ToxicsWatch, Journal of Earth, Science, Economy and Justice

Corporate Corporations and Opportunism

They Have No Soul – The Opportunism of Corporates

September, 2026

When I was pursuing my Ph.D at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, I originally planned to submit my dissertation on climate-related disasters and corporate crimes. In between, I had to deliver a research presentation on the Bhopal gas tragedy.

At my university center, when students delivered presentations, professors and attendees would pose difficult questions. Therefore, I went to give the presentation carrying a bag packed with notes and supporting evidence. Seeing the heavy weight of my cloth shoulder bag packed with books and documents, they laughed; I replied, “I know what happened to the other students. That is why I took these precautions.” In my talk, while discussing the disaster caused by Union Carbide Corporation, I referred to it as an “industrial genocide”. Objections were raised, advising me not to use loaded terms like "genocide." I remember responding to them by saying, "Those are the words of Prof. Upendra Baxi, not mine." In the course of my doctoral research work, I studied the origin of corporations, their history, the unsuccessful attempts to regulate them and the current initiatives for regulating transanational corporations and other business enterprises. Thus, I have an abundance of data to write on corporate opportunism.

Union Carbide's catastrophic footprint is not confined to Bhopal alone; it exists in the United States as well. Many years prior, the company employed African Americans for mining work there. Many of them died from silicosis. Every time a worker died, someone would immediately fetch a coffin from a warehouse. A journalist reporting on these deaths investigated these coffins and uncovered a shocking truth: the company had manufactured and kept dozens of coffins ready well before the workers had even died.

In 1970, Union Carbide applied to conduct operations in India. For five years, the central industrial development authority of that time did not permit it. They knew the company's technology was substandard. Approval was only granted in 1975, during the Emergency. "We never gave permission; we couldn’t do anything about what was granted during the Emergency," a former official once told me. Whose opportunism granted that approval?

In Bhopal in 1984, due to the company's negligence, poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked, killing thousands of people. It stands as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. Seeking compensation for this, India filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court demanding $3.3 billion. However, in 1989, the Supreme Court of India settled it for just $470 million. Why did they agree to accept such a small sum?

In 2002, Dow Chemicals Company acquired Union Carbide. When one company buys another, the acquiring firm is responsible for all its assets, liabilities, and ongoing issues. Dow Chemical, however, claims that the Bhopal issue is not its responsibility. To back this up, they displayed legal opinions written on official letterheads by two prominent Indian lawyers-cum-politicians. None of these will hold up in court, and litigation related to this is still ongoing. Did Union Carbide genuinely manufacture only pesticides? Did it also operate another facility there to test chemical warfare agents? Was methyl isocyanate the only gas that leaked that day? There are no clear answers to any of these!

Meanwhile, Dow Chemical itself set aside $2.2 billion for a U.S. government agency as compensation solely for damages caused by Union Carbide's asbestos mines in that country. Isn’t having one approach for their home country and another for others the very definition of opportunism?

Speaking of asbestos, here are a few facts: In 1924, it was discovered in London that asbestos causes incurable lung cancer in humans, and a report was formally submitted. Even so, the corporations involved never stopped excavating it and distributing it across the globe. Today, asbestos is banned in 70 countries around the world. But not in India. It continues to arrive from Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. Corporations continue manufacturing its byproducts for their profits.

Consider how popular baby talcum powder from the American multinational Johnson & Johnson is. Lawsuits were filed across the United States alleging that asbestos contamination in their talcum powder caused cancer. Over here in India, the company advertised that its baby powder was safe. It was never banned here. Instead, their factory in Maharashtra was simply shut down, and that was the extent of the action taken. 

Did the company not know that their powder was contaminated with asbestos? Even back in the 1970s,

According to an investigative report by Reuters, the company knew about it as early as the 1970s. Yet, what should we call the fact that it continued to conceal the issue? There are many names for it. One of them is opportunism.

This is the age of information technology. Earlier, the sole objective of corporations was to make profits. Today, it is to collect data—and convert that data into money. This is what is called surveillance capitalism.

