The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, released a new report on 26 October detailing what it described as Israeli crimes against humanity and war crimes in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The commission found that through military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence, Israel has waged a 'widespread and systematic attack' against civilians in the West Bank. 'The Israeli authorities and forces have committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the West Bank, as well as persecution based on intersecting discriminatory grounds, with nationality, race and ethnicity at its core,' the report stated.
The investigation, which does not speak for the UN itself, builds on a September 2025 report that first determined Israel had committed 'genocide' in Gaza. The new report says Israeli forces 'continue to commit genocidal acts with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza.'
Israel rejected the allegations. Its foreign ministry said on X: 'It is not a human rights report but a propaganda document detached from reality, aimed at undermining Israel's right to self-defence, delegitimising the Jewish state, and legitimising jihadist terrorism against its citizens.'
The commission found that the Israel authorities 'intended to collectively punish' West Bank civilians due to the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. 'The targeting of Palestinian civilians across different locations in the West Bank indicates a high level of coordination and organised planning and is the product of state policy,' the report said.
Commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar said: '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.'
The report also addressed the Palestinian Authority, saying it 'targets Palestinians who voice dissenting civil and political views... resulting in killings' and has failed to conduct proper investigations into killings. There was no immediate reaction from the Palestinian Authority.
Separately, UN human rights chief Volker Türk raised 'serious concerns of ethnic cleansing' over Israel's military operation in Hebron, launched after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. The municipality in Hebron said 3,189 people had been forced from their homes. UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the West Bank. He added: 'We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger.'
The commission is due to present its report to the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.