A United Nations expert has issued a severe condemnation of Israel's treatment of Palestinian women and girls during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, labeling it as “femi-genocide.” Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, articulated a grim portrayal of Israel's actions as not just extreme but also intentionally destructive to the societal continuity of the Palestinian people.

In her statement, Alsalem highlighted the disturbing use of sexual violence, including rape, by Israeli forces, which she argues is used as a weapon of war to instill a “climate of desperation” among Palestinian civilians. This assertion aligns with findings from a March 2025 report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which confirmed the systematic employment of sexual and gender-based violence by Israel as a strategy to undermine the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

The timing of Alsalem's statement is crucial, coming just weeks after she presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council on sex-based violence against women and girls. In her report, she urged for the recognition of biological sex as a key factor in such violence. Alsalem warned that overlooking gender-based violence in legal and policy frameworks diminishes the ability of international mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.

The legal prosecution of sex-based violence remains a challenge under existing international criminal and humanitarian laws. For instance, the 1948 Genocide Convention identifies genocide as acts committed against specific national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups, which inadvertently minimizes the recognition of sex and gender-based crimes as central components of genocidal actions.

This stark denunciation by a UN expert underscores the ongoing severe humanitarian and legal issues surrounding the conflict in Gaza, particularly the implications for the protection and rights of women and girls in conflict zones. The international community’s response to these allegations and the subsequent actions to address and rectify these grave accusations remain to be seen.