UN inquiry finds Israeli authorities committed grave crimes in Gaza and West Bank

In the West Bank, the report describes a widespread and systematic attack against civilians since 7 October 2023, involving Israeli military operations and sustained settler violence.

A UN commission of inquiry says Israeli authorities and forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. Its report to the General Assembly says Palestinian civilians have been intentionally targeted and that genocidal acts in Gaza have continued after the ceasefire agreement, with intent to destroy Palestinians in whole or in part. The Commission's findings focus on killings and bodily and mental harm caused by state actors.

In the West Bank, the report describes a widespread and systematic attack against civilians since 7 October 2023, involving Israeli military operations and sustained settler violence. It records six Palestinians killed by airstrikes between 2008 and 6 October 2023, compared with 254 killed in airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026. The Commission says Palestinians have been targeted on grounds including nationality, race, ethnicity, gender and age.

Military operations since January 2025 have caused the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, the report says. As of August 2026, 34,176 Palestinians remained displaced. The Commission links the violence and displacement to territorial expansion and the removal of Palestinians, citing policies and practices that it says reach back to the 1947–48 war.

Attacks in the West Bank target civilians

The report says Israeli military operations and settler violence formed a coordinated attack against Palestinians. It documents torture, reproductive violence, rape and other sexual violence, which it says were used to displace, subjugate and destabilise the Palestinian population. Israeli forces also deliberately killed and seriously harmed children, which the Commission describes as age-based persecution.

In Gaza, the report says Israeli control continues to expand and civilians have been killed or harmed near or across the Yellow Line. Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said the killing and injury of civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank, alongside the denial of responsibility, formed part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians and impose unliveable conditions. He said territorial control in Gaza had also exposed civilians approaching or crossing the Yellow Line to harm.

Commission raises concerns about Palestinian Authority conduct

The report also criticises the Palestinian Authority for targeting Palestinians who express dissent, and says journalists and human rights defenders have been killed or injured, shrinking civic space. The Commission said the Authority had not conducted effective, impartial investigations into killings following increased unnecessary or disproportionate force since 7 October 2023. It called for investigations and remedies, including compensation for victims and their families.

The Commission urged Israel to follow the International Court of Justice's July 2024 advisory opinion by ending its unlawful occupation and removing settlements and settlers. It also called for an end to land confiscation and appropriation, the reversal of land reserved for military purposes, and the return of confiscated land to Palestinian owners. The Palestinian Authority, it said, should stop targeting human rights defenders, investigate alleged violations independently and provide remedies to people harmed by its security forces.