UN inquiry says Israel and Hamas have both committed war crimes since October 7

CNN News

Published: June 12,2024 12:42 PM(EAT)

A United Nations inquiry into the first few months of the war in Gaza has found both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and grave violations of international law, in the body’s first in-depth investigation into the October 7 attacks and the ensuing conflict.

The damning reports released Wednesday, which cover events up to the end of 2023, paint an alarming picture of both sides routinely disregarding international law in a devastating conflict that has now raged for more than eight months, bitterly dividing global opinion and sending tensions soaring across the Middle East.

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry’s reports begin on October 7, the day Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched a murder and kidnapping spree in southern Israel which killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw some 250 people taken hostage.

War crimes cited by the commission that day included intentionally directing attacks against civilians, murder or willful killing, torture, inhuman or cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and taking hostages, including children.

The massacres that day prompted Israel to declare war on Hamas and launch an assault on Gaza that has destroyed much of the heavily populated enclave and killed more than 37,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.

Both Israel and Hamas committed sexual violence and torture, and intentionally attacked civilians, according to the reports, which span more than 200 pages.