Israel committing Gaza genocide through reproductive suppression: Palestinian-American scholar tells UNSC
Palestinian-American legal scholar Noura Erakat has presented a detailed legal case at the UN, arguing that Israel’s war in Gaza constitutes genocide through a systematic attack on the reproductive capacity of the Palestinian people.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Erakat, the second Palestinian woman to brief the Council since October 2023, laid out a detailed argument that Israel’s campaign amounts to the deliberate destruction of Palestinian life, particularly targeting their reproductive capacity.
She described how the destruction of 92% of homes and widespread sexual violence create trauma that prevents conception.
She highlighted the bombing of the Al-Basma fertility clinic, which destroyed thousands of embryos and genetic material, and noted a 41% drop in birth rates since 2022.
Erakat further said that constant bombardment, destroyed medical infrastructure, hunger, and disease have made carrying pregnancies nearly impossible, with miscarriage rates rising sharply.
She also exposed the dire conditions under which women are forced to give birth, often in public bathrooms and without anesthesia during C-sections.
Furthermore, she reported that famine has left many mothers unable to produce milk and that hundreds of babies have been killed during the conflict.
She urged the Security Council not to allow an end to the genocide without accountability or adherence to international law.
She proposed that instead of Israel, the UN should oversee the end of the occupation. This approach would protect the integrity of the ongoing proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), suspend arms transfers to Israel, and ensure that Palestinian women can play a meaningful role in rebuilding their society.
“Should you be paralyzed by fear, I encourage you to look to Palestinian women — they refuse to surrender. Neither should you,” she concluded.
Israel has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians and injured over 169,679 others, most of them women and children, in Gaza since it launched the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.
In November last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes related to Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the ICJ for its war on the besieged coastal territory.
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