Top UN legal investigators conclude Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza

The UN’s top investigative body on Palestine and Israel ruled on Tuesday that Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide in Gaza, in the most authoritative pronouncement to date.

The 72-page report by the UN commission of inquiry on Palestine and Israel finds Israel has committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and that Israeli leaders had the intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group.

The finding echoes reports by Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups that have reached the same conclusion over the past year.

But this is the first comprehensive legal probe by a UN body, serving as an indicator of a judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently hearing a case by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. The ICJ case is expected to take several years to be concluded.