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 to the UN General Assembly on Monday, October 26, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said. The report focuses on killings and bodily and mental harm by state actors.
Source: OHCHR (UN Human Rights Office)
In Gaza, the Commission found that Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the so-called ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, OHCHR said. Reuters reported that the Commission found Israeli forces continued using heavy munitions, drones, quadcopters, artillery and sniper fire in densely populated areas during the ceasefire, and that the “Yellow Line” — presented as a temporary ceasefire demarcation — was encroaching increasingly into Gaza and becoming a de facto border, reflecting Israel's expanding territorial control. “Israel's expansion of territorial control in Gaza continues to result in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line,” Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said.
Source: Reuters, via 93.5 The Lloyd; OHCHR
In the West Bank, the report found the situation has deteriorated gravely since October 7, 2023, OHCHR said. Six Palestinians were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank between 2008 and October 6, 2023, while 254 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes between October 7, 2023 and September 30, 2026. The Commission concluded that Palestinians in the West Bank are being targeted on the basis of their nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age, and that Israel — through military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence — has waged a widespread and systematic attack against civilians, in which torture, reproductive violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence form part of the broader attack. It also found that Israeli forces deliberately killed and inflicted serious bodily and mental harm on children in the West Bank, as in Gaza. Military operations since January 2025 have led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026.
Source: OHCHR (UN Human Rights Office)
“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,” Muralidhar said. The report also found that the Palestinian Authority has targeted Palestinians who voice dissenting views, that journalists and human rights defenders have been killed and injured, and that the Palestinian Authority has failed to conduct effective and impartial investigations into killings, OHCHR said.
Source: OHCHR (UN Human Rights Office)
Israel rejected the report. The Israeli mission in Geneva said it was part of a misinformation campaign to demonize the State of Israel, Reuters reported. “The attempt to destroy the Jewish state … continues today through efforts by actors such as the UN Commission of Inquiry to undermine Israel's legitimacy and deny its fundamental right to exist and defend itself,” Ambassador Daniel Meron said in a statement. A previous Commission report in September last year found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts — accusations Israel called scandalous, Reuters reported. Cyprus Inform's report on Monday likewise recorded both the Commission's findings and Israel's rejection of them as a misinformation campaign.
Source: Reuters, via 93.5 The Lloyd; Cyprus Inform
The Commission recommended that Israel comply with the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion of July 2024, immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory and remove all settlers and settlements, and return confiscated land to its Palestinian owners, OHCHR said. It said the Palestinian Authority must cease targeting human rights defenders, conduct independent investigations into alleged violations and provide remedies to victims wrongfully killed and injured by Palestinian security forces.
Source: OHCHR (UN Human Rights Office)