UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry confirms Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
Less than a week after President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced only ‘partial’ measures to be taken against Israel, a United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza. The announcement comes as the IDF carries out another devastating onslaught on Gaza City today.
The report by the the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel concludes that four of the five defined genocidal acts under international law have been carried out by Israel over the past 23 months: killing members of a group, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, causing serious bodily and mental harm, and deliberately preventing births.
Left MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Palestine, Lynn Boylan (Sinn Féin, Ireland) said “The report published today by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry is unequivocal – Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and all countries have a responsibility to act to end the genocide. The measures announced by EU Commission President von der Leyen last week are not even the bare minimum required under international law. Despite the newly announced measures, Europe’s complicity will continue. We need an arms embargo, an EU-wide ban on settlement trade, investigation and penalisation of companies giving material support to the genocide and an end to the Commission giving diplomatic and political cover to the Israeli regime.”
The report puts in stark contrast the European Commission’s response to the bloodshed. Two weeks ago, Commissioner Teresa Ribera described the situation in Gaza as a genocide. But her own Commission spokespersons distanced the institution from Ribera’s statements swiftly afterwards. Meanwhile, in her annual State of the European Union address last week, von der Leyen announced only ‘partial’ suspensions of financial cooperation with Israel, and proposed sanctions only on Israel’s most extremist Ministers. No mention was made of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes.
The Left calls for a full arms embargo on Israel, the complete suspension of EU-Israeli trade relations and full sanctions similar to those levelled against Russia for the illegal occupation of Ukraine.
