UN investigation: Israel seeks permanent control over Gaza

A UN commission of inquiry said on Tuesday that the Israeli government has demonstrated a clear intention to impose permanent control over the Gaza Strip and ensure a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank.

The UN report details the widespread and systematic demolition of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and the buffer zone by Israeli authorities, which led to Israel expanding its control to 75 percent of the Gaza Strip by July of this year.

“Israeli forces also deliberately altered the geographic nature of Gaza by establishing military axes, expanding the existing buffer zone, and creating ‘security zones,’ resulting in the fragmentation of Gaza,” the report (by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel) stated.