Google once had the slogan “Do No Evil” as part of its philosophy. Today, as the company has become more “honest,” those words are no longer part of its stated philosophy. The company has shifted its stance.

You may remember the internal memo that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg circulated among the company's directors. In it, he reportedly said, in essence, “Don't worry about good or evil; focus on what becomes popular.”

Remember how Mark Zuckerberg faced questioning before the US Congress over providing data about Meta users and their friends to another company (Cambridge Analytica) and earning advertising revenue from it. 

WhatsApp recently ran an advertisement saying, “Nobody—not even WhatsApp—can see or hear your chats and conversations.” Do you still believe that?

The companies that operated the mines in the Kolar Gold Fields ran schools and hospitals there as long as mining operations continued. Once the mining industry ended, all of these were shut down.

Corporations have no soul. They are against nature; they are against humanity. Their only objective is profit.

During the 1970s, multinational corporations from USA were involved in overthrowing governments in South America. They interfered in domestic governance. Following this, Chile brought a resolution before the UN to establish regulations governing multinational corporations. The UN formed a committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India Governor L. K. Jha pursuant to his work another UN committee was asked to draft such code of conduct for corporation. The committee submitted the a draft code of conduct in 1983 and subsequently it was finalized. 

Although the issue continued to be discussed in 1989 and the 1990s,  it was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 21, 1990 but it was not pursued and the text of the Code of Conduct of Transnational Corporations was never implemented. Do I even need to explain why?

In the meantime, on September 11, 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende was killed in his presidential palace, admittedly as a result of the influence of a corporation.

In 2003, a UN Sub Commission on Human Rights headed by Prof. David Weissbrodt prepared a draft report for the UN Norms on the responsibilities of multinational corporations concerning human rights. However, it was dismissed by corporate associations on the ground that it was duplicate, a copy of existing provisions.

I asked David Weissbrodt about UN Norms being duplicate. He replied with a meaningful response: “Yes, it is duplicate. Therefore, that does not mean it is unnecessary.”

Prof. John Ruggie was made the UN Special Rapporteur on business and human rights. He developed a framework concerning the human-rights conduct of corporations. It called for  voluntarily regulation by corporations. What particularly struck me in his report was his observation that "corporations are undemocratic economic organisations.”

The recent efforts for an enforceable binding international treaty have been underway since 2014 "to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises”. The draft text of the new treaty is ready, an outcome of over 50 years of effort by countries like Chile, Ecuador, India, China, South Africa and others. It can ensure that business enterprises are subservient to both peoples’ will and legislative will. It can establish the primacy of human rights and public interest over private economic interests.   

In India, under the Companies Act, 1956 corporations could contribute 5% of their annual income to political parties. In 2011, during a discussion on Black Money, Congress leader Manish Tewari said in Parliament, “Funding given to political parties is the mother of black money.”

Within a few hours of his statement, the Companies Bill was introduced. It allowed corporations to contribute up to 7.5% of their average net profits over three years to political parties based on the recommendations of Yashwant Sinha headed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

Do we need another example to explain the meaning of irony?

Not only that, when corporations are allowed to spend up to a total of 14.5% on parties, NGOs and corporate social responsibility, should Parliament serve at the pleasure of large corporations? Or should large corporations remain accountable to Parliament? I leave that to your surmise.

In 2017, another amendment was made to the same law. Corporations were no longer required to disclose which political party they had given money to. The 7.5% limit was also removed. This effectively meant that corporations could contribute any amount they wanted.

This was the foundation for the introduction of electoral bonds.

In 2024, the Supreme Court declared the amendments made to the law unconstitutional and struck down the electoral bonds scheme. However, I regret that nothing was done regarding the funds that had already been received through the scheme.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had filed a case in the Delhi High Court against the Congress and BJP, alleging that they had received corporate funding from foreign sources in violation of the law. In 2014, the High Court delivered a historically significant judgment stating that the Election Commission should take action against these parties.

The affected parties appealed against the judgment in the Supreme Court and later withdrew their petitions. Parliament subsequently passed retrospective amendments introduced by the government to the Companies Act and related laws, making such funding received since 1975 legally valid. 

