ICSPR International Commissions of Inquiry into Gaza Crimes Are Being Hollowed Out by Israeli Rejection and Complicit International Silence
Date: January 31, 2025
Press Release
ICSPR: International Commissions of Inquiry into Gaza Crimes Are Being Hollowed Out by Israeli Rejection and Complicit International Silence
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR – Hashd) has issued a fact sheet titled “Commissions of Inquiry: UN Mechanisms Between Israeli Freezing and the Obstruction of Justice,” prepared by researcher Lubna Deeb. The paper examines the reality of international commissions of inquiry established to investigate Israeli crimes committed against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and the reasons behind their failure to achieve justice and accountability.
The paper affirms that what Gaza has endured over two years of continuous aggression—resulting in the killing of more than 71,000 civilians, the majority of whom are women and children—can only be understood within the framework of genocide. It notes that the continuation of these crimes has been accompanied by international complicity and political silence, enabling the occupying power to evade accountability despite the multiplicity of international criminal and investigative pathways.
The paper highlights patterns of grave crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, including deliberate killing, starvation, forced displacement, mass displacement, targeting of residential buildings and shelters, the imposition of a comprehensive siege and closure of crossings, and ultimately ethnic cleansing, all constituting flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
ICSPR explains that commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions are among the most important non-judicial UN mechanisms. They are tasked with documenting violations, analyzing systematic patterns, preserving evidence, identifying responsibilities, and issuing reports that form a legal basis for international accountability measures. However, their effectiveness in the Palestinian context has been systematically undermined by Israel’s refusal to cooperate and its prevention of access to the occupied territories.
The paper reviews the history of commissions of inquiry formed on Gaza, beginning with the Desmond Tutu Commission in 2006, followed by the Goldstone Commission in 2009, which concluded that war crimes and serious violations had been committed, the William Schabas Commission in 2014, and culminating in the Independent International Commission, which concluded that the occupying authorities committed acts amounting to genocide under the criteria of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The paper further shows that the occupying power has persistently worked to obstruct the work of these commissions by refusing cooperation, challenging their impartiality, denying them entry, and dismissing their findings. This has contributed to stripping these mechanisms of their legal impact and turning international justice into a slow and ineffective process in the face of large-scale and systematic crimes.
ICSPR stresses that the continuation of this approach reflects a blatant double standard in international justice, whereby international law is left without effective enforcement mechanisms when it comes to crimes of occupation. This has undermined the credibility of the international system and entrenched impunity as a prevailing norm.
In conclusion, ICSPR calls on the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities, compel the occupying power to implement an immediate ceasefire, allow the immediate entry of commissions of inquiry and international media, ensure the implementation of orders issued by the International Court of Justice, lift the siege, halt the policy of starvation, and guarantee unhindered access for humanitarian aid and UN personnel.
The Commission affirms that international silence is no longer neutrality, but explicit complicity, warning that the continued obstruction of international justice in relation to what is happening in Gaza threatens what remains of the international legal system and legitimizes mass crimes against peoples living under occupation.
