Investigators also accused Israeli forces of extermination, torture, and rape in the occupied West Bank, warning that violence has reached unprecedented levels
Israel has continued committing “genocide” in Gaza despite last year’s US-brokered ceasefire, while also perpetrating crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank, the UN Commission of Inquiry has concluded.
The October 10, 2025 truce was meant to end Israel’s Gaza offensive, which was launched after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack in which around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. The retaliatory campaign has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced most of Gaza’s population. Israel, however, has continued the strikes, accusing Hamas of ceasefire violations.
In a report published on Monday, the UN Commission of Inquiry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians, including children, under “discriminatory” rules of engagement and with near-total impunity.
Since the ceasefire and by September 30, it claimed, Israeli attacks killed 1,431 Palestinians in Gaza, including 300 children and 130 women. Israeli forces also killed 1,080 Palestinians and injured 10,940 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023. The overall Palestinian death toll across the occupied territories, according to the report, now exceeds 75,000, including at least 21,500 children and 11,000 women.
“While Israeli authorities and security forces continue to commit genocide in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated drastically,” the commission said. It described military operations and settler violence as a “widespread and systematic attack” on civilians. They also documented rape, torture, and sexual violence intended to “fracture, expel, humiliate, and subjugate” Palestinians.
The findings build on the commission’s initial September 2025 conclusion that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians, citing four of the five genocidal acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention. International bodies, including Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, have also accused Israel of genocide.
Israel in denial
Israel has rejected the allegations of genocide and war crimes. Responding to the new report, its Geneva mission demanded the UN commission’s dissolution, accusing it of a “misinformation campaign to demonize the state of Israel and portray its very existence as criminal.” Ambassador Daniel Meron said the panel seeks “to undermine Israel’s legitimacy and deny its fundamental right to exist and defend itself.”
Meanwhile, members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have called for control over Palestinian territory to be expanded. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Israel to seize Gaza and launch a similar operation in the West Bank.
“Yes, we need to wipe out Gaza, for example. Not commit genocide, God forbid,” he said, calling the enclave a “terror entity with 1.8 million Nazis” raised to hate Israel.
What happened to the ceasefire?
More than a year after the truce took effect, its next phase – reconstruction, governance arrangements, and further Israeli troop withdrawals – remains deadlocked over Hamas disarmament.
Hamas has said it will not surrender its weapons without a complete Israeli withdrawal and an end to strikes. Netanyahu has demanded full disarmament and the dismantling of Hamas infrastructure before further withdrawals.
The prime minister also acknowledged expanding military control beyond the original Yellow Line, which initially left Israel holding around 53% of Gaza. With Israeli forces now controlling more than 60%, Netanyahu has ordered the military to extend that to 70%.
Netanyahu faces election reckoning
The UN report came on the eve of Israel’s first parliamentary election since the October 7, 2023 attack, with Netanyahu facing growing scrutiny over security failures, a widening regional conflict, and legal troubles.
Over the past three years, Israel’s Gaza offensive has expanded into fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon and direct military clashes with Iran. Netanyahu has also faced allegations that he received advance warnings of the Hamas attack, which his office denies.
He is also on trial for corruption and faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, adding to the pressures surrounding his bid to retain power.
Final polls show a tight race between Netanyahu’s Likud and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party, which are projected to win 18-30 and 21-23 seats respectively. Neither bloc is assured the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