The root of the functioning of corporations whose sole objective is profit is opportunism. It is from this opportunism that their criminal activities arise.

Adivasis of Singhbhum, Jharkhand aptly say, "companies do make us smile, they make us cry", "companies do not feed us, they feed on us."  

In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica and biometric identification database scandal, it is crystal clear that corporations want to establish apparent truth because real truth reveals their dehumanizing nature.       

Dr. Gopal Krishna  

Courtesy: September 26 issue of Andhimazhai's upcoming print version, https://www.andhimazhai.com/special-section/special-pages/avatrukku-aanmaa-illai 

 An environmental health research group has drawn the attention of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) towards the recent news reports regarding a massive oil spill at shipbreaking yard plot no. V1/V2 in Alang-Sosiya, Bhavnagar Gujarat of Priya Blue Ship Green Recycling Private Limited, the company which had bought the controversial toxic end-of-life ship, SS Blue Lady (Ex-SS Norway, SS France) and had beached it on humanitarian ground citing inclement weather during the monsoon and vulnerability of crew members on it. LNG SOHAR, the end-of-life vessel was sold for dismantling at Alang beach, Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Japanese MOL and Oman’s Asyad Shipping who jointly owned the vessel.

Notably, more than 8,600 vessels have been dismantled on Alang beach since 1983. These ships pose a threat to India’s maritime security and environmental health security.  

The oil spill occurred on the afternoon of 13 June 13, 2026. The company in question has claimed that an “extremely high tide wave” destabilised the LNG vessel SOHAR (IMO No. 9210816) which had been beached at its plot few days back. It is apparent that LNG vessel SOHAR collided with the floating crane barge stationed at the yard. As per news reports the damaged SOHAR’s forward fuel tank releasig huge fuel oil into the sea.

The complaint to NHRC has pointed out that the company, the vessel’s recycler, has violated Section 21 of the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019. The Act requires every Ship Recycler to ensure safe and environmentally sound removal and management of hazardous materials from a ship; and to comply with such requirements related to basic infrastructure facilities including those related to environmentally safe disposal or management of wastes and hazardous materials, in such manner as may be specified by the regulations. It has also violated Section 22 of the Act every ship recycler including the company in question is under an obligation to ensure that there is no damage caused to the environment in any form due to the recycling activities at the ship recycling facility; and to take necessary measures for protection of the environment. In case of oil spill in the facility, the Competent Authority is required to serve a notice to the ship recycler to take remedial action in such manner as may be specified by the regulations. For contravention of the provisions of this section, the ship recycler is liable to pay such environmental damages and cleanup operation compensation.

It drew on the news report entitled “भावनगर: अलंग समुद्र में काला ज़हरीला तरल पदार्थ किसने गिराया? 30 घंटे बाद भी अधिकारी चुप हैं।” (June 15, 2026) broadcast/published by Gujarati TV Channel TV9 pointed out that more than 30 hours after the massive oil spill, responsible authorities, including the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), The news report reads:”भावनगर में अलंग शिप-ब्रेकिंग यार्ड के पास समुद्र में काला तरल पदार्थ छोड़े जाने के आरोपों के बाद विवाद खड़ा हो गया है। शुरुआती रिपोर्टों से पता चलता है कि समुद्र में वेस्ट ऑयल छोड़े जाने से समुद्री जीवन को खतरा है। घटना का वीडियो वायरल होने के बाद लोगों में गुस्सा बढ़ गया है और तुरंत जांच की मांग की जा रही है। भावनगर में अलंग शिप-ब्रेकिंग यार्ड के पास समुद्र में काला तरल पदार्थ छोड़े जाने के आरोपों के बीच प्रदूषण का मुद्दा एक बार फिर चर्चा में आ गया है। सोशल मीडिया पर प्रदूषित तटरेखा का वीडियो वायरल होने के बाद स्थानीय लोगों में भारी आक्रोश है। शुरुआती जानकारी के अनुसार, आशंका है कि समुद्र में वेस्ट ऑयल बहाया गया है। इससे समुद्री जीवन और समुद्री पर्यावरण पर गंभीर असर पड़ने की चिंता पैदा हो गई है। स्थानीय लोगों का आरोप है कि ऐसी घटनाएं पहले भी हो चुकी हैं, फिर भी प्रदूषण को रोकने के लिए पर्याप्त और असरदार कदम नहीं उठाए जा रहे हैं।”

