Because the word “humanity” has multiple meanings, it was first used to refer to the attribute of being human in 1384. More recently, in 1450, it also took on another meaning as a synonym of mankind; the phrase “crimes against humanity” may be interpreted broadly. The phrase’s original meaning is evident from its context in documents about the Nuremberg trials.
Certain grave offenses carried out as a component of a widespread assault against civilians are classified as crimes against humanity. Crimes against humanity, in contrast to war crimes, can be committed against both foreign and domestic citizens of a state, and they can occur in times of peace as well as conflict. Crimes against humanity are among the fundamental crimes of international criminal law, along with war crimes, genocide, and crimes of aggression. Similar to other crimes against international law, they are prosecutable without regard to time or jurisdiction in jurisdictions where universal jurisdiction is acknowledged.
As part of a larger assault on Gaza, Israel has carried out a coordinated policy to destroy the healthcare system, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with constant and intentional attacks on medical personnel and facilities, according to a new report released today by Israel and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The Commission also looked into the treatment of Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza since October 7, 2023, as well as Palestinian detainees in Israel. It concluded that torture and acts of sexual and gender-based violence are the fault of both Israel and Palestinian armed groups.
The Commission’s Chair, Navi Pillay, declared, “Israel must immediately cease its unprecedented wanton destruction of healthcare facilities in Gaza.” Israel is attacking the right to health itself by attacking healthcare facilities, which will have grave long-term consequences for the general populace. Children have been particularly hard hit by these attacks, bearing the consequences of the health system’s collapse both directly and indirectly.
According to the study, as Israeli security forces tightened their siege on Gaza and restricted permissions for medical care outside the area, they killed, arrested, and tortured medical staff on purpose. They also targeted medical vehicles. These acts amount to crimes against humanity of extermination, deliberate death and torture, and destruction of property owned by protected civilians.
According to the research, attacks on Gaza’s medical institutions, especially those that provide pediatric and neonatal care, have caused unimaginable pain for patients, including babies. Israel has violated children’s right to life, denied them access to basic healthcare, and purposefully created living conditions that will likely destroy generations of Palestinian children and possibly the Palestinian people as a whole by carrying out these atrocities.
In one of the most heinous examples, the Commission looked into the deaths of Hind Rajab, age five, and her extended family as well as the two paramedics who were dispatched to save her after a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance was shelled. The Commission found, based on reasonable suspicion, that the two paramedics inside the ambulance and the family of seven were killed by an explosion caused by the Israeli Army’s 162nd Division, which was stationed nearby. This is an attack on civilian property and intentional killing, both of which are war crimes.
In addition to violating women’s and girls’ reproductive rights, it also violates their rights to life, health, human dignity, and non-discrimination. Deliberately destroying health infrastructure that provides sexual and reproductive healthcare is a crime against humanity, as is the lack of access to healthcare.
The report found that thousands of adult and child detainees—many of whom were arbitrarily detained—had experienced widespread and systematic abuse, physical and psychological violence, and sexual and gender-based violence amounting to the war crimes of torture and crime against humanity, as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence. These incidents occurred during the detention of Palestinians in Israeli military camps and detention facilities. Male detainees endured assaults on their sex and reproductive systems, including rape, and were made to perform painful and taxing tasks while nude or stripped as a kind of coercion or punishment to get information. War crimes of deliberate killing or murder and violations of the right to life are committed when captives die as a result of mistreatment or neglect.
The UN Commission determined that Israeli attacks on Gaza’s health facilities and how detainees and hostages are treated amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity on 10 October 2024.
As part of a larger assault on Gaza, Israel has carried out a coordinated policy to destroy the healthcare system, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with constant and intentional attacks on medical personnel and facilities, according to a new report released today by Israel and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The Commission also looked into the treatment of Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza since October 7, 2023, as well as Palestinian detainees in Israel. It concluded that torture and acts of sexual and gender-based violence are the fault of both Israel and Palestinian armed groups.
The Commission’s Chair, Navi Pillay, declared, “Israel must immediately cease its unprecedented wanton destruction of healthcare facilities in Gaza.” Israel is attacking the right to health itself by attacking healthcare facilities, which will have grave long-term consequences for the general populace. Children have been particularly hard hit by these attacks, bearing the consequences of the health system’s collapse both directly and indirectly.
