INDEPENDENT UN human rights investigators have pledged to maintain their investigation into alleged war crimes in the Hamas-Israel conflict, even as President Trump announced an international peace plan for Gaza.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory will continue examining human rights violations by all parties despite the establishment of a new Board of Peace for Gaza’s redevelopment, according to commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar.
“As a Commission of Inquiry, we see our task as investigating into violations of human rights. And that task we understand to be the mandate that the UN has given us – and we will continue with that mandate,” Muralidhar said.
The Board of Peace was created following UN Security Council Resolution 2803, passed in November, which endorsed the redevelopment plan for Gaza. However, Muralidhar indicated the investigative body sees no conflict between the peace initiative and its ongoing work.
The Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021. It is examining alleged violations stemming from the war that began after Hamas-led attacks killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel in October 2023.
Muralidhar emphasized the investigation covers all parties involved. “We will be looking at even the attacks by armed Palestinian militias on others within these two territories,” he said, stressing the commission’s independence.
In September, the commission’s former chair, Navi Pillay, declared that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel strongly rejected that allegation.
The investigators also condemned Wednesday’s reported Israeli airstrike that killed three journalists in Gaza. Commissioner Florence Mumba suggested such attacks indicate attempts to conceal information and expressed hope that journalists would not be deterred from their work.
