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The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in its latest report that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory and continues to carry out genocide in Gaza.

The report, covering Gaza under Israeli attack and blockade as well as the occupied West Bank, found that Israeli officials and forces kept committing genocidal acts even after what was described as a ceasefire agreement, and that Palestinian civilians were deliberately targeted.

Genocidal acts continue in Gaza

The Commission reported that Israeli officials and forces acted with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part, and that acts meeting the definition of genocide continued after the so-called ceasefire agreement.

The report examined killings carried out by state actors and the bodily and mental harm caused by them. It also stated that Israel has committed war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory, along with crimes against humanity including extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and that Palestinian civilians were intentionally targeted.

West Bank conditions worsen after 7 October 2023

The report said the situation in the occupied West Bank has deteriorated severely since 7 October 2023, with a significant rise in deaths from airstrikes. It recorded six Palestinians killed in airstrikes between 2008 and 6 October 2023, compared with 254 killed in airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026.

"We concluded that Palestinians in the West Bank were targeted on the basis of their nationalities, races, ethnicities, sexes and ages," the report said.

Sexual violence, children and mass displacement

Torture, violence against reproductive health, rape and other forms of sexual violence were described as part of a broader attack on the civilian population of the West Bank. The report said sexual violence was used to displace, subjugate and destabilize the Palestinian people.

The Commission found that Israeli forces deliberately killed children and caused serious harm to their physical and mental health in the West Bank, as in Gaza, applying age-based persecution against Palestinian children. It also stated that Israeli attacks since January 2025 have produced the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, forcing 34,176 people from their homes as of August 2026.

Israeli operations in the West Bank since October 2023 amounted to widespread and systematic attacks on civilians, the report said, carried out through assaults backed by violence from Israelis seizing Palestinian land. The conduct of Israeli authorities during that period formed part of a coordinated attack against Palestinians.

Commission chair outlines broader strategy

Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said the deliberate killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, the destruction of their homes and Israel's repeated refusal to accept responsibility were "part of a broader strategy to destroy, displace and impose conditions of life on Palestinians that make life impossible."

Muralidhar said Israel's expansion of territorial control in Gaza continued to cause the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line under Israeli army control. As Israel seizes as much land as possible, its effort to minimize the Palestinian population stems from colonial policies and rests on historical practices and patterns of action, Muralidhar said, adding that Israel blocks any concrete step toward realizing the Palestinian right to self-determination.

Key takeaways

• The UN Commission says Israel continues genocidal acts in Gaza and has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory.
• Airstrike deaths in the West Bank rose from six between 2008 and 6 October 2023 to 254 between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026, the report says.
• Some 34,176 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank as of August 2026, the largest displacement there since 1967.
• Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar described the killing of civilians, home demolitions and denial of responsibility as part of a broader strategy against Palestinians.