Gaza Herald – The United Nations Commissioner Navi Pillay has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, declaring that it breaches international law and directly contradicts the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion ordering Israel to end its unlawful occupation.
Pillay, who chairs the UN Commission of Inquiry that determined Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, stated that the commission’s findings remain valid, even if a ceasefire is reached. “Israel has committed genocide and continues to do so,” Pillay said, emphasizing that no political proposal can erase the evidence or accountability for those crimes.
Pillay criticized Trump’s 20-point “peace plan”, unveiled alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for excluding Palestinians from transitional governance and granting Israel ongoing security control over Gaza, effectively restricting Palestinian sovereignty. The plan proposes that Trump himself, alongside former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, oversee a “transitional committee,” a move widely denounced by international jurists as colonial governance under another name. Pillay stressed that the proposal violates the ICJ’s July 19, 2024 ruling, which found Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank to be illegal and unconditional in its requirement to end.
The commissioner further warned that the plan defies the UN General Assembly resolution of September 18, 2024, which obligated Israel to comply with the ICJ judgment within one year. “This plan goes directly against the declaration of the International Court of Justice,” she said, adding that Palestinians must not only be included but lead any transitional process as the rightful stewards of their land. Her remarks come amid Israel’s ongoing genocide, which has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, nearly half of them women and children, destroyed most homes and infrastructure, and displaced almost the entire population of 2.2 million.
Pillay’s commission, composed of Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, concluded that Israel committed four of the five acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, supported by evidence of intent to destroy Palestinians as a group. A coalition of 36 UN human rights experts also condemned Trump’s proposal, warning that it fails to ensure an end to occupation or uphold the Palestinian right to self-determination enshrined in international law. Despite the mounting criticism, Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, underscoring what Pillay called “a deliberate campaign not only to exterminate a people but to erase the truth about their extermination.”
