Palestine welcomes Navi Pillay’s 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

Pillay dedicated her career to defending rights of oppressed people in South Africa and around the world, including Palestinians, says Foreign Ministry

Palestine on Friday welcomed South African jurist Navi Pillay’s being awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, saying the honor recognizes her efforts to defend international law and document Israeli crimes. The Foreign Ministry said Pillay’s win represented an elevation of “the voice of truth and the voice of the oppressed,” and recognized her efforts to advance peace and international law. It said Pillay devoted her career to upholding law and justice and defending the rights of oppressed people in South Africa and around the world, including Palestinians. The ministry praised her leadership of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which she chaired from 2021 to 2025. It said the commission helped document genocide, sexual violence, attacks on children and other Israeli violations. The ministry said the prize was also recognition for defenders of international law and justice and encouragement for efforts to hold perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable. It added that Pillay has consistently defended the universality of law and equality among people, including Palestinians, and said the award underscored that “there can be no lasting peace without justice and equality for all.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that it awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to the 85-year-old jurist “for her efforts to promote peace and international law.” “This year's laureate has significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law,” it said, highlighting her work in international courts and as UN high commissioner for human rights. Pillay, born into a family of Indian Tamil origin in Durban, South Africa, under apartheid, began her legal career challenging racial discrimination and defending opponents of the apartheid system. She served as UN high commissioner for human rights, as a judge at the International Criminal Court and as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She has also served as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice. The UN commission she chaired concluded in a 2025 report that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a finding rejected by Israel. The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.