Legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Genocide Convention (A/HRC/60/CRP.3)

On 16 September 2025 the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel published A/HRC/60/CRP.3, its legal analysis of Israel’s conduct in Gaza from 7 October 2023 to 31 July 2025 under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The Commission — a standing body established by Human Rights Council resolution S-30/1 — concluded “on reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit the following actus reus of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, namely (i) killing members of the group; (ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and (iv) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”

On the mental element, the Commission concluded “that statements made by Israeli authorities are direct evidence of genocidal intent,” that the pattern of conduct is circumstantial evidence of that intent, and “that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from the totality of the evidence.” It further concluded that the State of Israel “bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish genocide.”

Separately, on incitement, the Commission concluded that “Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement.” It expressly recorded the limits of its own work: it “has not fully assessed statements by other Israeli political and military leaders, including Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister for Finance Bezalel Smotrich,” and considered that those statements should also be assessed. Among its recommendations, the Commission called on Israel to comply fully with the ICJ’s provisional measures orders of 26 January, 28 March and 24 May 2024.

Why it matters

• The most detailed determination on genocide yet produced by a UN investigative body with a standing mandate.
• It is explicit about which findings rest on direct evidence, which on inference, and which questions it did not reach — a report that states its own limits is far harder to dismiss.
• It names specific officials for incitement under Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention, and records the absence of any domestic action to punish it.

Key resources

• Full report A/HRC/60/CRP.3 (16 September 2025, PDF)
• Report record on the UN Question of Palestine portal