[Statement] The Government of Israel Must Immediately End Its On-going Genocide against the Palestinian People and Occupation of Palestinian Territory

February 3, 2026

Israel, Palestine (OPT), Accountability for gross human rights violations, Armed conflict, Extrajudicial killings / war crime and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Violation under armed conflicts/military operation, UN Activity

HRN has submitted a written statement to the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva condemning the government of Israel’s on-going genocide against Palestinians and occupation of their territory.

You can read the full text below and the official UN document in pdf format here: 69873_Gaza_A_HRC_61_NGO_Sub_EN.pdf

The Government of Israel Must Immediately End Its On-going Genocide against the Palestinian People and Occupation of Palestinian Territory

Human Rights Now (HRN) condemns the government of Israel’s on-going genocide against the Palestinian people, carried out via continued attacks on Palestinian civilians in violation of the October 10th ceasefire and illegal restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and its continued illegal occupation of Palestinian territory in flagrant violation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, as articulated by the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2024 advisory opinion and reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly.[1]

HRN calls on individual states and the international community to fulfill their obligations to take effective measures to end these gross violations of international law, as a matter of the greatest urgency. Such measures should include comprehensive economic sanctions and arms embargoes.

Attacks on Civilians

Since 7 October 2023, Israel has relentlessly attacked civilian targets in Gaza, leaving over 70,000 Gazans dead.[2] As of 21 August 2025, approximately 83% of Palestinians killed in Gaza were civilians.[3] A ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, but Israeli attacks have continued to cause mass civilian casualties, including a day-long bombardment on 28 October 2025 killing over 100 Palestinians, 46 of them children.[4] As of 21 January 2026, Israel has reportedly violated the ceasefire 1,300 times, causing 470 civilian deaths and 1,287 injuries.[5] According to UNICEF, 2 children have been killed each day on average since the cease-fire.[6] Multiple Palestinian human rights organisations have also reported the use of AI systems which create automated kill lists of Palestinians suspected of being associated with Hamas.[7]

Illegal restrictions on humanitarian aid

Since the ceasefire began, Israel has failed to allow sufficient humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, including food, medicine, fuel, cooking gas, and shelter material, despite the ceasefire deal specifying there was to be no such “interference from both parties.”[8] Restrictions based on alleged “dual-use” concerns have resulted in aid deliveries falling far short of the agreed level of 600 trucks per day.[9]

UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Natalie Boucly warned that Israel’s continued restrictions on aid flagrantly violate both the ceasefire and international law.[10] As the occupying power, Israel is required under international humanitarian law to ensure the provision of food, medical supplies, and collective relief to the civilian population.[11] These obligations were reaffirmed in the provisional measures the ICJ issued in January,[12] March[13] and May[14] 2024 in the South Africa v. Israel case, in which it ordered Israel to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Gazan population, and by the Court’s October 2025 Advisory Opinion, which held that Israel must ensure Palestinians had the “essential supplies of daily life” and co-operate with UNRWA in its delivery of aid.[15]

In brazen violation of these obligations, on 30 December 2025 Israel suspended multiple organizations’ operations providing vital aid in Gaza, preventing delivery. The decision, condemned by the UN Secretary-General as “deeply concerning,”[16] represents a serious breach of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law and risks prolonging the humanitarian crisis further.

On 29 July 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) announced a “worst-case scenario of Famine” (IPC Phase 5) was unfolding in Gaza.[17] On 30 November 2025, following the ceasefire, the IPC revised its projections, announcing that “food security conditions have improved” but “the situation remains critical”, warning that until April 2026, 1.6 million people are still projected to face a food security Crisis or worse conditions (IPC Phase 3 or above), with 571,000 in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) conditions and 1,900 in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) conditions.[18] Despite this minor improvement, 79% of households remain unable to buy sufficient food or have access to clean water due to high prices and a lack of nutrient rich foods such as proteins.[19] FAO, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO warn that “hunger, malnutrition, disease and the scale of agricultural destruction remain alarmingly high”[20] in Gaza, rendering it increasingly vulnerable to slipping back into a Phase 5 famine conditions.

