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A recent comprehensive juridical assessment from a specially convened commission of inquiry has delivered the most conclusive conclusions to date regarding events in Gaza.

The investigative team accuses Israel of carrying out genocide, stating that its campaign was waged “with intent to eliminate, totally or partly, a national or community”.

Investigation Origins

Formed in 2021 by the international human rights body, the panel is composed of three independent experts and does not officially speak on behalf of the broader UN system.

Officials from Israel have rejected the report “outrageous” and “false”, asserting it was authored by “entities aligned with Hamas”.

Israel has denied the genocide charges, pointing to its entitlement to defend itself following the assault on last October, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.

The subsequent war in the territory has killed more than 64,000 people, overwhelmingly ordinary residents, and injured a further 160,000.

Investigation Outcomes

To qualify as an act of genocide under the 1948 UN genocide convention, one or more of five categories must have been committed. The inquiry accuses the Israeli military of committing multiple.

Documentation comprises accounts with affected persons, observers, and medical professionals, confirmed external reports, journalistic accounts, NGO analyses, and satellite imagery.

Category One: Killing

The panel cites data indicating that up until mid-July 2025, a significant proportion of fatalities in the strip were non-combatant vulnerable groups.

Israeli forces employed imprecise explosive weapons with a wide margin of error in urban residential areas… The volume of munitions deployed since the October attack is unprecedented even in comparison to other worldwide hostilities.

Palestinians in the territory were struck in their homes, at hospitals, in refuges (including schools and holy buildings), during departures and in announced humanitarian areas.

The commission also emphasized notable cases such as the death of young victims when their family car was hit near a petrol station in the urban center.

Category Two: Serious Bodily or Mental Harm

This includes the poor handling of prisoners and mass displacement which led to severe and irreparable bodily and psychological injury.

Further Finding: Systematic Deprivation

The analysis observes that much of the strip has been made extremely difficult to reside in, with extensive devastation of food sources, schools, cultural sites, and religious buildings.

Taking into account the data in full, the panel has found that the government were aware of the strong likelihood that their actions… would result in the physical destruction of Palestinians… in whole or in part.

Final Finding: Demographic Targeting

This part focuses on the significant number of child casualties and the attack on a reproductive health facility in last December, which reportedly destroyed numerous reproductive materials.

Genocidal Intent

Juridical authorities often note that establishing destructive purpose is difficult due to the strict requirement of evidence.

The commission concluded that statements by Israeli leaders are “explicit indication of intent to commit genocide”.

Mentioned cases include references to religious wars and policy announcements that suggest an intent to destroy the local community.

The chair of the panel, a former legal expert who once led over a legal body for a prior genocide case, commented that the data supports the conclusion of genocidal intent.