It also referred to Gujarat Samachar’s news report entitled “अलंग में जीपीसीबी की जांच शुरू. तटरेखा तेल इस्पात संरचना से टकराता है एलएनजी सोहर नाम के जहाज से लीक हुआ तेल  जीपीसीबी ने अलंग के तट से छह से सात नमूने लिए” (June 16, 2026). It reads: अलंग में शिपशोर स्टील जहाज के टैंक से तेल रिसाव को संरचना से टकराते हुए निकाल दिया गया था। जीएमबी के मामले में और एजेंसी सहित जीपीसीबी जांच कर रही है। गुजरात प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड की एक टीम ने आज तट से छह से सात नमूने लिए हैं समुद्र से तेल निकाला जा रहा है। अलंग प्लॉट नं। LNG Sohar V2 नाम के एक जहाज को रीसायकल करने के लिए आ गया है। जहाज पिछले शनिवार को तेज हवाओं और लहरों के कारण हुआ था। जहाज का टैंक संरचना से टकरा गया और उससे तेल रिसाव टूट गया यह समुद्र में फैल गया। इसके बाद प्लॉट के अधिकारियों ने समुद्र से तेल निकालने का काम शुरू कर दिया और गुजरात मैरीटाइम बोर्ड और बाद में गुजरात प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड किया गया। समुद्र में तेल रिसाव के मामले में आज जीपीसीबी की एक टीम अलंग पहुंची और समुद्र के छह से सात स्थानों के पानी और मिट्टी से नमूने लें और एक परीक्षण करें। किया गया था। 200s से 300m के क्षेत्र में, समुद्र का क्षेत्र तेल गिरा दिया गया। बाहर से हटाने का काम चल रहा है। गौरतलब है कि यह बात देखने लायक है कि अलंग में लगातार छोटी-मोटी दुर्घटनाएं होती हैं। कुछ दिन पहले अलंग के प्लॉट नंबर 45 में टैंकर जहाज की कटाई के दौरान जहाज में आग लग गई। जे इसके बाद अब जहाज से तेल लीक हो गया है और समुद्र में फैल गया है।”

The company in question admitted and claimed that on June 13, 2026, an environmental incident occurred at its Alang facility involving a vessel under recycling. The report noted that approximately 63 tonnes of fuel oil were affected. The company is related to cash buyer Best Oasis. It has operated for 40 years. Its yard at plot V1/V2 is one of the first to have obtained a certificate from under the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 for being compliant with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. Both the Act and the Convention attempt to address "hazardous material" in ships. The "hazardous material" refers to any material or substance, which is liable to cause harm to human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms, property or the environment. The Act prohibits use of hazardous materials in ships without permission.

It is unclear as to why the LNG SOHAR was carrying 1.800 tonnes of fuel or waste oil. These incidents create a compelling logic for banning on the beaching method and ensuring “decontamination of ships of their hazardous substances such as asbestos, waste oil, gas and PCBs prior to exports to India for breaking” as per para 16 of the Supreme Court’s judgement dated October 14, 2003 in Writ Petition No. 657 of 1995. 

Despite the campaign against dumping of foreign hazardous waste/end-of-life ships, there is rampant compliance with the Court’s decision and UN’s Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.  

The complainant has asked the NHRC to seek a report regarding compliance with the Recycling of Ships Act and Recycling of Ships Rules, 2021 and to save life and health from the hazardous industrial activities on ecologically fragile Alang beach, an eco-sensitive zone and a biodiversity site. 

The 94-page long UN report dated June 18, 2026 brings together the findings of UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel on violations and crimes against and affecting Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 7 October 2023 until 31 March 2026, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip (Gaza). 

The summary of its findings is under:
329. The conduct of the Israeli authorities, Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers detailed in this report does not constitute mere incidental harm or collateral damage done to Palestinian children. On the contrary, Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers have directly and intentionally targeted Palestinian children in many instances, killing tens of thousands and leaving tens of thousands of others with irreversible harm, including long-term physical and mental harm.  

