Former UN rights chief Navi Pillay quits Israel-Palestine probe

Two other team experts also stepped down

South African judge Navi Pillay has headed the independent UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2021. AFP

Navi Pillay, the former UN human rights chief who has headed the world body's Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel since 2021, has resigned.

Ms Pillay, a South African jurist, said in a letter made public on Monday that her resignation, effective on November 3, was due to “age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments”.

Two other team experts, Chris Sidoti of Australia and Miloon Kothari of India, also stepped down. Their resignation letters, addressed to the president of the Human Rights Council, were sent last week.

The resignation of the three-member panel comes amid mounting political pressure, including recent US sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on Francesca Albanese, a Human Rights Council-appointed expert who has publicly condemned Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Ms Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, called on July 9 for an arms embargo and the severing of trade ties with Israel, accusing it of conducting a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza.

Israel has refused to co-operate with the commission, denying its members entry and repeatedly rejecting their findings as biased.

Danny Danon, Israel’s envoy to the UN, welcomed the resignations as “a step in the right direction” but said “there is still a long way to go.”

“We will not rest until justice and moral clarity are restored in the halls of the United Nations,” he said in a statement on X.

He also renewed criticism of top UN aid chied Tom Fletcher for misusing his platform at the UN Security Council to spread dangerous blood libels about Israel committing a “genocide” in Gaza”.

“We will not stop exposing those who abuse their senior positions to spread antisemitism and lies about Israel,” added Mr Danon.

The Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, has no prosecutorial powers but is tasked with documenting abuses and preserving evidence that could be used by international judicial bodies such as the International Criminal Court.

Ms Pillay’s departure marks the end of a controversial mandate that has faced criticism from Israel but also praise from rights groups for highlighting systematic abuses in both Israel and the Palestinian territories.