Countries supplying arms to Israel cannot escape charge of aiding war crimes: Justice Muralidhar

Countries supplying arms to Israel, including India, should immediately halt such exports as they risk being complicit in alleged war crimes, former Orissa High Court Chief Justice S Muralidhar has said while discussing the findings of a recent United Nations inquiry into Israel's military operations in Gaza.

The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, last week headed by Justice S Muralidhar, released a report accusing Israel of deliberately targeting children during its military operations in Palestine.

The report documented the deaths of at least 20,179 Palestinian children and injuries to 44,143 between the 7 October, 2023 Hamas attack, which prompted Israel's military crackdown, and October 2025.

It said the strikes had created the highest concentration of child amputees globally and left more than 58,000 children orphaned.

Describing these actions as "part of a strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian group in Gaza", the report called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians, unrestricted humanitarian access, reparations for victims and action against those responsible for serious violations.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Justice Muralidhar explained the evidence behind the report's findings, the challenges of investigating Israel despite its refusal to cooperate and why he believes India should not ignore the situation.

He urged the Indian government to reassess its foreign policy in light of the Commission's findings.

"I really want the Indian government to look at its foreign policy and ask: Are we going to permit fundamental humanitarian principles to be given a go-by? If we fail to act on evidence as stark as this, we cannot redeem ourselves for the future."

Speaking about his appointment as chair of the Commission, Justice Muralidhar said the body was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021.

He said he received a call in early November last year asking whether he would be interested in leading it.

"I realised I could not miss this opportunity. It would be an exposure to international human rights law mechanisms and how investigative bodies work at an international level. As a chair, you get to give the Commission the shape and fresh thinking it needs…"

Explaining the evidence that led the Commission to conclude that many children were intentionally killed, he said Israel employed two methods. One involved intensive airstrikes in densely populated areas using high-yield bombs, which inevitably caused severe civilian casualties, particularly among children.

Muralidhar said, "You are bound to have severe casualties, [especially of] children… If you are a rights-respecting State, once you see the high child casualties, you would stop…"

He said the second method involved the use of quadcopters, drones and snipers to target children.

According to him, the quadcopters were equipped with thermal imaging cameras that allowed operators to identify children.

The justice said, "The operator can clearly make out… if it is a child. How else do you explain a 10-day-old baby being shot through the head with a quadcopter?… We have so many instances where an adult carrying a child is spared, but the child is shot."

Justice Muralidhar said the Commission also conducted oral hearings in Geneva with treating doctors, who testified to finding tiny holes on the upper parts of children's bodies.

"Cube-shaped pellets were precisely aimed at the head and neck… The scale is astonishing."

Describing how the Commission verified evidence despite Israel's refusal to cooperate, he said it functioned as an investigative body that actively searched for contradictory evidence.

He said the Commission issued public calls for submissions and relied on a multinational team of 12 specialists, including military analysts, cyber experts and legal and gender experts.

He further said when the Commission investigated incidents such as children being killed by gunshots, it used forensic tools, geolocation and chrono-location to confirm the presence of Israeli soldiers.

The justice said, "Ironically, Israel's lack of cooperation is offset by its own soldiers posting massive incriminating evidence on social media… They act with impunity."

Justice Muralidhar further said the Commission had shared its draft report with Israel weeks before publication but received no direct response. Instead, Israel issued an 18-page rebuttal.

He said, "They never responded to us directly. Instead, they released an 18-page rebuttal… they did not deny the evidence. They didn't claim the soldiers' videos were fake… Israel arbitrarily labels boys 10, 12 or 15 years of age as terrorists. Once you label a child a terrorist, the Israeli soldier feels no need to find a reason to kill…"

He also referred to statements made by Israeli soldiers in television interviews. "Israeli soldiers have stated in television interviews that their commanders commended them, telling them that irrespective of the target's age, they have to kill. This is not the work of a few rogue soldiers. It is a deliberate, systematic plan."

Explaining why the report concluded that Israel's actions constituted genocide, Justice Muralidhar said the finding was based not only on the killings but also on the destruction of civilian infrastructure and land.

"It is not just the killings. It is the taking over of agricultural land. It is the destruction of 97% of all schools and 22 out of 38 universities. It is the bombing of paediatric and neonatal facilities...." he said.

He said the Commission also considered statements made by senior Israeli leaders. "You also have to look at the rhetoric from the top… Two days after the attack of October 7, 2023, Nissim Vaturi, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, posted on social media: 'Erase Gaza… Do not leave a child there. Expel all the remaining ones… so that they will not have a resurrection.'"

Addressing concerns that previous UN reports and International Court of Justice orders had failed to bring accountability, Justice Muralidhar said he still believed the international system should not be abandoned. "We cannot lose faith in the system…"

He pointed to foreign nationals serving in the Israeli Defence Forces and said countries that are parties to the Rome Statute have legal obligations to prosecute their own citizens if they are involved in such crimes.

Muralidhar said, "For instance, there are 6,000 French, nearly 2,00 Britishers and 700 Australians currently serving in the Israeli Defence Forces. All these countries are signatories to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which places on them an obligation to prosecute their own nationals if they are involved in these atrocities…"

Justice Muralidhar also said the Commission was urging countries that supply arms to Israel, including India, to stop doing so. "We are also urging countries that supply arms to Israel – and India exports small arms to Israel – to cease doing so… The supplying country cannot escape the charge of aiding and abetting war crimes…"

Referring to India's approach to international law, he said, "When Kulbhushan Jadhav was wrongly captured and denied a fair trial in Pakistan, we went to the International Court of Justice… We want international law when it comes to Wall Street rankings or maritime trade. But the moment it comes to international human rights law, politicians claim it is 'foreign' to our traditions…"