A Genocide Position Paper on the Plight of Palestine

Palestine flag. Wikimedia Commons.

Ali Jillani

Almost 8 decades of a failed promise, more than 7 decades of unspeakable atrocities, 77 years of the  illegal occupation, declared by the International Court of Justice, 23 months of a UN Commission declared genocide, and several counts of crimes against humanity declared by the International Criminal Court, and yet the oppression continues to be emboldened by its apologists. Notwithstanding, the international human rights entities, media agencies, humanitarian organizations, legal fraternity, and broader civil society factions, outrightly condemning this livestreamed genocide, involving flagrant violations of international law, which continues to be conveniently ignored and deliberately manipulated, dismissed as antisemitic or self-hatred, through a narrowly defined securitization narrative.      

Since October 7, 2023, more than 65,000 lives have been lost, over 20,000 women and children, with a defenseless population subjected to 2000-pound bombs, in the absence of humanitarian aid blocked by the oppressors, and yet the conscience of the Security Council remains paralyzed, with the ceasefire vetoed for a 6th time in two years, despite a 142 majority, 82% of the General Assembly, voted in favor of a Palestinian statehood. 

If this does not shake our collective conscience as a global community, nothing will. Gaza is a litmus test for the credibility, relevance and efficiency of our multilateralism today - to be judged by history tomorrow.    

International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion

Reckoning the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 at its 10th Emergency Special Session on September 18, 2024. The Court determined, inter alia, that: 

(a)  Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful,

(b)  Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible,

(c)  Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

(d)  Israel has the obligation to make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural or legal persons concerned in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

(e)  All States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

(f)    International organizations, including the United Nations, are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

(g)  The United Nations, and especially the General Assembly, which requested this opinion, and the Security Council, should consider the precise modalities and further action required to bring to an end as rapidly as possible the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion clearly determined that Israeli policies and practices, including settlement expansion, land confiscation, discriminatory legislation, proclamation of Jerusalem as its capital, exercise of sovereignty over the occupied territory, and systematic discrimination against Palestinians, constitute grave violations of the International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and customary international law, and the UN Charter. 

The General Assembly affirmed that Israel’s forceful accusation of the territory violates fundamental principles of international law, and such illegality relates to the entirety of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. The Assembly also affirmed that Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, in view of its character as an inalienable right, cannot be subject to conditions on the part of the occupying Power. The Assembly welcomed the Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the OPT, demanding urgent end to the occupation within 12 months of the adoption of the resolution. 

ICJ’s Advisory Opinion established an obligation for all member states to denounce Israeli occupation, stop providing aid to maintain it, and required the UNGA and UNSC to consider actions to bring the unlawful occupation to an end starting with an unconditional and urgent ceasefire. UNGA’s resolution ES-10/24 operationalized the obligation of all member states to implement the Opinion, and yet, the Israeli state continues to enjoy impunity, having passed the deadline last week, in the absence of targeted sanctions, or declaration as a pariah state, or revocation of its UN membership, in a mockery of justice, human rights and international law. 

It’s a Genocide

a. UN Independent International Commission 

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel concluded in its report last week that it is a genocide. The Commission rigorously reviewed more than 16,000 pieces of evidence, based on almost two years work, to determine that the Israeli state has committed, and continues to commit, Genocide in the Gaza strip. The military campaign starting October 7, 2023, is the most ruthless, prolonged, and widespread attack on the Palestinian people since 1948. 

The Commission found that Israeli state and its security forces have conducted, and continue to conduct, four out of five, genocidal acts: 

1. Killing members of the group

2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part

4. Imposing measures, intended to prevent births within the group

On the specific intent of genocide, the Commission concludes that statements made by the Israeli authorities are direct evidence of genocidal intent. The Commission concludes that the pattern of conduct is circumstantial evidence for genocidal intent. The Commission also concludes that genocidal intent is the only reasonable influence that could be drawn from the totality of the evidence. The Commission’s analysis solely focuses on the Gaza strip, but nevertheless, raises serious concerns over the exercise of similar genocidal intent in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by the Israeli state. 

