QADER welcomes the report of the International Commission of Inquiry: UN confirmation of the realization of four forms of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

QADER for Community Development welcomes the report issued by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), chaired by Ms. Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, former Judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The report concluded that four out of five forms of genocide have been established in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with Article 2 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its corresponding provision in Article 6 of the ICC Statute. These are:

· Killing members of the group (Palestinians).

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

· Deliberately subjecting the group to living conditions intended to destroy them, in whole or in part.

· Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

This UN report fully aligns with the legal analysis and comprehensive reports issued by QADER since April 2024 regarding the aggression on Gaza, including legal characterizations under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law, and their impact on the most vulnerable groups, particularly persons with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian territory.

UN Commission Recommendations

The International Commission of Inquiry emphasized the following key recommendations:

· Urging the Government of Israel to immediately comply with its international legal obligations, including “ending the genocide in Gaza,” and to fully implement the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

· Stressing the need for Israel to end its policy of starvation, lift the blockade on Gaza, ensure broad and unhindered humanitarian access, and allow all UN personnel unrestricted entry, including UNRWA, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other international humanitarian agencies.

· Calling for the immediate cessation of activities by the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”

· Recommending that all Member States halt the transfer of arms and other equipment that could be used to commit or incite genocide to Israel, ensure that individuals or companies under their jurisdiction are not complicit, and take accountability measures through investigations and legal proceedings.

Responsibility for Immediate and Comprehensive Implementation

QADER stressed that the responsibility for immediate and disability-inclusive implementation of the Commission’s recommendations lies with the Israeli occupying authorities, third-party states (all UN member states), the UN Secretary-General, UN agencies, and international organizations. This obligation stems from international law and the ICJ’s ongoing case brought by South Africa against Israel for genocide under the Genocide Convention.

QADER further stresses that a direct obligation exists to establish an urgent “roadmap” to implement the historic ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 on the illegality of the occupation in the Palestinian territories and its consequences, as well as the historic UN General Assembly resolution of 18 September 2024 (A/RES/ES-10/24), which affirmed the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and demanded its termination within twelve months of the resolution’s issuance—a deadline that expires today.

QADER recalls that the binding mechanisms under the UNGA resolution include refraining by all states from establishing any diplomatic, military, economic, commercial, investment, or legal relations that consolidate the illegal occupation; creating an international mechanism for compensation for all damages and losses caused by Israel’s occupation; establishing an international registry of harm inflicted on the Palestinian people; ending the culture of impunity; establishing a follow-up mechanism to dismantle the apartheid system in the occupied Palestinian territories; and requiring the UN Secretary-General to report periodically to the Security Council on the implementation of the resolution and any violations, ensuring the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination.

QADER affirms that the international community is facing an unprecedented legal and moral test. Failure to implement these recommendations and UN resolutions amounts to complicity in the crime of genocide and entrenches a culture of impunity. Therefore, the responsibility of states and international organizations is no longer a matter of political choice but a binding legal and moral obligation to protect the Palestinian people and guarantee their inalienable rights.

It is worth noting that the permanent and independent International Commission of Inquiry was established by a resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 27 May 2021 (A/HRC/RES/S-30/1), mandated to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, whether occurring before or after 13 April 2021. The Commission is also tasked with addressing the root causes underlying the protracted conflict, including systemic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial, or religious identity.

While welcoming this UN report, QADER emphasizes that the effective implementation of its recommendations, based on binding international frameworks, is the only path to ending the crime of genocide, holding perpetrators accountable before international justice, and ensuring the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people—foremost among them the right to life, freedom, human dignity, and self-determination—through a disability-inclusive approach. QADER stresses that continued double standards undermine the entire international legal system. Immediate cessation of aggression in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories, lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and ensuring no impunity constitute legal and moral obligations for the international community to uphold the credibility of international justice and protect humanity as a whole.