GENEVA: Both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, a UN inquiry found on Wednesday, saying that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses.
The findings were from two parallel reports, one focusing on the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and another on Israel’s military response, published by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), which has an unusually broad mandate to collect evidence and identify perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel does not cooperate with the commission, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The COI says Israel obstructs its work and prevented investigators from accessing both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the findings. “The COI has once again proven that its actions are all in the service of a narrow-led political agenda against Israel,” said Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
By Israel’s count more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Oct. 7 cross-border attacks that sparked a military retaliation in Gaza that has since killed over 37,000 people, by Palestinian tallies.
The reports, which cover the conflict through to end-December, found that both sides committed war crimes including torture; murder or willful killing; outrages upon personal dignity; and inhuman or cruel treatment.
Israel also committed additional war crimes including starvation as a method of warfare, it said, saying Israel not only failed to provide essential supplies like food, water, shelter and medicine to Gazans but “acted to prevent the supply of those necessities by anyone else.”
Some of the war crimes such as murder also constituted crimes against humanity by Israel, the COI statement said, using a term reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
“The immense numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza and widespread destruction of civilian objects and infrastructure were the inevitable result of a strategy undertaken with intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions,” the COI statement said.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such UN-mandated bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be drawn on by the International Criminal Court.
Mass killings, sexual violence and humiliation
The COI’s findings are based on interviews with victims and witnesses, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery, medical reports and verified open-source information.
Among the findings in the 59-page report on the Oct. 7 attacks, the commission verified four incidents of mass killings in public shelters which it said suggests militants had “standing operational instructions.” It also identified “a pattern of sexual violence” by Palestinian armed groups but could not independently verify reports of rape.
The longer 126-page Gaza report said Israel’s use of weapons such as MK84 guided bombs with a large destructive capacity in urban areas were incompatible with international humanitarian law “as they cannot adequately or accurately discriminate between the intended military targets and civilian objects.”
It also said Palestinian men and boys were subject to the crime against humanity of gender persecution, citing cases where victims were forced to strip naked in public in moves “intended to inflict severe humiliation.”
The findings will be discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next week.
The COI composed of three independent experts including its chair South African former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay was set up in 2021 by the Geneva council. Unusually, it has an open-ended mandate — a fact criticized by both Israel and some of its allies.
‘Immense’ scale of Gaza killings amount to crime against humanity, UN inquiry says
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‘Immense’ scale of Gaza killings amount to crime against humanity, UN inquiry says
- UN inquiry finds both sides committed war crimes
- Israel says body is biased, rejects findings
Kurdistan regional government commemorates 37th anniversary of Anfal genocide
- The event paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Kurds who were systematically targeted and killed by the former Iraqi regime during the 1988 Anfal campaign
DUBAI: The Kurdistan Regional Government held a ceremony to mark the 37th anniversary of the Anfal genocide, Iraq state news reported on Monday.
Organized by the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, the event paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Kurds who were systematically targeted and killed by the former Iraqi regime during the 1988 Anfal campaign.
Named after the eighth sura of the Qur’an, “Anfal” became a codename for a brutal military operation led by Saddam Hussein’s cousin, Ali Hassan Al-Majid — infamously known as “Chemical Ali.”
Over the course of several months, Iraqi forces conducted mass executions, used chemical weapons, and destroyed more than 2,000 Kurdish villages. Entire families were arrested, displaced, or disappeared, with many perishing due to disease, malnutrition, or exposure after being forcibly relocated.
Kurdish officials called for continued recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide and reaffirmed their commitment to preserving its memory for future generations.
EU announces $1.7 billion in new aid for Palestinians
LUXEMBOURG: The European Union on Monday announced a new three-year financial support package for the Palestinians worth up to 1.6 billion euros.
“We are stepping up our support to the Palestinian people. EUR1.6 billion until 2027 will help stabilize the West Bank and Gaza,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.
Paris denounces Algiers’ order to expel 12 French officials as diplomatic dispute reignites
- Relations between France and Algeria sharply deteriorated last summer when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara
PARIS: France’s foreign minister said Monday that Algerian authorities gave 12 French state officials 48 hours to leave the country.
