Displaced Palestinians in central Gaza said on Tuesday (September 16) that the United Nations' inquiry finding Israel committed genocide in the Palestinian enclave came late.

"The United Nations should have made such findings a long time ago because Israel has committed mass massacres against the Palestinian people on a daily basis and it used all means of terrorism, fear, destruction, hunger, thirst and displacement," said Fadel al-Dibs, a displaced Palestinian from Jabalia.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded on Tuesday that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu incited these acts - accusations that Israel called scandalous.

The U.N. report, issued as Israel announced the start of a ground operation in Gaza City, cites examples of the scale of the killings, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic to back up its genocide finding, adding its voice to a scholars' association and rights groups that have reached the same conclusion.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was also named in the report, condemned its findings, which he said misinterpreted his words.

Israel's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Daniel Meron, called the report "scandalous" and "fake," saying it had been authored by "Hamas proxies."

Israel accuses the commission of having a political agenda against Israel and diverging from its mandate, and declined to cooperate with it.

The commission's 72-page legal analysis is the strongest U.N. finding to date but the body is independent and does not officially speak for the United Nations. The U.N. has not yet used the term 'genocide' but is under increasing pressure to do so.

Israel's nearly two-year-long campaign against Hamas has killed more than 64,000 people in Gaza, according to local authorities. It was prompted by the militant group's attack on Israel in October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

CENTRAL GAZA, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 16, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. BOY SITTING ON TOP OF HILL OVERLOOKING COASTAL ROAD WHERE DISPLACED PALESTINIANS, FLEEING NORTHERN GAZA, ARE MOVING SOUTHWARD WITH THEIR BELONGINGS

2. VARIOUS OF LOADED VEHICLES AND PALESTINIANS ON THE ROAD

3. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS PUSHING VEHICLE WITH BELONGINGS ON TOP OF IT

4. PALESTINIANS WALKING

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM JABALIA, FADEL AL-DIBS, SAYING:

"We heard today that the United Nations concluded that Israel has committed massacres (genocide) against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, yes this is true. The United Nations should have made such findings a long time ago because Israel has committed mass massacres against the Palestinian people on a daily basis and it used all means of terrorism, fear, destruction, hunger, thirst and displacement.”

6. DIBS MOVING BARREL

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM JABALIA, FADEL AL-DIBS, SAYING:

"The United Nations (must) stand by our side and by our cause, and try to stop the war on the Gaza Strip with all means and as soon as possible. We ask all the brothers in the international community to stand by the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, stop the war on Gaza Strip immediately, without any conditions.”

8. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MOVING WITH VEHICLES AND CARTS LOADED WITH BELONGINGS

9. PALESTINIANS SITTING ON THE FLOOR

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, MOHAMMED AL-ASHKAR, 50, SAYING:

"I think the world has double standards, and the American and European democracy has fallen in the mud of Gaza. Is it now clear for the world that Israel is committing a genocide against the Gazans? I think this is a real farce because we have been dying for two years, our blood is being shed in the streets, our families are in the streets, our women and our children are in the streets, we are being displaced a thousand times instead of one time and we are still getting displaced and nobody cared. Did they just see us today?”

11. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MOVING WITH VEHICLES AND CARTS LOADED WITH BELONGINGS

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, MOHAMMED AL-ASHKAR, 50, SAYING:

"We are now near a trash dump. We had to stay near it because we did not find an alternative (to) this health hazard that will cause many diseases to our children. This world is unfair, biased and has double standard towards the Palestinians. If this was happening to a European country, you would have seen the world uprising to support its cause, but it seems that we are in the depth of oblivion.”

13. PEOPLE WITH VEHICLES AND CARTS LOADED WITH BELONGINGS

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM GAZA CITY, ABU (FATHER OF) MOHAMMED, 47, SAYING:

"We are an oppressed people, we are oppressed, our children are oppressed. We were displaced from our land and homes. We cry blood over our homes, we cry blood over our children. I personally have my father as a martyr, and my children martyrs, I left them there and left... My house fell above me and I am an innocent man. As you can see, I have bread and my bag.”

15. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING ON ROAD SIDE / VEHICLES MOVING / PALESTINIANS GATHERING