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As UN Confirms Genocide, War Profiteers Sanction Palestinian Activists

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that Israel’s war on Gaza constitutes genocide. Meanwhile, Western states profiting from the war are sanctioning activists and organisations that support Palestine. WILPF stands with the Palestinian people, and with those working to end genocide and uphold international law.

A group of protesters hold signs, including a large one reading “We the People Will Not Be Silent About Slaughter.” Another sign says “Hands Off Rafah!” The protest appears to be outside with trees and buildings visible.

(Image credit: Ray Acheson)

By Ray Acheson
18 September 2025 

On 16 September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded “that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” The Commission of Inquiry holds Israeli leaders responsible, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog.

The Commission urged Israel and all states to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it. To that end, the report calls on Israel to end the genocide and comply with relevant International Court of Justice orders, among other actions. It also recommends that all states end arms transfers and other material support to Israel, and impose sanctions against Israel and against individuals or corporations that are involved in or are facilitating the genocide. 

WILPF welcomes this report and the Commission’s findings. This is the latest in a long list of reports and investigations that have concluded Israel is committing genocide of Palestinians. WILPF also welcomes the actions taken by some states to end their support for the genocide by imposing arms embargoes, sanctions, and cultural boycotts of Israel.

However, WILPF is deeply concerned with the increasing attacks against individuals and organisations who are working to end the genocide. Civil society groups and activists are being labelled as “terrorists” in the United States and United Kingdom, and the US government has also imposed sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesa Albanese. It has also extended these sanctions to organisations that have provided support for the ICC’s efforts to hold Israel accountable.

Singing onto a joint letter organised by the International Service for Human Rights, WILPF stands in solidarity with Palestinian organisations and human rights defenders worldwide working to uphold international law in the face of Israel’s genocide and colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people. With the other signatories, “We condemn unlawful threats, restrictions, reprisals and sanctions against individuals, organisations and mechanisms engaged in investigating and promoting accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

WILPF also stands in solidarity with Francesca Alabanese. The Director of WILPF’s disarmament programme, Reaching Critical Will, has signed a joint letter coordinated by Shadow World Investigations in support of her report “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” which exposes the corporations complicit in the genocide.

All states must immediately uphold international law and work actively to end this genocide. States should join the Bogotá commitments adopted by the Hague Group and others in July 2025. They must immediately end all arms transfers to Israel and the provision of other material support, and work to hold Israel accountable for its crimes. And states must end their persecution of Palestinian civil society groups, solidarity activists, UN officials, and others working to end the genocide.

WILPF also urges people everywhere to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement’s call for a week of mass disruption from 18–21 September. This is the deadline that the UN General Assembly has given to Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestine, and its failure to comply must be condemned globally.

As the BDS Movement says, “Never again is truly now. Together, we can and must disrupt all complicity in Israel’s ‘final solution’ for the Indigenous people of Palestine.”