Gaza War Crimes Probe Vows to Pursue Justice, Accountability

A UN emergency shelter set up amid the ruins of Gaza.

As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, independent rights experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate grave abuses linked to the Hamas–Israel war pledged to continue their work in pursuit of justice and accountability for all.

“The Board of Peace has been set up pursuant to a plan that was submitted to, voted on, and accepted by the Security Council,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.

“As a Commission of Inquiry, we see our task as investigating violations of human rights. That task is the mandate the UN has given us,” he added.

The Commission of Inquiry—one of the Human Rights Council’s top investigative mechanisms—was established by the Council’s 47 member states in May 2021.

In November last year, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2803, welcoming the establishment of the Board of Peace as a “transitional administration” to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza.

Genocide claim

Last September, the Commission’s then chair, former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, said Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led attacks that killed about 1,200 people in Israel in October 2023 and triggered the war. Israel strongly rejected the allegation.

“We need to investigate violations of human rights by all duty-bearers in both territories,” Mr. Muralidhar said, expressing hope that the Commission’s findings “will feed into an adjudicatory system capable of delivering lasting justice to the people in these two territories”.

This year, the Commission plans to investigate “attacks by armed Palestinian militias on others within these two territories”, he said, stressing the panel’s independence.

Responding to questions about the Board of Peace, the chief investigator said he expected the peace plan “to accommodate the interests of all people in the conflict zone”.

At a press conference in Geneva, the panel of independent human rights experts—who do not work for the UN and are unpaid—also condemned the reported killing of three Palestinian journalists in central Gaza in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.

“When you are killing a journalist, it means you have something to hide,” said Commissioner Florence Mumba.

UNRWA focus

The panel also reacted to the destruction of the headquarters of the UN’s Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, highlighting its decades-long role in supporting Palestinians.

“Israel needs to think very carefully before it rejects the work that UNRWA has done—the important work that has relieved Israel of its obligations,” said Chris Sidoti. “There will be consequences for human rights. Children have a right to education, and all people have a right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”

Ms. Pillay retired last October at the age of 83, followed by fellow commissioners Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari.

In November, a new panel was appointed by the Human Rights Council, reappointing Mr. Sidoti alongside jurists Mr. Muralidhar of India and Ms. Mumba of Zambia.

The Commission chair said funding shortages had prevented the panel from investigating arms supplies and settler violence, despite these areas falling within its mandate.

“Because of a lack of financial resources, we could not pursue those areas,” Mr. Muralidhar told journalists.