The humanitarian catastrophe created by aid restrictions has been exacerbated by the policy of forcible displacement and Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. Seeking safe shelter from continued attacks or in compliance with Israeli orders, 90% of Gazans have been displaced at least once from their homes since the conflict began,[21] with 730,000 forced to flee since the ceasefire’s start.[22] Displaced Gazans have been forced to live in makeshift camps with damaged infrastructure. Extreme winter conditions also continue to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, with Storm Byron in December 2025 causing extensive flooding and dozens of deaths.[23] As of 27 January, 11 children have frozen to death in makeshift shelters.[24] UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that 16,500 civilians remain awaiting medical evacuation for treatment abroad, as 94% of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.[25]

On-going genocide

In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on OPT and Israel (COI) concluded, following a two year examination involving 16,500 pieces of documented evidence, that Israel’s conduct in the conflict amounted to genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention by exhibiting four of the five categories of acts of genocide.[26] The Commission’s conclusion echoed those reached earlier by human rights organizations,[27] scholars,[28] and UN special rapporteurs,[29] including the UN special rapporteurs for the right to health and on OPT.[30]

While the number of Palestinians killed by direct violence has lessened since the ceasefire, there has been no fundamental change in the conditions on which the findings of genocide have been based. Israel continues to target and kill civilians and carry out other genocidal acts, including the imposition of conditions of life intended to destroy the Palestinian people via illegal and on-going restrictions on humanitarian aid and essential supplies and equipment for reconstruction.

Illegal Occupation

According to the ICJ’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion, Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is illegal and must end as rapidly as possible. Israel has ignored this ruling, continuing its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and subjecting the Palestinian population to on-going violence, displacement, and restrictions on movement.

Although the ceasefire agreement envisaged direct Israeli control over approximately half of Gaza, reporting indicates that Israel has taken control of roughly 58%, establishing a militarised “Yellow Line” that extends beyond agreed boundaries.[31] BBC analyses have documented the demolition of at least 1,500 buildings during the ceasefire period alone,[32] while UN briefings estimate that over 84% of structures across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, rising to over 90% in Gaza City, a transparent violation of the IHL prohibition on “the destruction of civilian property by an occupying power.”[33]

Civilians approaching the poorly defined Yellow Line have also been killed by Israeli forces. On 29 November 2025, an Israeli drone killed Fadi and Juma Abu Assi, aged eight and ten, in Bani Suheila; the IDF acknowledged the strike, unjustifiably claiming they had engaged in “suspicious activities” and posed an “immediate threat.”[34]

Israel’s indefinite occupation, reportedly to be replaced by an external overseeing body, the recently created Board of Peace—chaired by US President Donald Trump, who has reportedly worked on a plan for mass forced displacement of one million Palestinians from Gaza[35]—represents an existential threat to Palestinian right to self-determination.[36] This illegal occupation extends to the West Bank, where Israeli settlers backed by the IDF continue to kill Palestinians, establish illegal settlements, and destroy the livelihood of many Palestinian families in an effort to displace them.[37]

Recommendations

We demand that the government of Israel:

Immediately end all use of force in Gaza and its commission of genocide and other international crimes against the Palestinian people;
Respect its obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza;
Remove all barriers to the entry of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza and facilitate full access to the aid by all Palestinians, in full co-operation with UN and other relevant international bodies, in particular UNRWA;
End its illegal occupation of OPT.

We further call on the international community and all states to:

Immediately implement effective measures, including comprehensive economic sanctions and arms embargoes, to bring an end to Israel’s gross violations of international law against Palestinians;
Support accountability measures against Israeli officials and soldiers for genocide and other international crimes, including by supporting the work of the International Criminal Court and by carrying out domestic investigations and prosecutions of suspects on the basis of universal jurisdiction;
Officially recognize the state of Palestine and support Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

__________

[1] A/RES/ES-10/24

[2] https://palestine.un.org/en/307014-amid-violence-and-displacement-reproductive-health-crisis-gaza

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/aug/21/revealed-israeli-militarys-own-data-indicates-civilian-death-rate-of-83-in-gaza-war

[4] Id.

[5] https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/01/21/356224/

[6] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/gaza-awash-with-iphones-and-chocolate-but-not-fresh-food/

[7] https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

[8] https://docs.un.org/en/s/res/2803

[9] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/gaza-awash-with-iphones-and-chocolate-but-not-fresh-food/

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/15/israel-breaching-international-law-by-limiting-gaza-aid-says-unrwa-official

[11] https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949