**UN Experts Accuse Israel of Sexual Violence and Genocide**
Two days ago, UN experts released a report accusing Israel of using sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The report documents alleged violations, including rape, since Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
The report also accuses Israel of carrying out “genocidal acts” through the systematic destruction of maternal and reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza. This could indicate a strategy to prevent births among Palestinians, which is one of the legal definitions of genocide.
**Israel Denies Allegations**
Israel has denied the allegations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the UN Human Rights Council an “antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body”. He accused the council of focusing on false accusations against Israel instead of investigating war crimes committed by Hamas.
**UN Commission’s Findings**
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory was established in 2021 to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The commission’s chair, Navi Pillay, said that the evidence collected reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence employed by Israel against Palestinians.
**Forms of Violence**
The report alleges that specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence, such as forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment, and sexual assault, are part of the Israeli Security Forces’ standard operating procedures toward Palestinians. Other forms of violence, including rape and violence to the genitals, were allegedly committed under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership.
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