UN Commission Accuses Israel of Crimes Against Humanity in West Bank and Ongoing Genocide in Gaza
A UN-mandated inquiry says Israeli forces have committed extermination, persecution, torture and rape in the West Bank and continue genocidal actions in Gaza despite a ceasefire, while Israel rejects the allegations.
A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a report on Monday alleging that Israeli forces have carried out crimes against humanity, including extermination, persecution, torture and rape, in the West Bank. The commission also says Israel continues to perpetrate genocide in Gaza despite a cease-fire agreement signed in October 2025.
The report, to be presented to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, states that Israeli operations have intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians and that the violence is directed at individuals based on nationality, ethnicity, gender and age. It documents a sharp rise in lethal force in the West Bank after the Gaza war began, noting 254 Palestinian deaths between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2025, compared with six deaths in the preceding 15 years.
"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 unlivable," said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the commission.
The commission describes a coordinated campaign involving military operations and settler violence, citing instances of torture, sexual violence and the killing of children as evidence of age-based persecution. In Gaza, the report concludes that Israeli authorities continue genocidal acts aimed at destroying Palestinians, noting ongoing expansion of territorial control that harms civilians crossing the Yellow Line.
The document also criticizes the Palestinian Authority for targeting dissenting Palestinians and failing to conduct impartial investigations into alleged abuses by its security forces.
The commission urges Israel to comply with an International Court of Justice advisory opinion by ending the occupation, removing settlements and returning confiscated land, and calls on the Palestinian Authority to cease targeting human-rights defenders and to investigate its own forces.