Nobel Peace Prize awarded to UN jurist who accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, an experienced jurist who chaired a United Nations commission that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "her efforts to promote peace and international law."In awarding this year's Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee argued strong international judicial institutions must be able to enforce the rule of law to have any hope of mediating the growing number of wars and conflicts worldwide.The committee also noted that political attacks against judges and international law itself are becoming more commonplace.Pillay has had a long, storied career — both as a lawyer and as a judge — and more recently, she has definitively weighed in on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.Navi Pillay, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct.9, 2026, speaks during a briefing to UN member states about ongoing investigations of the Commission at the UN offices in Geneva, on April 16, 2024.

(Fabrice Coffrini / AFP)ISRAEL ACCUSES UN OF PLACING IT ON SAME SEXUAL VIOLENCE BLACKLIST AS HAMAS TERRORISTS, SEVERS TIESShe chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which was created in 2021 after a flare-up in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.In September 2025, nearly two years after the Oct.7 attacks, the commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, while also specifically accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of inciting genocide."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 after the commission's report was released.At the time, Israel dismissed the findings as "distorted and false."A view of the destruction after an Israeli attack on Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine on Oct.

9, 2026.(Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)MAMDANI DOUBLES DOWN ON ANTI-ISRAEL OCT ...