{"id":429476,"date":"2025-09-16T18:29:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/429476\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T18:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:29:14","slug":"the-guardian-view-on-the-uns-genocide-finding-britain-and-the-world-can-no-longer-look-away-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/429476\/","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian view on the UN\u2019s genocide finding: Britain \u2013 and the world \u2013 can no longer look away | Editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United Nations commission of inquiry<\/a> has now said what Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights organisations, as well as many genocide scholars, have already argued<\/a>: that Israel\u2019s war in Gaza amounts to genocide. The commission finds that mass killings, attacks on vital infrastructure, starvation, displacement and denial of medical care meet the legal definition of history\u2019s gravest crime. It finds<\/a> genocidal intent \u201cthe only reasonable inference\u201d from both the statements of Israel\u2019s leaders and the conduct of its forces in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Against this, Israel\u2019s repeated assertions that it is acting in lawful self-defence<\/a> ring hollow in the face of overwhelming evidence and a deliberate pattern of destruction. The UN\u2019s conclusion imposes moral clarity. It also demands political action, especially from those, including the UK and the US, who have for too long treated Israel as an exception to international norms.<\/p>\n

Historically, the Guardian supported<\/a> Jewish aspirations for a homeland, playing a significant role in the early Zionist movement \u2013 particularly as antisemitism rose in Europe. That history only adds weight to our present concern over where the country is going. Other states must reckon with the consequences of enabling a far-right government under Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> that has defied international law with impunity and pursued its aims\u00a0with horrifying human cost.<\/p>\n

Navi Pillay, chair of the UN\u2019s commission of inquiry, which has said that Israel\u2019s war in Gaza amounts to genocide. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It is no defence to point to Hamas<\/a> atrocities, appalling as they were, to justify the systematic devastation of Gaza, home to over 2 million people, half of them children. The notion that the flattening of Gaza will bring peace is for the birds. Reportedly, Israel\u2019s military chiefs have privately conceded that Hamas may not be defeated even after Gaza City falls \u2013 and that a \u201ccomplete victory<\/a>\u201d may require further military expansion in the strip. If accurate, this implies that Israel\u2019s leaders foresee the failure of stated war aims \u2013 and are preparing for even greater devastation.<\/p>\n

Mr Netanyahu, perhaps recognising the consequences, has warned Israelis to prepare for \u201cisolation<\/a>\u201d and a new era in which traditional European<\/a> support may no longer be guaranteed. This shift shouldn\u2019t be underestimated. European powers, including Britain, have long underwritten Israel\u2019s technological and military edge \u2013 through arms exports, trade agreements and research funding. The EU\u2019s Horizon<\/a> programme is only one of many economic levers at Europe\u2019s disposal. Suspension of such links would have profound repercussions, as would recognising a Palestinian<\/a> state.<\/p>\n

The British government\u2019s response has been evasive. Ministers said the UK had \u201cnot concluded<\/a>\u201d that Israel is acting with genocidal intent. That now looks like little more than a fig leaf. A court case revealed the Foreign Office reviewed over 400 alleged violations of international humanitarian law<\/a> by Israeli forces in Gaza but identified possible wrongdoing in only one. The apparent logic is: ignore enough individual incidents, and you won\u2019t see the pattern.<\/p>\n

But the UN says the reality cannot be denied. Under the genocide convention<\/a>, states must not only punish genocide but prevent it. That threshold has been crossed. To continue with symbolic sanctions<\/a> is not just morally indefensible \u2013 it is complicity. Some will warn against inflammatory language. But Gaza is already burning<\/a>. Britain must stop all arms sales, back international accountability and drop the legal contortions. The charge is grave. The evidence is overwhelming. To pretend otherwise is to join in with our age\u2019s most shameful evasions.<\/p>\n