Gaza. An independent team of experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council released a report on Tuesday concluding that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

The report called on the international community to take action to end the genocide and bring those responsible to justice.

The findings of the three-member team are the latest accusations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Rights advocates have repeatedly accused the war between Israel and Hamas of killing tens of thousands of people.

Israel has dismissed the report as “distorted and false”.

The Official Palestinian Territories and Israel Inquiry Commission, set up four years ago, has been documenting human rights abuses in Gaza since the Hamas-led invasion on October 7, 2023.

Neither the commission nor the 47-member council can take direct action, but the findings could be used as evidence at the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice.

The report also includes the final findings of a team headed by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay. All three members resigned in July citing personal reasons.

Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission, calling it an anti-Israel biased organization. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s decision to pull the United States out of the council was made earlier this year.

After a legal analysis, the commission concluded that Israel was guilty of four of the five acts of genocide defined under international conventions. “The intention to exterminate the Palestinian people in Gaza is clear, and meets the criteria set out in the Genocide Convention,” Pillay said. ’

Pillay blamed Israeli officials for the massacre during the nearly two-year war. Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others, incited the massacre, the report said.

Israel, which was founded after the Holocaust, has rejected accusations of genocide as anti-Semitic “bloody insults”. Israel’s foreign ministry called the experts’ report a “false report by Hamas proxies”.

Experts cite the conduct of the Israeli security forces, the clear statements of the officials, the high number of deaths, the “complete blockade” of Gaza that led to famine, the systematic destruction of the health system and the direct attacks on children as evidence of genocide.

The commission urged other countries to halt arms transfers to Israel and prevent individuals or companies from engaging in activities that could contribute to genocide.

“The international community cannot remain silent about the genocide campaign in Gaza,” Pillay said. Failure to take action despite clear evidence is tantamount to participation. ’

Current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, but has not formally accused him of genocide. According to him, such a formal determination can only be made by the International Court of Justice.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently hearing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.