UN Committee: Targeting of Schools and Cultural Sites in Gaza Amounts to Genocide
DaysofPal – A United Nations international commission of inquiry has concluded that Israel's systematic attacks on schools, religious institutions, and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of genocide.
In its newly released report, the committee stated that the Israeli occupation's deliberate targeting of Palestinian educational, cultural, and religious infrastructure has inflicted severe, long-term damage on Gaza's society, eroding not only its present but also its future. This destruction, the report argues, effectively undermines the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.
The inquiry accuses Israel of having deliberately dismantled Gaza's educational system and damaged or destroyed more than half of its religious and cultural landmarks. These actions are part of what the commission describes as a 'relentless, large-scale assault on the Palestinian people,' during which Israeli forces have committed war crimes and genocidal acts.
Judge Navi Pillay of South Africa, chair of the commission, emphasized in an official statement that there is mounting evidence of a systematic Israeli campaign to erase Palestinian existence in Gaza. 'This is not collateral damage — it is targeted erasure,' Pillay said.
The commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 and tasked with investigating alleged violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories. It comprises three prominent experts in international law and human rights.
The findings come amid what observers are calling a deliberate campaign to eradicate Gaza's cultural and historical identity. In addition to military operations against civilian populations, Israeli forces have been accused of deliberately targeting cultural institutions such as museums, libraries, mosques, and churches.
Gaza, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, is home to an archaeological heritage that spans multiple civilizations — Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic. These legacies are now under existential threat as Israeli airstrikes and shelling raze centuries-old structures and cultural treasures.
The report also highlights the symbolic and strategic significance of this destruction. By wiping out the institutions that preserve Palestinian knowledge, memory, and identity, the occupation seeks to dismantle the cultural foundation necessary for any future Palestinian self-governance or national revival.
This damning UN report adds to the growing chorus of international voices accusing Israel of employing genocide as a tactic of war in Gaza. The international community, however, remains divided over accountability, with several Western governments continuing to provide military and diplomatic cover to Israel despite mounting legal and humanitarian concerns.
The commission has called for urgent international intervention to halt the destruction and protect what remains of Gaza's heritage, educational infrastructure, and civilian life, warning that inaction will only further entrench the mechanisms of genocide and cultural annihilation.
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