OSLO, Norway: Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old former international judge who led a United Nations inquiry that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting peace and international law.

The Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, highlighting the importance of protecting international law and maintaining a rules-based global order as these principles face growing pressure.

The committee warned that international legal institutions were under attack and that powerful countries were increasingly putting their own interests ahead of legal rules, justice and peaceful relations.

Born in Durban, in South Africa's Natal province, to an Indian Tamil family, Pillay has had a long career in international law. She has served as a judge at several international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

She also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and chaired the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The commission concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the report, describing it as scandalous.

Pillay broke several barriers early in her legal career in South Africa. In 1967, she became the first woman to establish a law practice in Natal and the first non-white woman to serve as a judge on South Africa's High Court.

The Nobel Committee praised her work holding governments and national leaders accountable for their actions. It said she had given hope to victims of violence and conflict while maintaining strong moral principles throughout her career.

The committee also linked her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid to her later role in major international court cases.

Pillay's award comes as the International Criminal Court faces increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump. Last month, Trump urged countries to withdraw from the court.

The United States has already imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC prosecutors and judges. Sources have also said Washington is considering broader sanctions in response to the court's actions against Israeli leaders.

However, Haakon Gjerloew, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said the award was not intended as a direct attack on Trump. He said it was mainly intended to support the international legal order, although Pillay's connection to the ICC could draw a reaction from the US president.

The Nobel Peace Prize was the fifth award announced this week, following the prizes for literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado received the Peace Prize in 2025.

The Peace Prize is worth 12 million Swedish kronor, or about US$1.2 million. Pillay is due to receive the award in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the prizes in his 1895 will.