The UN General Assembly will soon meet amid recent declarations by the UK, Canada, Australia, and France of intention to support recognition of a Palestinian state.
Navi Pillay,, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, spoke to Host of the CBC Program, the Current, Matt Galloway about the conclusion of that UN commission investigating the war in Gaza that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Matt Galloway asked Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer and one of the three members of that UN commission, about the issue of intent, which is crucial in a case like this. The UN ambassador for Israel in Geneva, Daniel Meron, said that the report falsely accuses Israel of genocidal intent, an allegation it cannot substantiate.
Chris Sidoti noted the Genocide Convention defines genocide first by means of five categories of act. The report found that four of those categories are acts that have been committed in Gaza by the Israeli forces since October 2023.
Israel has a responsibility to protect its own citizens and its residents. And for that reason, a response to the Hamas attacks of the 7th of October was legitimate, reasonable and necessary. But it had to be proportionate. The commission of war crimes, as we found by Hamas fighters on the 7th of October, does not justify the commission of war crimes by the Israeli forces. It justifies military action, but the military action must be proportionate and reasonable and necessary.
The Commission seeks to, through our reports, increase the prospects of accountability. The courts, both international and domestic, take our reports seriously. The International Court of Justice, for example, when it delivered its advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation of Palestine last July, quoted extensively from our reports. The International Criminal Court, in issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, in part based their decision making on our reports. (Galloway, n.d.)
Chris Sidoti clarifies that Commission reports are addressed not to Israel and the United States, but to the other 191 countries in the world that have obligations under international law to do something in relation to what is happening in Gaza. We are reminding them of the obligations and we're urging them to act upon them.
An editorial on September 21, 2025 in the Guardian expresses the opinion that UK recognition of a Palestinian state must be a call to action, not conscience-salving.
The mass diplomatic shift is symbolic; the US will continue to block full Palestinian membership of the UN. At best, this is part of a concerted effort to end the war, revive the longer-term prospects for statehood and prevent ethnic cleansing. The UN general assembly overwhelmingly backed a motion calling for a two-state solution earlier this month.
The more cynical reckoning is that governments are scrambling to appease domestic anger at their complicity, and avoiding more substantive steps. Israel looks more isolated by the day. While the Trump administration appears unshiftable, public support in the US too is plummeting. A detailed UN report has found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Yet only two weeks ago, British ministers said that the UK had not reached that conclusion.
But formally announcing the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer remarked: “The hope of a two-state solution is fading but we cannot let that light go out.” Canada and Australia announced recognition too ahead of the United Nations summit in New York on Monday, in a wave spearheaded by France. (the Guardian, n.d.)
Jason Burke and Jon Henley reported to the Guardian that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, according to a UN commission of inquiry. The United Nations independent international commission of inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the UN, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur”, said its head, Navi Pillay.
The COI, set up by the UN in 2021 and staffed by three independent experts, cited the killing of civilians and children in a “scorched-earth military strategy”, starvation and deaths caused by restrictions on food and medicines, mistreatment of detainees, forced displacement and the physical devastation of much of the territory to support its finding.
The COI also accused Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister who has been accused of war crimes by the international criminal court, and other senior Israeli leaders of incitement of genocide, and said there was clear evidence of their genocidal intent, a key legal requirement. (Burke & Henley, 2025)
We are hopefully beginning to see action from the 191 countries in the world that have obligations under international law to do something in relation to what is happening in Gaza.
References
Burke, J., & Henley, J. (2025, September 16). Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, says UN commission of inquiry. The Guardian. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/16/israel-committed-genocide-in-gaza-says-un-inquiry
Galloway, M. (n.d.). Home | The Current with Matt Galloway. CBC News. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent
the Guardian. (n.d.). UK Recognizes Palestine as an Independent State. Latest news, sport and opinion from the Guardian. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/21/uk-recognises-palestine-as-an-independent-state
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