Israel has committed war crimes and the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, intentionally targeting Palestinian civilians as it continues to commit genocide in Gaza, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report on Monday. The report, presented to the UN General Assembly, focuses on killings and bodily and mental harm by state actors.

Source: OHCHR / UN Commission of Inquiry, Oct 26

Israel, which denies both the genocide and the sexual assault claims, did not immediately respond to the report's publication, the Associated Press reported. The AP said it could not independently corroborate multiple accounts of sexual assault described in the report. The commission's findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions, the AP reported.

Source: Associated Press, Oct 26

West Bank: a 'widespread and systematic attack'

In the West Bank, the report found that Israel - through military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence - has waged a widespread and systematic attack against civilians since 7 October 2023, and that Palestinians there are being targeted on the basis of their nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age. Torture, reproductive violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence form part of the broader attack, the commission said, and Israeli forces have also deliberately killed and inflicted serious bodily and mental harm on children in the West Bank, committing age-based persecution. 'The intentional killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank combined with Israel's persistent denial of responsibility form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable,' said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission.

Source: OHCHR / UN Commission of Inquiry, Oct 26

Gaza: killings continue after the ceasefire, report says

In Gaza, the report found that Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part. Since October 2025, when the ceasefire was signed, Israeli forces have gone from controlling 53 percent of Gaza to at least 60 percent, and Israeli fire across the advancing front has killed at least 196 Palestinians in that time, the commission said, according to the AP. The commission said it investigated seven cases between November 2023 and June 2026 in which Israeli forces caused bodily harm to Palestinians, often children, who did not appear to be posing a threat, the AP reported. The war began with the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage; Israel's campaign has since killed over 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, the AP reported.

Source: Associated Press, Oct 26

The commission also criticised the Palestinian Authority, finding that it has targeted Palestinians who voice dissenting views, that journalists and human rights defenders have been killed and injured, and that it has failed to conduct effective and impartial investigations into killings. The commission recommended that Israel comply with the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, immediately end the occupation, remove all settlers and settlements and return confiscated land, and that the Palestinian Authority cease targeting human rights defenders and conduct independent investigations. AFP, reporting the same report on Monday, said the investigators found Israel had committed the crime against humanity of 'extermination' in the West Bank while continuing to commit 'genocide' in Gaza.

Source: OHCHR, Oct 26; AFP via Khabor, Oct 26