GENEVA: Both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, a UN inquiry found on Wednesday, saying that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses.
The findings were from two parallel reports, one focusing on the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and another on Israel’s military response, published by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), which has an unusually broad mandate to collect evidence and identify perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel does not cooperate with the commission, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The COI says Israel obstructs its work and prevented investigators from accessing both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the findings. “The COI has once again proven that its actions are all in the service of a narrow-led political agenda against Israel,” said Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
By Israel’s count more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Oct. 7 cross-border attacks that sparked a military retaliation in Gaza that has since killed over 37,000 people, by Palestinian tallies.
The reports, which cover the conflict through to end-December, found that both sides committed war crimes including torture; murder or willful killing; outrages upon personal dignity; and inhuman or cruel treatment.
Israel also committed additional war crimes including starvation as a method of warfare, it said, saying Israel not only failed to provide essential supplies like food, water, shelter and medicine to Gazans but “acted to prevent the supply of those necessities by anyone else.”
Some of the war crimes such as murder also constituted crimes against humanity by Israel, the COI statement said, using a term reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
“The immense numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza and widespread destruction of civilian objects and infrastructure were the inevitable result of a strategy undertaken with intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions,” the COI statement said.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such UN-mandated bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be drawn on by the International Criminal Court.
Mass killings, sexual violence and humiliation
The COI’s findings are based on interviews with victims and witnesses, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery, medical reports and verified open-source information.
Among the findings in the 59-page report on the Oct. 7 attacks, the commission verified four incidents of mass killings in public shelters which it said suggests militants had “standing operational instructions.” It also identified “a pattern of sexual violence” by Palestinian armed groups but could not independently verify reports of rape.
The longer 126-page Gaza report said Israel’s use of weapons such as MK84 guided bombs with a large destructive capacity in urban areas were incompatible with international humanitarian law “as they cannot adequately or accurately discriminate between the intended military targets and civilian objects.”
It also said Palestinian men and boys were subject to the crime against humanity of gender persecution, citing cases where victims were forced to strip naked in public in moves “intended to inflict severe humiliation.”
The findings will be discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next week.
The COI composed of three independent experts including its chair South African former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay was set up in 2021 by the Geneva council. Unusually, it has an open-ended mandate — a fact criticized by both Israel and some of its allies.
‘Immense’ scale of Gaza killings amount to crime against humanity, UN inquiry says
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‘Immense’ scale of Gaza killings amount to crime against humanity, UN inquiry says

- UN inquiry finds both sides committed war crimes
- Israel says body is biased, rejects findings
Egypt imported 6.3 million tons of Russian wheat in 2024/25, analysts say

Rusagrotrans said wheat exports from Russia continued at a record pace so far this season with the country, the world's top wheat exporter, shipping 32.2 million metric tons, 1.3% more than in the same period of the last season.
The acceleration precedes new export quotas on February 15 that will slow shipments. In line with the new quotas Russia can export 10.6 million metric tons of wheat before July 1, 2025.
Bangladesh, which bought 2.3 million tons, emerged as the second-largest buyer in the 2024/25 season, while Turkey, which introduced an import ban to protect its domestic market, slipped to third place with a 47% drop in Russian wheat imports.
Algiers, which bought 1.7 million tons of Russian wheat, and Kenya, which bought 1.4 million tons, were the fourth and the fifth largest importers. (Reporting by Olga Popova, writing by Gleb Bryanski; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Trump: No right of return for Palestinians under Gaza plan

- Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier that “I would own it” and that there could be as many as six different sites for Palestinians to live outside Gaza
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Palestinians would have no right of return to Gaza under his US takeover plan, describing his proposal in excerpts of an interview released Monday as a “real estate development for the future.”
Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier that “I would own it” and that there could be as many as six different sites for Palestinians to live outside Gaza — under the plan which the Arab world has rejected.
“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump said when Baier asked if the Palestinians would have the right to return to the war-battered enclave.
“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever — it’s not habitable.”
Trump first revealed the shock Gaza plan during a joint news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, drawing outrage from Palestinians.
The US president pressed his case for Palestinians to be moved out of Gaza, devastated by the Israel-Hamas war, and for Egypt and Jordan to take them.
In the Fox interview — which will be broadcast Monday after the first half was screened ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday — Trump said he would build “beautiful communities” for the more than two million Palestinians who live in Gaza.
“Could be five, six, could be two. But we’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” added Trump.
“In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in east Jerusalem, claiming incitement to violence

