A U.N. commission concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza
The landmark finding was led by Navi Pillay, later named the 2026 Nobel Peace laureate.
Reuters World News · US execution livestream, Nobel peace prize and a Siberian plague scareA United Nations commission concluded in 2025 that Israel had carried out genocide in Gaza.
The finding came in a landmark report from the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, led by South African judge Navi Pillay, who had presided over cases at the U.N. tribunal for Rwanda. The 2025 report made global headlines.
The commission is an investigative body, not a court, and it cannot bring criminal charges. Its conclusion is its own assessment, not a legal verdict.
Questions people ask
Who is Navi Pillay?
Navi Pillay is a South African lawyer and judge. She served as a judge on the International Criminal Court, as president of the Rwanda tribunal, and as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.
What counts as genocide under international law?
Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide means acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Those acts include killing, causing serious harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions meant to destroy the group. The question of intent is usually the hardest part to prove.