The Commission of Inquiry mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council considered that Israel´s occupation of Palestinian lands and discrimination against the Palestinian population are the "root causes" of recurring tensions and instability in the region.
Israel, which refused to cooperate with the committee, said that “the report is biased, misleading and incompetent due to its hatred of the State of Israel and is based on a long series of biased and misleading reports,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Navi Pillay, Chair of the Committee and former High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote in her report that "the majority of the findings and recommendations on root causes were directed to Israel, which is an indication of the asymmetric nature of the conflict and the reality of one state occupying another."
The first report of this committee emphasized that "the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and discrimination against Palestinians are the root causes behind recurrent tensions, instability and prolongation of conflict in the region."
"Our review of the findings and recommendations of previous United Nations mechanisms and bodies clearly indicates that ending the Israeli occupation, in full accordance with Security Council resolutions, is essential to stopping the recurring cycles of violence," said Melon Kothari, a member of the investigation committee.
The report indicated that the 18-page document was presented before it was published to the Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
The Human Rights Council established the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations Committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel since 13 April 2021.
The Jewish state, which accuses Pillay of being an "anti-Israel activist," believes that the investigation "ignored the real reasons that prompted Israel to defend its citizens against the deadly terrorist organizations that commit a double war crime: shooting Israeli civilians from civilian areas in Gaza."
The committee was established after the 11-day war in Gaza in May 2021, when the Israeli artillery and air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed 260 people, including 66 children.
Meanwhile, 13 people, including an Israeli soldier, were killed by rockets fired from the Strip, according to the Israeli police.
Currently, the commission has assessed many of the recommendations and decisions that already exist, but has indicated the need to conduct its own investigation.
However, Pillay noted that previous recommendations "have not been implemented, and include calls for ensuring accountability for Israel´s violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law and Palestinian armed groups´ indiscriminate firing of rockets at Israel."
"The failure to implement the recommendations and the environment of impunity, which are conclusive evidence that Israel does not intend to end the occupation, as well as the ongoing discrimination against Palestinians lie at the heart of the recurring systematic violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel," she added.
To denounce the publication of the report, about twenty students and reserve soldiers in the Israeli army demonstrated on Tuesday in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
To achieve the greatest effect, some of the demonstrators disguised themselves as members of the Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas, and hid their faces behind black masks wearing military uniforms.
"We are killing civilians and the United Nations is protecting us," the demonstrators chanted, while others wore masks depicting the head of the movement´s political bureau in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar.
