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A United Nations (UN) inquiry into the Gaza war has found that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and severe international law violations in the early stages. The report, covering events until the end of 2023, details routine disregard for international law by both sides, leading to a deeply divisive conflict.
Starting on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, the UN documented war crimes, including attacks on civilians, murder, torture, and hostage-taking. Israel’s response led to widespread destruction in Gaza and over 37,000 deaths, according to Gaza health authorities.
In the first two months, Israel was found to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as starvation, arbitrary detention, and killing and maiming thousands of children. Both sides were accused of sexual violence, torture, and intentional attacks on civilians.
The findings, based on extensive evidence, add to previous allegations by international bodies. According to reports, Israel dismissed the findings as the result of anti-Israeli bias while Hamas has not responded to them.
The UN is also investigating the involvement of both Israeli and Palestinian forces in a deadly military operation in Gaza on June 8. The operation by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rescued four hostages, while Gazan authorities reported 274 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured.
In early June, the IDF announced it had operational control over two central Gaza areas and continued airstrikes and incursions. On June 9, Benny Gantz resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government, citing concerns over military operations and lack of post-war planning.
The International Criminal Court recently sought arrest warrants for several Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Both Hamas and Israel have condemned these charges.
In its statement on Tuesday evening, Hamas called for a complete halt to fighting in Gaza by submitting its formal response to the US-backed plan for a ceasefire in Gaza. Initially, neither Hamas nor Israel had agreed to the ceasefire and hostage release terms proposed by United States President Joe Biden.
According to a news agency, the Iran-backed group and its Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) allies said, “The response prioritises the interests of our Palestinian people and emphasises the necessity of a complete halt to the ongoing aggression on Gaza.”
The groups added they were ready “to engage positively to reach an agreement that ends this war”.
The ceasefire plan—backed by the UN Security Council on Monday night—calls for a six-week ceasefire that would eventually become permanent.
Qatar and Egypt – who, along with the US, support negotiations between Israel and Hamas – said that they also received a reply from the Palestinian group.
Earlier, on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Netanyahu had reiterated his support for the Gaza ceasefire plan, awaiting Hamas’s response.
The plan introduced by US President Biden last month involves an initial six-week ceasefire, with Hamas releasing some hostages in exchange for Israel releasing an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase would witness Hamas releasing the remaining hostages and the Israeli forces fully withdrawing from Gaza as part of a “permanent” ceasefire, but the latter would be subject to negotiations.
The detailed Israeli proposal, reportedly more extensive than Biden’s summary, remains unpublished, so any differences from the US President’s May 31 statement are unknown. It was given to Hamas shortly before Biden’s speech.
On June 11, a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Jouaiya. According to a news agency, the bomb strike hit Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, in the town of Jouaiya, killing him and three others.
The commander for the central region of Lebanon’s southern border, Abdallah, was the most senior from the group to be killed since the war broke out. He was also senior to Wissam al-Tawil – another dominant Hezbollah commander killed in January.
During the Israel-Hamas war, regional tensions have spilt over. Hezbollah in Lebanon has clashed with the IDF, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea, and Iran-backed groups have attacked U.S. military positions in Iraq and Syria.
The attempt to rescue over 100 remaining hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 has largely failed, with their status unknown. Since October 2023, almost two million Gazans, over 85 per cent of the population, have fled their homes.
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