Hundreds of United Nations staffers have urged Volker Turk, the United Nations' top human rights official, to formally label the ongoing conflict in Gaza a genocide. According to a letter seen by Reuters, more than 500 employees from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights argue that the legal conditions for genocide have been met, pointing to the extensive and severe violations observed in the nearly two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
The letter, endorsed by about a quarter of Turk's global staff, presses him to take a clear and public stance. "OHCHR has a strong legal and moral responsibility to denounce acts of genocide," the letter states, warning that failing to do so risks undermining both the UN's credibility and the broader human rights system. The signatories referenced the UN's inaction during the 1994 Rwanda genocide as a cautionary example.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric responded that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stands behind Turk, but said that formal determinations of genocide are a matter for international courts. Israel's Foreign Ministry dismissed the staff letter, describing such allegations as "false, baseless, and blinded by obsessive hatred towards Israel." Israel maintains its actions in Gaza are self-defense following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack that resulted in over 1,200 Israeli deaths.
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The Gaza Health Ministry has reported nearly 63,000 deaths during the conflict, with some areas facing famine. While some rights groups and independent UN experts have used the term "genocide," the UN as a body has so far refrained, deferring the decision to legal authorities. South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, but the case remains unresolved. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, 50% of Americans—77% of Democrats, 51% of independents, and 20% of Republicans—think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
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