More than a human can bear

Pearls and Irritations
John Menadue's Public Policy Journal

 

More than a human can bear

By Chris Sidoti

Mar 26, 2025

Two weeks ago, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel published a report, “More than a human can bear”: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since 7 October 2023.

Our report finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination. It also concludes that Israel has carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.

The report documents a broad range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys across the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023 that constitutes a major element in the ill-treatment of Palestinians and are part of the unlawful occupation and persecution of Palestinians as a group.

The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender-based crimes perpetrated across the Occupied Palestinian Territory has led the Commission to conclude that gender-based violence is increasingly used as a method of war by Israel to destabilise, dominate, oppress and destroy the Palestinian people. The Commission documented a pattern of sexual violence, including cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and other inhumane acts, that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The climate of impunity for these crimes sends a clear message to members of the Israeli Security Forces that they can continue committing such acts without fear of accountability.

The Commission found that Israeli forces have systematically destroyed sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities across Gaza. They have simultaneously imposed a siege and prevented humanitarian assistance, including the provision of necessary medication and equipment to ensure safe pregnancies, deliveries and post-partum and neonatal care.

Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare, amounting to two categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention, including deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

The report summarises the findings of our investigation since October 2023 into these issues. It represents the first in-depth UN investigation into sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence by the Israeli Security Forces and settlers since October 2023. It is based on interviews with victims and witnesses, some of whom appeared during the public hearings the Commission held in Geneva on 11 and 12 March.

During these two days, the Commission heard from victims and witnesses of sexual and reproductive violence and medical personnel who assisted them, as well as representatives from civil society, academics, lawyers and medical experts.

The objective of the hearings was to obtain direct testimony from victims and witnesses with a view to ensuring legal accountability and justice for victims, as well as giving a platform for the voices of survivors and witnesses. The hearings were webcast on UN TV and are available on the UN Human Rights Council site. I recommend that you take a moment to listen to the victims and witnesses participating in these hearings.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to obstruct the Commission’s investigations and prevent its access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. As mentioned in the report several requests for information and access were sent the government of Israel, including requests for information on specific cases of sexual and gender-based violence carried out by member of the Israeli Security Forces.

The Commission has not received any information about prosecutions of members of the Israeli Security Forces or settlers for sexual violence committed since October 2023.