The next steps after the UN commission report on genocide in Gaza

We have been reporting today on the independent UN inquiry. It concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in what it described as the “most authoritative UN finding to date.”

The commission has urged Israel and all UN member states to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and to punish those responsible for it.

The commission has also recommended countries “cease the transfer of arms and other equipment that may be used for the commission of genocidal acts to Israel” and ensure that individuals and corporations in their jurisdiction “are not involved in aiding and assisting the commission of genocide,” according to a press release published alongside the report.

But the inquiry’s report is not a UN-wide conclusion, and there is no formal obligation for the report to be debated or discussed by UN member states.

“However, the Commission has stated very clearly in the report that there are legal obligations on all member states under the Genocide Convention to prevent and punish the commission of genocide,” a legal officer for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kiat Wei Ng, told CNN.

The UN inquiry further recommended that the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s office examine the crime of genocide within its continuing investigation on the situation in the State of Palestine.

That case is still in process after the ICC issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a now-deceased senior Hamas official.

The Israeli government has maintained it is conducting the war in Gaza in self-defense and in accordance with international law, firmly denying accusations of genocide.