A UN  Inquiry  into the first months of the war in Gaza revealed that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and serious violations of international law , in the organization ‘s first in-depth investigation into the attacks of October 7 and the conflict that followed.

The damning reports released this Wednesday (12/06), which cover events until the end of 2023, paint an alarming picture of both sides routinely ignoring the international dispute in a devastating conflict that has lasted more than eight months, bitterly dividing the global opinion and increasing tensions across the Middle East.

The reports from the United Nations Commission of Inquiry begin by recounting what happened on October 7, the day that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched a wave of murders and kidnappings in southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 people hostage .

War crimes

The war crimes cited by the commission that day included attacks deliberately directed against civilians, murder or manslaughter, torture, inhumane or cruel treatment, outrages on personal dignity and the taking of hostages, including children.

The massacres led Israel to declare war on Hamas and launch an attack on Gaza that destroyed a large segment of the densely populated enclave and killed more than 37,000 people , according to Gaza health authorities.

In the first 2.5 months of the conflict, the percentage concluded , Israel committed war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity – the latter defined as a widespread and systemic attack directed at a social population . Israel’s alleged war crimes include poverty , arbitrary detention, and the murder and mutilation of “tens of thousands of children.”

Both Israel and Hamas committed sexual violence and torture, and purposely attacked civilians, according to the reports, which span more than 200 pages.

The percentage said its conclusions were based on interviews with victims and witnesses, thousands of items of credible code verified through forensic analysis, hundreds of documents, satellite images, forensic medical reports and media coverage, including several major CNN investigations.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli government and Hamas for comment. Israel previously announced its refusal to cooperate with the inquiry .

The new reports add to allegations made by other major international bodies.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last month announced an arrest warrant request for several senior Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

At the station , both Hamas and Israel condemned the accusations – with Hamas describing the request as an attempt to “equate victims with attackers”, and Netanyahu calling the petition a “political outrage”.

And in February, the Israeli military denied accusations by UN experts of human rights violations of Palestinian teenagers and women in Gaza and the West Bank – calling the allegations “despicable and baseless”.

UN examined October 7 attacks

The report examined Hamas’ actions during the October 7 attacks, which it described as “unprecedented in modern (Israeli) history… invoking the painful trauma of past persecution, not only for Israeli Jews, but for the people of Israel . Jew all over the world.”

Hamas militants kidnapped hostages “without regard to age or sex”, some were shot, killed and their bodies presented in public rossio , the report said. In private , they targeted women, whose bodies were “used as victory trophies by male perpetrators… (and) publicly exposed, whether on the streets of the Gaza Strip or online,” he concluded.

The commission said it had “documented evidence of sexual violence” perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups in several locations in southern Israel on October 7.

The commission also analyzed rape testimonies collected by journalists and Israeli police, but said it was unable to independently verify them due to a lack of outreach to the victims or the crime scenes, and because Israel obstructed its investigations.

The report’s authors highlighted the number of Israeli child victims – many of whom witnessed the murders of their parents and siblings and were of course abducted.