Jean-Noel Barrot denounced the decision, saying it appeared as “a response to the arrest of three Algerian nationals suspected of serious offenses on French soil.”
French counterterrorism prosecutors said the Algerians were arrested Friday and handed preliminary charges of “kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking.” They are allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of an Algerian influencer, Amir Boukhors, or Amir DZ, a known critic of the Algerian government with 1.1 million followers on TikTok.
An Algerian consular official is among the three arrested, according to French media.
Barrot called on Algerian authorities “to abandon” measures to expel the French officials “who have no connection with the current legal proceedings,” in a written statement.
“If the decision to send back our officials is maintained, we will have no other choice but to respond immediately,” Barrot said.
In an interview with French national news broadcaster France Television, Boukhors said he was abducted in April 2024 in a Paris suburb and released 27 hours later.
He said he saw a car in front of his home, with four people he said were acting like false police officers. Some wore police armbands and put him in handcuffs. They brought him to a remote place in the Paris region. “That’s when I felt and confirmed that they were kidnappers. I had fallen into the trap,” he said.
He was told he would be meeting an Algerian official, which never happened, and was later released, the influencer said.
According to French media, Boukhors lives in France since 2016 and was granted the status of political refugee in 2023.
Relations between France and Algeria sharply deteriorated last summer when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which receives support from Algiers and is based in refugee camps in southeastern Algeria.
Tensions further peaked after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who is an outspoken critic of Islamism and the Algerian regime, in November. He has since been sentenced to five years in prison.
However, tensions started easing in the past two weeks, following a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune during which they both agreed to revive bilateral relations, according to a statement by the Elysee Palace.
Barrot traveled to Algeria earlier this month, a visit meant to show the diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries.
Hamas will free hostages if end to Gaza war guaranteed
- Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar
- Senior Hamas official accuses Israel of obstructing progress toward a ceasefire
CAIRO: A senior Hamas official said on Monday that the Palestinian group is prepared to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza.
Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory.
“We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,” Taher Al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, said.
However, he accused Israel of obstructing progress toward a ceasefire.
“The issue is not the number of captives,” Nunu said, “but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war.”
“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation (Israel) to uphold the agreement,” he added.
Israeli news website Ynet reported on Monday that a new proposal had been put to Hamas.
Under the deal, the group would release 10 living hostages in exchange for US guarantees that Israel would enter negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19 and included multiple hostage-prisoner exchanges, lasted two months before disintegrating.
Efforts toward a new truce have stalled, reportedly over disputes regarding the number of hostages to be released by Hamas.
Meanwhile, Nunu said that Hamas would not disarm, a key condition that Israel has set for ending the war.
“The weapons of the resistance are not up for negotiation,” Nunu said.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944.
Iran FM to head to Moscow, discuss US nuclear talks
- The negotiations came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks
Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Moscow this week to discuss recent nuclear negotiations with the United States held in Oman, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, ahead of a new round of talks planned for Rome.
On Saturday, Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, the highest-level Iranian-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.
“Dr. Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week,” said spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the trip was “pre-planned” and would be “an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks.”
Iran and the United States separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive.”
The negotiations came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Russia, a close ally of Iran, and China have held discussions with Iran in recent weeks over its nuclear program.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe.”
Another round of talks between Iran and the United States is scheduled for Saturday, April 19.
Iran has yet to confirm the location but the Dutch foreign minister and diplomatic sources said that the upcoming discussions would be held in the Italian capital.
The official IRNA news agency reported that they would be held in Europe, without elaborating.
Baqaei said the next set of talks would continue to be indirect with Omani mediation, adding that direct talks were “not effective” and “not useful.”
He had previously said that the only focus of the upcoming talks would be “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions,” and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue.”
Late Sunday, IRNA reported that Tehran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, Washington withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Tehran.
Iran continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal but later began rolling back its compliance.
Iran has consistently denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Baqaei reiterated that Iran would host United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in the coming days but noted that the details of his trip were still “to be decided on.”
In a post on X, Grossi confirmed that he would be heading to Tehran “later this week.”
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” he said.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency last visited Iran in November when he held talks with top officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, which far exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set under the 2015 deal and is much closer to the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.
