UN Report: Gaza is a 'Collective Crime'

Western, Arab & Muslim nations are complicit, report says.

The release of a new, draft Special Report from the UN Rapporteur for Palestine (officially, “the UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967”) should have been headline news around the world. Regrettably—and unsurprisingly—it was not.

The report, entitled “Gaza Genocide is a Collective Crime,” is summarized as follows:

“The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a collective crime, sustained by the complicity of influential Third States that have enabled longstanding systemic violations of international law by Israel. Framed by colonial narratives that dehumanize the Palestinians, this live-streamed atrocity has been facilitated through Third States’ direct support, material aid, diplomatic protection and, in some cases, active participation. It has exposed an unprecedented chasm between peoples and their governments, betraying the trust on which global peace and security rest.”

The summary concludes:

“The world now stands on a knife-edge between the collapse of the international rule of law and hope for renewal. Renewal is only possible if complicity is confronted, responsibilities are met and justice is upheld.”

The report states that the complicit nations’ “disregard for international law undermines the foundations of the multilateral order painstakingly built over eight decades by States and people within the United Nations.”

Many observers have concluded the same thing. The open disregard for international law and human decency reflects the ongoing collapse of the 20^th-century world order, with increasingly catastrophic results.

The report adds, “This will stand in history as an offence not only to justice, but to the very idea of our common humanity.”

Indeed.

Another important aspect of the report is the way it highlights the complicity of many Arab and Muslim nations in the genocide of Palestinians, despite their professions of solidarity. While it correctly notes that “Many States, primarily Western ones, have facilitated, legitimized and eventually normalized the genocidal campaign perpetrated by Israel,” this betrayal is evident throughout the report.

Some excerpts from the report illustrate this:

“Open sources report that influential States in the region facilitated land routes to Israel, bypassing the Red Sea. While Qatar and Egypt sought to broker ceasefire agreements, Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the region, and Egypt maintained significant security and economic significant security and economic relations with Israel, including energy cooperation and the closing of the Rafah crossing.”

“Meanwhile, other countries increased their trade with Israel during the genocide, including ... the United Arab Emirates (+US $237 million), Egypt (+US $199 million), Jordan (+US $41 million) and Morocco (+US$6 million). This countered the trade decline Israel might otherwise have faced ...”

“A unique selling point of Israeli military technology is that it is tested on Palestinians under occupation and related military activities. The ongoing genocide has enabled Israel to expand the range of weaponry and surveillance systems tested on the Gaza population. As a result, the value of arms exports increased by 18 percent during the genocide, with exports to the EU more than doubling ... Other significant destinations include Asia and the Pacific (23 percent) and Arab countries under the Abraham Accords (12 percent).”

“On 30 September 2025, many States, including Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the UAE, endorsed the “Trump Plan”, despite its silence on ending the occupation, ensuring accountability, providing transitional justice and its imposition of a temporary mechanism of imperial foreign governance for Gaza that further undermines, rather than realizes, Palestinian self-determination.”

(Also see this publication’s article, “The Trump ‘Peace Plan’ is Itself a War Crime.”)

The following is applicable to non-Western, as well as Western, collaborators:

“Diplomatic initiatives have normalized the Israeli occupation and failed to achieve a permanent ceasefire ... Economic cooperation has fueled the Israeli economy, which has profited from the illegal occupation and genocide.”

“The genocide in Gaza was not committed in isolation,” the report concludes, “but as part of a system of global complicity ... The horrors of the past two years are not an aberration, but the culmination of a long history of complicity.”

The Special Rapporteur’s recommendations are reproduced below in full. The final paragraph provides some guidance for those of us who are not in positions of power.

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Recommendations:

71. Recalling her previous recommendations, the Special Rapporteur reminds all States of their legal obligation not to participate in or be complicit with Israeli violations, and to instead prevent and address serious breaches of international law, particularly as set out in the UN Charter and Genocide Convention.

72. Given the enduring emergency unaddressed by current “peace” discussions and plans, the Special Rapporteur urges States to cause no further harm to the Palestinian people and to:

(a) Exert pressure for a complete and permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops;

(b) Take immediate steps to end the siege in Gaza, including deploying naval and land convoys to ensure safe humanitarian access and mobile housing before winter;

(c) Support the re-opening of Gaza’s international airport and port to facilitate aid delivery.

73. Beyond the emergency, States must recognize Palestinian self-determination and justice as essential to lasting peace and security, and therefore:

(a) Suspend all military, trade and diplomatic relations with Israel;

(b) Investigate and prosecute all officials, corporates and individuals involved in or facilitating genocide, incitement, crimes against humanity and war crimes and other grave breaches of international humanitarian law;

(c) Secure reparations, including full reconstruction and return;

(d) Cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice;

(e) Reaffirm and strengthen support to UNRWA and the UN system as a whole;

(f) Suspend Israel from the United Nations under Article 6 of the UN Charter;

(g) Act under “Uniting for Peace”, in line with General Assembly resolution 377(V), to ensure that Israel dismantles its occupation.

74. The Special Rapporteur also urges trade unions, lawyers, civil society and ordinary citizens to monitor States’ actions in response to these recommendations, and to continue to press institutions, governments and corporations for boycotts, divestments and sanctions, until the end of the Israeli illegal occupation and related crimes.