According to the study, as Israeli security forces tightened their siege on Gaza and restricted permissions for medical care outside the area, they killed, arrested, and tortured medical staff on purpose. They also targeted medical vehicles. These acts amount to crimes against humanity of extermination, deliberate death and torture, and destruction of property owned by protected civilians.
According to the research, attacks on Gaza’s medical institutions, especially those that provide pediatric and neonatal care, have caused unimaginable pain for patients, including babies. Israel has violated children’s right to life, denied them access to basic healthcare, and purposefully created living conditions that will likely destroy generations of Palestinian children and possibly the Palestinian people as a whole by carrying out these atrocities.
In one of the most heinous examples, the Commission looked into the deaths of Hind Rajab, age five, and her extended family as well as the two paramedics who were dispatched to save her after a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance was shelled. The Commission found, based on reasonable suspicion, that the two paramedics inside the ambulance and the family of seven were killed by an explosion caused by the Israeli Army’s 162nd Division, which was stationed nearby. This is an attack on civilian property and intentional killing, both of which are war crimes.
In addition to violating women’s and girls’ reproductive rights, it also violates their rights to life, health, human dignity, and non-discrimination. Deliberately destroying health infrastructure that provides sexual and reproductive healthcare is a crime against humanity, as is the lack of access to healthcare.
The report found that thousands of adult and child detainees—many of whom were arbitrarily detained—had experienced widespread and systematic abuse, physical and psychological violence, and sexual and gender-based violence amounting to the war crimes of torture and crime against humanity, as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence. These incidents occurred during the detention of Palestinians in Israeli military camps and detention facilities. Male detainees endured assaults on their sex and reproductive systems, including rape, and were made to perform painful and taxing tasks while nude or stripped as a kind of coercion or punishment to get information. War crimes of deliberate killing or murder and violations of the right to life are committed when captives die as a result of mistreatment or neglect.
After being freed from Israeli custody, children who were detained as children returned to Gaza unaccompanied, traumatized, and unable to find or contact their relatives.
According to the report, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli Minister in charge of the prison system, gave direct orders for the systematic abuse of Palestinian detainees, a long-standing feature of the occupation. The abuse was also encouraged by statements made by the Israeli government that called for violence and retaliation.
“Accountability and reparations for the victims are required for the horrifying acts of abuse committed against Palestinian detainees,” stated Pillay. “Such conduct has continued uninterrupted, becoming systematic and institutionalized due to the lack of accountability for actions ordered by senior Israeli authorities and carried out by individual members of Israeli security forces and the increasing acceptance of violence against Palestinians.”
The report revealed that many of the Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian armed groups were subjected to mistreatment that resulted in severe mental and physical suffering. This mistreatment included physical violence, abuse, sexual violence, forced isolation, restricted access to food and water, threats, and humiliation. To further their political objectives, Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions coerced their captives into appearing in movies to torture their families psychologically. Several captives perished while in captivity. The war crimes of torture and brutal or cruel treatment, as well as the crimes against humanity of enforced disappearance and other inhumane actions causing significant suffering or serious injury, were carried out by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups.
“All Israeli and foreign hostages detained in Gaza must be released immediately and without conditions by Palestinian armed groups. Until they are freed, hostages must be handled in compliance with international humanitarian and human rights laws, according to Pillay.
The Commission calls on the Israeli government to immediately stop attacking hospitals, medical personnel, and cars; to stop arbitrarily detaining Palestinians—including minors—and to stop torturing and otherwise mistreating anybody who has been taken into custody.
The Commission demands that the de facto authorities in Gaza and the Government of the State of Palestine guarantee the safe and prompt release of all hostages and conduct a thorough, unbiased investigation and prosecution of any breaches of international law, including the targeting of Israeli medical facilities.
To address the underlying causes of the conflict, the Commission calls on the Government of Israel to abide by the rulings of the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. These directives include ending the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, halting new plans and activities for settlements, evacuating all settlers, and providing compensation to victims. Additionally, it demands that Israel abide by interim directives issued by the International Court of Justice to stop any actions falling under the purview of Article II of the Genocide Convention.