330. Israel continues to blatantly disregard the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and, importantly, the orders for provisional measures issued on 26 January, 28 March 2024 and 24 May 2024426 in the case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), which are binding on Israel. 

331. Based on the evidence reviewed, and consistent with its previous reports, the Commission finds on reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have continued to commit the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

1. War Crimes

332. The Commission finds that Israeli security forces have committed the following war crimes against and affecting Palestinian children, consistent with its findings in previous reports: wilful killing; torture and inhuman and degrading treatment causing severe physical and psychological harm; wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health through deliberate deprivation and violence; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and individuals not taking direct part in hostilities, including children430; destruction of property; and outrages upon personal dignity, particularly through systematic humiliating and degrading conduct designed to dehumanise and subjugate
the Palestinian population, including children. 

II. Crimes against Humanity

333. In previous reports, the Commission has found that the chapeau elements for crimes  gainst humanity have been fulfilled in Gaza, namely that attacks by the Israeli security forces since 7 October 2023 have (i) involved “multiple commission of acts”; (ii) directed against any civilian population; (iii) that are widespread or systematic; and (iv) that were committed as part of the attack.

334. The Commission found consistent evidence that indicates a clear pattern of the Israeli security forces intentionally targeting Palestinian children in Gaza. The Commission therefore concludes that killings and maiming of children that it investigated constitute crimes against humanity amounting to extermination, murder and other inhumane acts. These acts also amount to grave violations against children in armed conflict, for which the State of Israel bears responsibility. 

335. The Commission investigated and documented severe mistreatment of Palestinian children in detention in harsh conditions. Their injuries indicate causing intentional severe bodily harm, designed to inflict long-term physical and mental damage. The Commission concludes that this constitutes crimes against humanity amounting to torture and other inhuman acts and, as punishment for the 7 October 2023 attacks in southern Israel, amounts to prohibited collective punishment under customary international law.

336. The Commission finds that the Israeli security forces perpetrated age-based persecution against Palestinian children, particularly against boys, intersecting with gender nationality, ethnicity, culture and religion under Rome Statute Article 7 (see paras. 273-274). This is evidenced by deliberate targeting through (i) precision shootings knowingly aimed at children; and (ii) arrests, detention and mistreatment of boys falsely and presumptively labelled as ‘terrorists’ or ‘fighters’ despite age-verifying identity cards. These acts have been part of a widespread, systematic attack constituting the crime against humanity of persecution. In relation to the direct targeting of children where Israeli security forces shot and killed or harmed Palestinian children, such conduct is also part of a strategy or plan to destroy the biological continuity of the Palestinians in Gaza (see further sub-section. III. Genocide).

337. The Commission finds that arrested Palestinian children endured incommunicado detention without access to lawyers or family. Israeli authorities consistently withheld information on their whereabouts and conditions or denied custody altogether. These acts constitute the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance. These acts also amount to abduction as a grave violation against children in armed conflict, for which Israel bears responsibility. Importantly, the Commission highlights that the transfer of detainees outside of the territory is prohibited and amounts to deportation, which is a crime against humanity and a war crime.

III. Genocide
338. In a previous report, the Commission has found that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit four categories of underlying acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian group, as such. Three of those four categories are especially relevant to children, namely (i) killing members of the group; (ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and (iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Additionally, the Commission has found that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed the fourth category of underlying act of genocide (‘Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group’) with the specific intent to destroy, in part, the Palestinian group, as such, in the Gaza Strip (A/HRC/60/CRP.3). This finding does not apply to children. 

Killing of and causing serious bodily and mental harm to Palestinians in Gaza, including children. 

Palestinian children in Gaza have been directly targeted in various ways by the Israeli security forces since 7 October 2023, including during evacuations, at shelters, and at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites

340. The Commission has found a clear pattern of conduct since 7 October 2023 showing the Israeli security forces directly targeted Palestinian children in different circumstances with the intention to kill them. In all the cases investigated and documented by the Commission where children were directly targeted, none of the children posed any threat to the Israeli security forces. Medical professionals treated many children with direct gunshot wounds to their head and upper body, indicating the children were shot by snipers or drones or quadcopters. Medical professionals were also informed by parents that the children were alone when they were shot or that the adults who were with the children were completely unharmed.

