A new UN report that reasserts the charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and documents its continuation even after the October 2025 “ceasefire” triggered sharp exchanges two days ago at the United Nations between Israeli and American diplomats on one side and the Indian head of the UN commission which authored the report, retired Justice S. Muralidhar, on the other.Below are Justice Muralidhar’s initial remarks at the UN General Assembly.§Distinguished Chair. Excellencies, colleagues.Today I present to you the Commission’s report focusing on killings and bodily and mental harm by state actors in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023. This is the Commission’s third report to the General Assembly since the genocide in Gaza started in October 2023. Yet, little or no action is being taken by Israel or Member States to stop the atrocities against the Palestinian people highlighted by this Commission.Failure to act now is particularly egregious against the backdrop of the staggering death toll, which has continued to rise since the so-called ‘ceasefire’. Over 75,000 Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been killed since 7 October 2023, including at least 21,500 children and 11,000 women. It is an outrage that these actions have been allowed to continue unabated.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.The report presented today concludes that Israeli authorities and forces have continued to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide even after the so-called ceasefire agreement. Israel continues to expand its territorial control in Gaza resulting in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians, including children, who approach or cross the Yellow Line. The Commission’s findings on continuous harm to civilians since the ceasefire stand in contrast to the Board of Peace’s report to the Security Council in May this year, which claimed that the ceasefire has largely held, bringing “enormous relief to the civilian populations”.Meanwhile the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since 7 October 2023 and the number of Palestinian fatalities has increased significantly. The Commission finds that the Israeli authorities intended that military operations and settler violence to form part of a coordinated attack against Palestinians since 7 October 2023, both serving common objectives: the entrenchment of Israeli settlements, the annexation of Palestinian territory and the displacement of Palestinians from their land.The Commission concludes that Israel has committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the West Bank. Israel has also committed the crime against humanity of persecution in the West Bank where the permissive rules of engagement are implemented in a discriminatory manner, applying exclusively to Palestinians. The conduct of the Israeli authorities and forces form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable.Excellencies,In June this year, the Commission published a report detailing violations and crimes against Palestinian children across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Commission investigated many cases where Palestinian children were deliberately targeted on account of their status as children. Today’s report concludes that age-based persecution against Palestinian children has also been committed by Israel in the West Bank, as previously concluded in relation to Gaza.Sexual, reproductive and other forms of gendered violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence amounting to torture, continue to be used by Israeli forces to displace, subjugate and destabilize the Palestinian people. In Gaza sexual violence continues to be a part of a pattern to destroy the Palestinians as a group, while in the West Bank it forms part of the widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population. The victims are targeted on the basis of being Palestinian, as well as their perceived political affiliation, gender and sexual orientation.Also read: UN Inquiry Says Israel Continues Genocide in Gaza Through Deliberate Targeting of Palestinian ChildrenExcellencies,As part of a broader investigation into the root causes of recurrent tensions and protraction of conflict, the report outlines the key drivers of Israeli violence and concludes that Israel has striven to expand territorially and displace Palestinians through violence since the 1947-48 war.Israel’s policy of seizing maximum land while minimizing the Palestinian population is rooted in historical practices and patterns of action, resulting in an excessive and discriminatory application of lethal force, displacement, and injuring and killing Palestinians over generations.Excellencies,The report also examines Palestinian state violence and concludes that Palestinian security forces have increasingly used unnecessary or disproportionate force against Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October 2023.The Commission concludes that the Palestinian Authority has failed to conduct effective and impartial investigations into incidents of killings and to ensure effective remedy to victims and their family members.The State of Palestine must cease the targeting of human rights defenders and other civil society actors. Palestinian authorities must conduct independent investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and provide remedies for victims.Excellencies,Israel should immediately comply with the advisory opinion of July 2024 of the International Court of Justice and end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, evacuate all settlements, and remove obstructions to the full exercise of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Most urgently, Israel must also end the commission international crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including genocide in Gaza.Member States must also fulfil their obligations under international law. States must not render any form of political, military, economic or financial aid or assistance or cooperation in maintaining Israel’s unlawful occupation and its settlements. Member States must employ all means available to them to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. Finally, States should cooperate with and support the International Criminal Court, particularly amidst the recent sanctions levied by the United States against the Court and its officials.Finally, I deeply regret having to address the Members of the 3rd Committee by video and not being physically present in the room with you. Regrettably, I have not received a visa despite my best efforts to secure one and comply with the requirements. As a result, the voices of the victims and witnesses which form the basis of the Commission’s findings are reduced to mere electronic transmissions rather than through personal engagement.I thank you.Retired Justice S. Muralidhar is the Chair of the Independent International Commission on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.