JERUSALEM: Israeli police have raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict. The police said the books incited violence.
The Educational Bookshop, established over 40 years ago, is a hub of intellectual life in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed to its capital in a move not recognized internationally. Most of the city’s Palestinian population lives in east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians want it to be the capital of their future state.
The three-story bookstore that was raided on Sunday has a large selection of books, mainly in Arabic and English, about the conflict and the wider Middle East, including many by Israeli and Jewish authors. It hosts cultural events and is especially popular among researchers, journalists and foreign diplomats.
The bookstore’s owners, Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna, were detained, and police confiscated hundreds of titles related to the conflict before ordering the store’s closure, according to May Muna, Mahmoud’s wife.
She said the soldiers picked out books with Palestinian titles or flags, “without knowing what any of them meant.” She said they used Google Translate on some the Arabic titles to see what they meant before carting them away in plastic bags.
Police raided another Palestinian-owned bookstore in the Old City in east Jerusalem last week.
In a statement, the police said the two owners were arrested on suspicion of “selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism.”
As an example, the police referred to an English-language children’s coloring book entitled “From the River to the Sea,” a reference to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that today includes Israel, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians and hard-line Israelis each view the entire area as their national homeland. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is opposed to Palestinian statehood, has said Israel must maintain indefinite control over all the territory west of the Jordan.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions have soared since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. A ceasefire has paused the fighting and led to the release of several Israeli hostages abducted in the attack as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Tensions have also soared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250 people. The war the followed has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. The last serious and substantive peace talks broke down after Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.
Iraq president sues PM over unpaid Kurdistan salaries

- Lawsuit was only disclosed now due to protests over missed payments in Sulaimaniyah
- Iraq’s public sector is wracked with inefficiency and corruption
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s president has sued Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani over unpaid salaries for civil servants in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, bringing into focus a rift in the country’s leadership.
President Abdul Latif Rashid, a Kurd, filed the lawsuit against Sudani and Finance Minister Taif Sami last month, but his adviser, Hawri Tawfiq, only announced it on Sunday.
The case, submitted to Iraq’s top court, seeks an order to ensure salaries are paid “without interruption” despite ongoing financial disputes between Baghdad and Irbil, the regional capital.
Iraq’s public sector is wracked with inefficiency and corruption, and analysts say Sudani and Rashid had long had disagreements.
While public sector workers received their January salaries, they are still waiting for their December pay.
Tawfiq said the lawsuit was only disclosed now due to protests over missed payments in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan’s second-largest city and the president’s hometown.
Kurdistan regional president Nechirvan Barzani recently thanked Sudani for his cooperation on financial issues, including salaries.
On Sunday, hundreds of people from Sulaimaniyah attempted to protest in Irbil, but police used tear gas to disperse them, local media reported.
Others have staged a sit-in for two weeks in Sulaimaniyah, with 13 teachers resorting to a hunger strike.
Last year, Iraq’s top court ordered the federal government to cover the public sector salaries in Kurdistan instead of going through the regional administration — a demand employees in Sulaimaniyah have long called for.
But officials say payments have been erratic due to technical issues.
Political scientist Ihssan Al-Shemmari said the lawsuit underscores deepening tensions between Rashid and Sudani.
“We are facing a significant division within the executive authority, and it is now happening openly,” said Shemmari.
In January, Sudani ordered a probe into Rashid’s son’s company, IQ Internet Services.
MP Hanan Al-Fatlawi addressed Rashid on X, saying: “The fines on your son’s company IQ... are enough to pay the salaries” in Kurdistan.
World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history

- This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues
DUBAI: The World Governments Summit has unveiled the theme of “Shaping Future Governments” for its 12th annual event held in Dubai from Feb. 11 to Feb. 13, state news agency WAM reported.
This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues.
The summit aims to foster the development of shared strategies and visions for enhanced global government performance and stronger international cooperation.
With more than 30 heads of states and government, delegations from 140 governments and representatives from more than 80 global institutions, this year’s summit anticipates record participation.
Attendance looks set to increase by over 50 percent compared to last year, representing the largest gathering in the Summit’s history, with delegates from every continent and a wide range of sectors.
Heads of state, including President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, and President of Sri Lanka Kumara Dissanayake, will deliver keynote speeches.
Other speakers billed for the summit include Elon Musk, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and Sir Tony Blair, former prime minister of the UK.
Mohammad Al-Gergawi, UAE minister of Cabinet affairs and chairman of the World Governments Summit, said that the event continued to provide exceptional support in empowering governments worldwide to navigate rapid transformations and evolving challenges across various sectors.
“The summit is committed to being the premier global platform to anticipate and explore the future, developing innovative solutions and forging international partnerships to benefit all communities based on scientifically and realistically grounded insights,” he added.
The summit’s final day will host the Climate Change Forum, the World Health Forum, and the World Government Law Making Forum.