spain and South America, and of which the daily La Stampa published extracts on Sunday.
The sovereign pontiff regularly refers to the extermination of Jews during the Second World War, to the “genocide” of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, of Tutsis in Rwanda or of Christians in the Middle East. He frequently deplores the civilian victims in Gaza but this is the first time that he publicly uses the term genocide – without, however, taking it upon himself – in the context of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.
Conflict in the Middle East Israel Gaza Strip
