Palestinian-American legal scholar Noura Erakat brief to the UN Security Council
Palestinian-American legal scholar Noura Erakat (@4noura) made history Monday as only the second Palestinian woman to brief the UN Security Council since October 7, 2023— and the first to present the legal case that Israel’s war on Gaza is genocide. Speaking for over 10 minutes, Erakat explained how Israel’s campaign amounts to the deliberate destruction of Palestinian life, laying out a four-part case of genocide through attacks on reproductive capacity:
Stage 1 – Preventing conception: 92% of homes destroyed, privacy impossible. Systematic sexual torture in captivity including rape, forced nudity, electrocution of genitalia, creating trauma that impede sexual intimacy. Israel bombed the Al-Basma fertility clinic, destroying 4,000 embryos and over 1,000 vials of genetic material. Birth rates have plummeted 41% since 2022.
Stage 2 – Preventing gestation: Constant bombardment, destroyed medical facilities, hunger and disease make carrying pregnancies nearly impossible. Miscarriage rates increased 300% by 2024.
Stage 3 – Preventing delivery: 55,000 women lack prenatal care. Fifteen women weekly deliver in “appalling conditions”—public bathrooms, without hospitals. Erakat describes C-sections without anesthesia, and “pain beyond human tolerance.”
Stage 4 – Preventing survival: Famine has been confirmed. Over 60% of mothers can’t produce milk due to starvation. At least 450 babies were born and killed during the genocide. She urged the Council to ensure any end to the genocide does not come at the expense of accountability or international law—calling for UN, not Israeli, oversight of Gaza. She also called for protection of ICC and ICJ proceedings, and for ensuring that Palestinian women take part in rebuilding Gaza. “Should you be paralyzed by fear, look to Palestinian women. They refused to surrender. Neither should you,” she concluded.