UN report cites genocide in Gaza, crimes against humanity in West Bank

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry presented a report to the General Assembly stating that Israel continues to commit acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip and crimes against humanity in the West Bank. Israel rejected the report’s findings.

RuskiGazeta Editorial DeskOctober 27, 2026, 08:52 AMUpdated: October 27, 2026, 10:51 AM

UN report cites genocide in Gaza, crimes against humanity in West Bank

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel presented a report to the UN General Assembly on October 26. The commission concluded that Israel continues to commit acts of genocide with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The commission is headed by Shrinivasan Murali Dhar. The report said that, after the ceasefire in October 2025, the part of Gaza controlled by Israel grew from 53 percent to at least 60 percent. At least 196 people, including 43 children, were killed along the advancing front line. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 1,400 people were killed in the year following the truce.

Palace of Nations — UN office in Geneva

In the West Bank, the commission documented crimes against humanity, including extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. Between October 2023 and September 2026, 254 people were killed there in airstrikes, compared with six between 2008 and October 2023. More than 34,000 people were forced to leave their homes, the largest displacement of people since 1967. The commission described the events as a “large-scale and systematic attack on Palestinian civilians” that was “the result of state policy.”

Israel rejected the report. The country’s permanent mission in Geneva accused the commission of conducting a “disinformation campaign aimed at demonizing the State of Israel” and called for its dissolution. The commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021.