Daysofpal – UN Commissioner and former South African judge Navi Pillay has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s new 20-point Gaza plan, denouncing it for excluding Palestinians from transitional governance and reaffirming that the UN’s determination of Israel’s genocide in Gaza remains unchanged.
Pillay, who chairs a UN commission of inquiry that concluded last month that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, stated in an interview with Middle East Eye on Monday that “the conclusion of the commission still stands.” “Israel has committed genocide and is continuing to do so,” she said on the Expert Witness podcast. “Just because there’s a call for a ceasefire now, it doesn’t mean that the finding of genocide is going to go away.”
Last week, Trump unveiled his controversial “peace” plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The proposal, widely condemned as “colonial thinking,” places heavy emphasis on Israel’s security concerns and envisions a transitional committee led by Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee Gaza’s future.
Pillay, 84, who has served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Trump’s plan directly contravenes international law and recent UN rulings. “This plan goes directly against the declaration of the International Court of Justice,” she said, referring to the ICJ’s advisory opinion issued on 19 July 2024, which held that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is unlawful and must end unconditionally.
She further noted that Israel has ignored the UN General Assembly resolution of 18 September 2024, which called on it to comply with the ICJ’s judgment within one year.
Pillay criticized the proposed transitional arrangement for sidelining Palestinians entirely. “The main thing is that Palestinians are not part of this. They not only should be part, they should be the controlling feature because they are able to govern themselves,” she said. By allowing Israel to maintain “significant security control” over Gaza, she warned, the plan would “restrict Gaza’s independence and ultimately the sovereignty of the Palestinian people.”
Since the plan’s announcement, Israeli forces have continued their military campaign in Gaza, killing over a hundred people in recent days. Over the past two years, Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, nearly half of them women and children, destroyed most of the enclave’s homes and infrastructure; and displaced almost all of its 2.2 million residents.
Pillay underscored that any credible political process must include the Palestinian people. “This plan must involve the Palestinian people. There is no other way, and there should not be another way,” she said.
Her remarks came as 36 UN human rights experts also criticized Trump’s plan for failing to ensure an end to Israel’s occupation and for ignoring Palestinians’ right to self-determination, which is enshrined in international law.
Pillay’s commission, which includes Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti and former UN Special Rapporteur Miloon Kothari, issued its findings on 16 September. The commission concluded that Israel has committed four of the five prohibited acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention and that Israeli leaders acted with intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a national and ethnic group.
The report echoes findings by Palestinian, Israeli, and international rights organizations, but it remains the most authoritative legal judgment by a UN body to date. The commission based its conclusions on extensive investigations, using methods similar to those employed by the International Court of Justice, which is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
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