U.N. probe says Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centres ‘genocidal’; Netanyahu calls it ‘false, absurd’

United Nations report accuses Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza, destroying reproductive healthcare facilities, sparking denial from Israel.

A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday (March 13, 2025) that Israel carried out "genocidal" acts in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry said Israel had "intentionally attacked and destroyed" the Palestinian territory's main fertility centre, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.

"Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations," its mission in Geneva said in a statement.

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The commission found that Israeli authorities "have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare", it said in a statement.

It said this amounted to "two categories of genocidal acts" during Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched after the attacks by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The United Nations' genocide convention defines that crime as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.