UN experts accuse Israeli forces of sexual and gender-based violence in Gaza

United Nations-backed experts on Thursday accused Israeli forces of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence” in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Chris Sidoti, a member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the report "finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination".

Sidoti also said that the report concludes Israel has carried out "genocidal acts" via the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.

"The commission documented a pattern of sexual violence, including cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, and other inhumane acts that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," Sidoti said, adding that Israel has obstructed the commission's investigations and prevented access not only to Israel proper, but also to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel rejected these allegations, accusing the commission, a UN-designated fact-finding mission, of relying on “second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources”.

The commission also accuses Israeli security forces of subjecting Palestinian detainees to rape and sexual violence.

Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations.

Dozens of patients evacuated each day

The commission's findings may be used as evidence for the International Criminal Court (ICC) or other international bodies that seek to prosecute war crimes.

The ICC has already issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza, which they deny. The court also issued a warrant for Hamas’s military leader, but the militants have since confirmed that he has been killed.

Israel's war against Hamas, triggered by the group's deadly 7 October 2023 incursion into Israel, saw more than 48,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The health ministry's figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Israel-Hamas war has been on pause since January by a fragile ceasefire to allow for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. In the meantime, Israel has obstructed the inflow of aid, medicine and electricity as a pressure tactic against Hamas.

Negotiations over the future of the truce and the release of Israeli hostages are continuing in Qatar, but there are as yet no signs of a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, around 50 patients are being evacuated daily from Gaza by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its local partners.

Among them are cancer, heart disease and haemophilia patients whose regular treatment has been interrupted by the destruction of Gaza's healthcare infrastructure.

While the trickle of medical evacuations is still under way, Israel has renewed its blockade against humanitarian aid and electricity into Gaza.