341. In relation to serious bodily and mental harm, the Commission finds that Palestinian children who were physically and mentally harmed by the Israeli security forces’ military operations will continue to suffer from long-term harm of such a serious nature that may impede – and has actually impeded – their ability to lead a constructive life, and that that result was reasonably foreseeable. Importantly, such impacts have materialised, as detailed above; yet, children were continuously targeted by the Israeli security forces.

342. The Commission finds that Israeli security forces have inflicted severe, irreversible bodily harm on Palestinian children, including causing severe physical and psychological injury, traumatising children and creating a generation of orphaned, separated and unaccompanied children as well as children with permanent disabilities, through targeted violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and systemic deprivation. Tens of thousands of children have sustained injuries from bombings, intentional shooting, collapsing buildings, lack of medical care and denial of access to adequate nutritious food and safe water, causing polytrauma, amputations, burns and long-lasting disabilities requiring multiple surgeries. The destruction of hospitals, scarcity of medicine and medical supplies and siege-induced starvation have made recovery incredibly difficult and continue to prevent recovery. Malnutrition and diseases have further weakened their bodies and immune systems, making even minor illnesses potentially life-threatening. These physical harms are compounded by children’s daily struggle for survival in unsafe and overcrowded conditions.

343. The Commission has previously established that the Israeli security forces inflicted sexual violence with the intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza, in whole or in part. The Commission finds that sexual violence committed against Palestinian children constitutes part of the genocidal act of causing serious bodily and mental harm. Such deliberate violence was intended not only to cause immediate and long-term harm to the individual children but to target and destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza, because children embody the group’s biological continuity and collective survival.

344. In its previous report, the Commission has found that Palestinians who were physically and mentally harmed by the Israeli security forces’ military operations will continue to suffer from long-term harm of such a serious nature that they will no longer be able to lead a normal and constructive life. The Commission finds that the impact of such harm on children is profoundly graver. The mental harm on children is as devastating, widespread and irreversible as the physical injury they endured. Continuous exposure to explosions, loss of family members, denial of health care and schooling, and uncertainty about safety have inflicted deep emotional wounds. Many experience nightmares, anxiety, depression and signs of traumatic stress from witnessing and enduring violence. Compounded by absence of stable schooling, safe spaces or consistent psychological support, children in Gaza are growing up in an environment where fear and grief have become part of everyday life. This continuing trauma, even after the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, has not only affected children’s current well-being but threatens to shape the mental and emotional development of many future generations.

345. The Commission has found in a previous report that (i) the extensive and deliberate targeting of Palestinians, including children, showed that the military operations were not conducted solely to defeat Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups as Israeli officials claimed, nor can they legitimately contribute to the other stated goals of defending the state of Israel and securing the release of Israeli hostages; and (ii) the direct and intentional targeting of Palestinian children was intended to physically destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza.

346. The targeting of Palestinian children is central to establishing genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza. The Commission notes that the ‘intent to destroy’ does not mean that such destruction needs to have occurred; however, specific intent may be established based on the totality of the evidence, through the pattern of conduct of the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces, including when the targeting of children continued despite clear warnings and, importantly, even when the foreseeable impacts of such targeting have been actualised. Children are not just part of a population; their survival is central to the existence and continuity of the Palestinian group. The sheer number of cases investigated and documented by the Commission showing a clear pattern that children were directly targeted by the Israeli security forces constitutes a key element in the Israeli authorities’ genocidal intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza.

347. The Commission finds that the killing of and serious bodily and mental harm inflicted upon Palestinian children was part of a strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian group in Gaza. The Commission therefore reiterates its conclusion that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have committed the crime of genocide in Gaza by killing and causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, including Palestinian children, therein.

Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, including children

348. The conditions of life imposed by Israel on the Palestinian group in Gaza, including children, constitute a deliberate and systematic infliction of harm calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza as a group. The sustained blockade, recurrent bombardments and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian access have deprived the population of essential means of survival, including adequate food, clean water, fuel, medical care and safe shelter, with especially severe impacts on children. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, sanitation systems and educational facilities, has been repeatedly and intentionally targeted and destroyed. Schools have been struck during periods of active use
as shelters and learning spaces. The systematic attacks on educational institutions have not only deprived children of their right to education but have also directly caused death and injury, rendering these facilities places of danger rather than safety. 

349. In Gaza, births rates have decreased amid increasing neonatal risks, including newborn deaths, surge in premature and underweight infants, and congenital defects in newborns requiring intensive care.460 Different organizations, including this Commission, have highlighted evidence of the effects of the violence in Gaza and the siege on newborns and children under two years. Israel had sufficient actual and constructive notice of these effects and yet Israel has continued to impose and maintain measures in Gaza that have resulted in causing adverse pregnancy and birthing outcomes. The harm caused by Israel is thus both intended as an accepted consequence and a clearly foreseeable result of the sustained measures imposed by Israel in Gaza, including deprivation and health system collapse resulting from Israel’s blockade, total siege, and bombardment. Therefore, Israel has imposed and maintained measures on Gaza which have systematically restricted and diminished the survival capacities and health of Palestinian newborns, who have been rendered especially vulnerable by the cumulative effects of Israel’s systemic violence and siege.

350. The Commission also found that, in relation to the total siege imposed on Gaza, the following factors indicate the Israeli authorities’ intention to impose conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction of the Palestinian group in Gaza, including children, thus establishing a genocidal intent: (i) the nature of the siege imposed, its duration and the vulnerability of Palestinians in Gaza, especially children, who are dependent on the humanitarian aid blocked by Israel; (ii) Israeli awareness of the objective probability that the conduct would lead, and has actually led, to the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, at least in part; (iii) the continuation of the siege despite warnings, including the flagrant disregard of binding orders of the International Court of Justice; and (iv) the entrapment of Palestinians in Gaza, ensuring they cannot escape the violence and intended destruction of the group.

351. The cumulative effect of these acts, including attacks against health systems and essential civilian infrastructure, amounts to the intentional destruction of the foundations required for children’s survival and development. Israeli political and military authorities have created living conditions that are fundamentally incompatible with the physical growth and intellectual development of children and the holistic environment necessary for children’s well-being. They have acted to promote the physical and psychological destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza, including children. The foreseeability and consistency of these effects clearly indicate both knowledge and intent regarding their destructive outcome upon the Palestinian group in Gaza, including children. Having assessed as a whole, taking into account the nature and duration of these acts, their foreseeable consequences and the prolonged denial of remedial measures, the Commission reiterates its finding that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part, with specific intent to destroy the group, as such.

Also read: Statement by Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, to the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council 

Statement by Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, to the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, 15 June 2026

Ms. Vice President. Excellencies. Good afternoon,

I speak before this Council, while the most devastating attack against the Palestinian people since 1948 continues, after more than two and a half years now, with complete impunity. 

In a Conference Room Paper published in September 2025, the Commission found that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces had committed and were continuing to commit genocidal acts with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian group in Gaza.

These findings followed the issuing of three binding orders for provisional measures by the International Court of Justice, detailing the catastrophic conditions in Gaza and risks of irreparable prejudice to the rights of the Palestinian group.

Excellencies

The report by the Board of Peace to the Security Council in May this year pursuant to Security Council resolution 2803 claims that the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza have improved. Excellencies, this contradicts the findings of this Commission. The Israeli Prime minister has been clear: Israel aims to seize at least 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law. The reality is that Palestinians continue to be killed and harmed in Gaza even after the ceasefire was announced in October last year and the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza remains very much below the necessary levels needed.

The impact on children continues to be detrimental. A conference room paper will be made available on the web page of the Commission next week, focusing specifically on violations committed against children before and after the ceasefire.

Furthermore, the public and severe mistreatment of the flotilla activists detained by the Israeli forces disregard international law and support the findings of the Commission in previous reports that Palestinian detainees were severely mistreated, including tortured, raped and sexually abused, by the Israeli forces.

