UN report accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza: What happens next?

A group of independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In a report released on Tuesday, the experts urged the international community to stop the genocide and hold those responsible to account.

The three-member team’s detailed findings are the latest accusations of genocide against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The war in Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people.

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Israel dismissed the findings, calling the report “distorted and false.”

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, set up four years ago, has repeatedly reported alleged human rights violations in Gaza and other Palestinian territories since the 2023 attacks in Israel carried out by Hamas.

While neither the commission nor the 47-member council it reports to can take direct action against any country, their findings can be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice.

With the UN investigators now accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, what charges could the country and its leaders face in international courts, and what happens next?

Let’s take a look:

Which courts are involved?

Two courts based in The Hague are involved — the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

These two are often confused, even by experienced observers.

The ICC, created in 2002, prosecutes individuals accused of the world’s most serious crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The ICJ, which has existed since 1948, deals with legal disputes between countries, usually when one country accuses another of violating an international treaty.

What impact could the report have?

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the UN, said that “genocide is occurring in Gaza,” according to commission chief Navi Pillay in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Pillay said her team had given “thousands of pieces of information” to ICC prosecutors.

Thijs Bouwknegt, a genocide expert at the University of Amsterdam, said both international courts would review the report as part of a larger body of evidence.

“If I were an investigator, I would look at the report and use it as one of the many other sources,” he told AFP.

However, Bouwknegt also described the report as a call for political action.

“For a report to have effect, you need people to do something with it. This is political agency,” he said.

“It’s for state ministers or government leaders to do something with the report if they feel they want to change something in Gaza.”

What has happened till now?

The International Criminal Court has arrest warrants outstanding for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

They both face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s campaign in Gaza, including starvation, murder and persecution.

The ICC has not charged either man with genocide.

The court also issued warrants for three senior Hamas leaders, all since withdrawn after their deaths.

At the International Court of Justice, South Africa has a case against Israel, accusing it of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

ICJ judges have issued several emergency rulings in that case, including ordering Israel to stop operations in Rafah Governorate and to allow “unhindered” humanitarian aid into Gaza.

But the ICJ has not yet begun to weigh the wider case of whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a process that could take months or years.

What happens next?

In the case of the International Criminal Court, it is currently examining an Israeli challenge to its jurisdiction.

The court relies on its 125 member states to enforce its arrest warrants, meaning that unless Israel decides to hand over Netanyahu to The Hague, he is unlikely to appear in the dock.

The ICC cannot hold a trial in absentia.

The International Court of Justice has given Israel until January 2026 to file in writing a so-called “counter memorial” responding to South Africa’s case.

Following that, there is likely to be more legal back-and-forth in writing as the court weighs probable objections by both sides.

Only then do judges weigh the “merits” of the case, involving oral hearings.

How long will it take?

A long time. The next thing to watch at the ICC is the jurisdiction challenge, but there is no timeframe for that decision.

At the ICJ, most observers do not expect genocide hearings much before 2027.

“You know that the law is incredibly slow… So this might be useful or impactful five years from now or ten years from now,” Bouwknegt said.

With inputs from AFP