Specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence – such as forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault – comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ standard operating procedures toward Palestinians.

Other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and violence to the genitals, were committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership, the report said.

A climate of impunity also exists with regard to sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with the aim of instilling fear into the Palestinian community and expelling them.

“The exculpatory statements and actions by Israeli leaders and the lack of effectiveness shown by the military justice system to prosecute cases and convict perpetrators send a clear message to members of the Israeli Security Forces that they can continue committing such acts without fear of accountability,” said Pillay. “In this context, accountability through the International Criminal Court and national courts, through their domestic law or exercising universal jurisdiction, is essential if the rule of law is to be upheld and victims awarded justice.”

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Women and girls have died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to the conditions imposed by the Israeli authorities which have denied access to reproductive health care - acts which amount to the crime against humanity of extermination.

The Commission found an increasing proportion of female fatalities in Gaza, which have occurred at an unprecedented scale as a result of an Israeli strategy of deliberately targeting residential buildings and using heavy explosives in densely populated areas. The Commission also documented cases in which women and girls of all ages, including maternity patients, were targeted - acts that constitute the crime against humanity of murder and the war crime of wilful killing.