"The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza," Pillay said. "It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention." Pillay said "responsibility for the atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons" over the nearly two-year war. The commission concluded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had incited the commission of genocide. To back up the finding, the report cites the scale of the killings in Gaza, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic. A leading association of genocide scholars and several rights groups have also reached the same conclusion. Israel's ongoing war in Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, statistics that the United Nations considers reliable. International researchers estimate that the true toll is much higher. Israeli rights groups accuse government of genocide in Gaza 03:18 Israel 'categorically rejects' commission's report Israel's Foreign Ministry slammed the report, calling it "distorted and false" and accused the commission members of being "notorious for their openly antisemitic positions." "Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry," a Foreign Ministry statement said. The ministry claimed that the team members behind the report, including a former International Criminal Court judge, were "Hamas proxies." The UN Commission of Inquiry is not a legal body. However, its reports can create diplomatic pressure and provide evidence for later use by courts. Pillay told the AFP news agency that the commission was cooperating with the International Criminal Court prosecutor. "We've shared thousands of pieces of information with them," she said.