United Nations human rights experts urged [7] on May 7 that the international community must act immediately to end the intensifying violence in Gaza.
The experts stated that since the end of the ceasefire, which started [9] on Jan. 19 and ended [10] on March 18, there have been yet harsher attacks on the population in Gaza: "Escalating atrocities in Gaza present an urgent moral crossroads and States must act now to end the violence or bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza—an outcome with irreversible consequences for our shared humanity and multilateral order."
The human rights experts claimed that the continuous attacks on civilians and health facilities enter the realm of crimes against humanity and war crimes under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute [11], respectively. The experts said:
No one is spared—not the children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily—peaking on 18 March 2025 with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children.
The experts added:
The world is watching. Will Member States live up to their obligations and intervene to stop the slaughter, hunger, and disease, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity that are perpetrated daily in complete impunity?
There is an ongoing discussion on whether the atrocities can be labelled as genocide under the Genocide Convention [12]. For example, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories issued a report [13] last year proposing reasonable grounds to believe that the genocide threshold was met. However, countries are generally reluctant to label acts as "genocide" because it is a peremptory norm [14], or jus cogens, a fundamental principle of international law, mandating action under the Convention.
Ultimately, the human rights experts claimed that the effectiveness of international law depends on the willingness of the international community. They emphasized: "The decision is stark: remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution. The global conscience has awakened, if asserted—despite the moral abyss we are descending into—justice will ultimately prevail."
From JURIST [15], May 10. Used with permission.
See our last report on genocide accusations [16] against Israel.
