A senior member of the Navi Pillay-led UN inquiry has revealed that the Israeli strike on the Al‑Basma Fertility Clinic in Gaza resulted in the destruction of around 4,000 Palestinian embryos — a deliberate act that the Commission describes as an unmistakable component of genocide.
Deliberate Attack on Gaza’s Pregnancy Care Centre
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Pillay disclosed that Israeli forces targeted the maternity and fertility section of Gaza’s Al-Basma clinic in December 2023. According to her, this facility — situated in a standalone building adjacent to the hospital complex — was struck with precision: nitrogen tanks preserving thousands of frozen embryos were destroyed, and an estimated 4,000 embryos perished in a single blast.
The Commission’s report states that such actions amount to “measures intended to prevent births within the group” — one of the four genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The Target: Palestinian Future Generations
Pillay emphasised in her remarks that the maternity-and-fertility wing was entirely separate from the rest of the hospital, making a “mistake” strike highly improbable. She said:
“This attack, alongside other war crimes in Gaza, demonstrates a clear intent to obliterate the Palestinian generation.”
Her commission’s findings are supported by documented evidence of widespread destruction of health infrastructure, schools, and civilian homes — all of which increasingly show a pattern of systematic displacement and de-fertilisation of the Palestinian people.
Genocide in Plain Sight
Speaking at a UN session in Geneva, Pillay lamented the global silence:
“While the horrifying imagery of genocide in Gaza is broadcast across our screens, the world remains passive. There is no defence for genocide — self-defence does not justify it.”
She highlighted the 2023 remarks by former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Galant, who once referred to Palestinians as “human animals,” as evidence of the dehumanising narrative underlying the violence.
Final Word: Accountability or Complicity
After two years of exhaustive investigation, the Commission concluded definitively: Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
Pillay addressed the recent ceasefire agreement, stating that it is not genuine peace. She argued that it fails to address the root cause — namely the Israeli occupation — and leaves Palestinians without genuine representation at the negotiating table.
She warned that unless the international community acts now — including prosecuting those responsible for war crimes — the promise of “never again” will ring hollow. “Justice only matters if it is universal,” she declared.
From: Guardian