The Commission also notes that events in Gaza, since October 7, 2023, have not occurred in isolation and were preceded by decades of unlawful occupation and repression under an ideology requiring the removal of the Palestinian population from their lands and their replacement. The Commission recommends all Member States to effect an immediate halt to the killing and harming of civilians in Gaza, to guarantee humanitarian access to Gaza, to prevent further destruction of life, and suspend arms transfers or financial assistance that could contribute to further genocidal acts. 

The Commission’s Chair, Navi Pillay, emphasized that the promise of Never Again is broken and tested in the eyes of the world today - the ongoing crisis in Gaza is a moral outrage and a legal emergency - and therefore, the member states must act now, without waiting for the ICJ’s determination, utilizing whatever means possible in their power to stop this genocide.

b. International Association of Genocide Scholars

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution on August 31, 2025, concluding that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. The world’s leading association’s 86% experts, who voted, including Holocaust experts, supported the resolution. The resolution confirms that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in article II of the United Nations Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide (1948), adopted in the wake of the Holocaust.  

The resolution calls on Israel to immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including deliberate attacks against civilians, systematic starvation, blockade of humanitarian aid, sexual violence and forced displacement of the population. The resolution also condemns indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure including schools, hospitals and homes. 

c. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification 

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) - an initiative of 21 aid groups, UN agencies, and regional organizations - confirmed the incidence of man-made famine in Gaza, projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. The report confirms that over half a million in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death. Another 1.07 million people (54 percent) are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 396,000 people (20 percent) are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), while those in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely rise to 1.14 million (58 percent) people. The situation requires urgent action from the international community to restore hope for life in Gaza. 

High-Level Conference on Palestinian Statehood

The High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution is set to resume today at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.  

The New York resolution for Palestinian Statehood, adopted by the General Assembly with 142 (82%) votes in favor, must operationalize member states’ obligation/s to restore the dignity, human rights, and the right to self determination of the people of Palestine, in cognizance of:

.Palestinian statehood is not an act of benevolence, but an inalienable right of the Palestinian people.  

• Any conditions attached to the recognition are against the definition of sovereignty, both in terms of sovereign equality as well as non-interfence in the domestic affairs of a state, as referred to in the Charter. 

• The right to self determination of the Palestinian people must determine who contests the elections in Palestine, and cannot be a dictated condition for recognition.

• The two-state solution cannot be derived out of a narrowly defined or politically manipulated framing of security, which does not include Palestinians’ security.

• Genuine sovereignty would also require recognition of pre-1967 borders as well as expulsion of the Israeli settler-colonials from Palestine.   

• Member States and regional blocks must Walk the Talk on sanctions; stripping off privileges does NOT constitute sanctions, requiring genuine political will to apply meaningful punitive measures to stop Israeli oppression.    

• The Member States must act now to dismantle the political economy of oppression profiting from war and enabling a Genocide, as exposed by the Amnesty International report on Gaza last week. 

Finally, considering the 6th vetoed ceasefire resolution at the Security Council, in the face of a genocide, testament to its failure to maintain peace and security, it is high time that the UN General Assembly operationalized the Uniting for Peace resolution 377 (V), as 2/3rd majority is evident, to ensure the protection of the people of Palestine. Moreover, NO member state should be allowed to hold the UN hostage for housing its headquarters, or any of its offices, or to damage its founding principles of protecting peace and security and human rights around the world. The situation also presses the need for the long-awaited critical imperative of reforming the Security Council in the interest of credibility and relevance of the Council, and UN at large. 

(APRCEM is a civil society platform aimed to enable stronger cross constituency coordination and ensure that voices of all sub-regions of Asia Pacific are heard in intergovernmental processes in regional and global level. The platform is initiated, owned and driven by the CSOs, and seeks to engage with UN systems and Member States on the sustainable development issues/processes.)