Excellencies

The report presented to you today focuses on killing and causing bodily and mental harm by non-State actors. These acts are committed against Palestinians by settlers in the occupied West Bank and against Palestinians and Israelis by Hamas in Gaza and armed groups and others in the West Bank.

While their origins and motivations differ, these groups operate within environments engineered by Israel, including the continuing Israeli offensive in Gaza despite the October 2025 ceasefire. Hamas has exploited the vacuum resulting from relentless Israeli attacks and the destruction of Gaza, whereas violence by settlers is the direct result of Israeli policies that facilitate and support their actions.

Excellencies

Palestinian lives in the Occupied West Bank are more at risk than ever. From 1 January 2025 to 30 April 2026, Israeli settlers killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured at least 1,296 Palestinians. In 2025 at least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 Palestinians were injured. This marks a 130 per cent increase in killings and injuries over the year 2024. This trend continues in 2026 with attacks carried out on a daily basis, and at least eight Palestinian civilians killed by settlers just in the first four months of the year.

When violence becomes so routine, and when it is met with almost complete impunity, it sends a devastating message: that Palestinian lives are worthless and meaningless, and that they can be taken, day after day, without consequence.

This surge in settler attacks comes against a landmark advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, declaring that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, and that Israel must immediately end the occupation, cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Settlers have increasingly resorted to sexual violence to instil fear and humiliate Palestinians in order to pressure communities and force them to leave their land. Since 2023, the Commission has verified the rape of a Palestinian man, and two cases of attempted rape. Meanwhile settlers have consistently intimated and harassed Palestinian women and girls, constraining their daily life.

Violence against women and children contribute to the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities. The targeting of these groups constitutes an instrumental factor in pushing Palestinian families and communities to leave their homes.

Excellencies

Settler violence in the West Bank functions as a means of implementing Israeli State policies, with both the State and violent settler groups working in collaboration towards the same strategic objective: unlawful territorial expansion. This expansion, as previously pointed out by the Commission, takes the form of entrenchment and expansion of Israeli settlements, de facto annexation of Palestinian territory and forced displacement of Palestinians from their land.

Members of the Israeli Security Forces are routinely involved in attacks; they accompany, protect, and participate in these attacks, reinforcing a pattern in which Israeli forces assist in perpetrating violence instead of protecting the occupied population from violence.

Excellencies,

Since it seized power in Gaza in 2007, Hamas has repeatedly exploited security vacuums and humanitarian crises resulting from Israeli attacks and escalations of hostilities, to target suspected collaborators and political opponents with extreme physical violence.

In a surge of punitive violence since October 2023, the Commission identified 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024-2025, resulting in at least 108 deaths and 384 injured. The Commission found that Hamas-affiliated forces were involved in at least 60 of these incidents.

Hamas also recorded and published the execution of alleged perpetrators as a form of public humiliation and to instil fear and deter opponents. Public punishments, particularly against perceived “collaborators”, have long-lasting repercussions on the victims and their families, including shame and stigma.

Palestinians are essentially trapped between the structural violence and mass atrocities of Israeli forces and settlers and the fear-based rule of Hamas, effectively becoming victims of all sides.

Excellencies,

The Government of Israel must immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, cease all new settlement activities and remove all settlers and settlements in compliance with the advisory opinion of July 2024 of the International Court of Justice. It must also take all possible preventive measures to protect Palestinians from settler violence and ensure accountability. Above all, Israel needs to remove all obstructions to the full exercise of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

The de facto authorities in Gaza must immediately stop all extrajudicial punishments of civilians, including executions, torture, and mental, physical and sexual violence, and ensure accountability and reparation to victims and their families. The Government of the State of Palestine must also fulfil its obligations and investigate and prosecute crimes committed by armed groups in Gaza, to the extent possible.

My final words are directed at the Member States of the United Nations, many of which are represented here today. All States must fulfil their obligations under international law. As provided by the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, States must not recognise as legal situations arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This means not to render aid or assistance that supports or maintains the occupation, including by ending arms transfers and the provision of direct and indirect financial support to settlements.

Thank you.