The October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent military operation in Gaza did not occur in a vacuum as they were preceded by decades of violence and retribution against Palestinians, UN Commissioner Navi Pillay said Wednesday.

“In relation to Israel’s military operations and attacks in Gaza from 7 October, we conclude that Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” said Pillay.

These include “extermination, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, murder or willful killing, using starvation as a method of war, forcible transfer, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys, sexual and gender-based violence amounting to torture, and cruel or inhuman treatment.”

She said the Israeli military’s “deliberate” use of heavy weapons in the Gaza Strip has been an “intentional and direct attack on the civilian population”.