Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence in the illegally occupied West Bank territory, according to a United Nations report.
The report, issued Oct. 26 by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said Israeli forces have carried out these acts despite a Gaza ceasefire agreement hammered out by the U.S. in 2025. The document is titled “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.”
Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli concertgoers, Israeli officials have demonstrated “a consistent intent to establish permanent military control over Gaza and to change its demographic composition while systematically destroying Palestinian life,” the report says.
The UN report reflects a white paper issued a week earlier by an Israeli general documenting the “unofficial” operational policy toward Palestinians. (See related story on this page)
From October 7, 2023 to October 9 2025, over 72,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and over 1,000 in the West Bank. From the October 10, 2025, ceasefire to September 30, 2026, 1,431 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 300 children and 130 women, and 137 in the West Bank, the report notes.
The OHCHR has made the finding of genocide in previous reports.
The Israeli Knesset (Parliament) passed a 2024 resolution confirming the perception that a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would pose a threat to the State of Israel and Israeli Jews.
One legislator was moved to declare in the Knesset that “ … there will never be a Palestinian state in the land of Israel, because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.” That mentality contributes to a military culture where Palestinians are dehumanized, equated with terrorists and are legitimate targets, the report says.
Therefore, soldiers have broad discretion to use lethal force against a perceived threat, regardless of whether the target poses real danger, the report says, noting instances of killings of unarmed Palestinians.
Major General Avio Bluth said in May 2026 that Israeli soldiers were “killing like we haven’t since 1967,” the document says.
Examples of the brutality include: On June 5, 2026, a seven-month-old baby was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers while in a car with parents. Video footage shows the driver slowed down, stopped and raised his hands when approaching the soldiers. No medical assistance was offered to the family, the report says.
In another incident, four members of a family of six were shot in the head by soldiers on March 15, 2026, while in their car. Two members of the family survived but were subsequently assaulted by soldiers.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly provided “false justifications” for the use of lethal force, intending to deflect responsibility, the report says. In an example of an extrajudicial killing, Israeli soldiers beat, shot and killed two unarmed Palestinian brothers after they approached them with hands raised. Video footage of the incident refuted the Israeli claim that the men attempted to snatch the soldiers’ weapons.
The Israeli government continues to use sexual and gender-based violence, according to the report. Tactics include gang rapes of men, genital violence, forced nudity and cavity searches.
These findings contradict the report by the Trump administration’s “Board of Peace” which reported to the Security Council in May that the ceasefire has largely held, bringing “enormous relief to the civilian population.” The Board of Peace was established in January to draft a peace plan for Gaza.
The report alleges, the Palestinian (PA), a Palestinian-led governing body established to assume interim responsibilities in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, has also committed acts of sexual and gender-based violence to silence women human rights activists, violated freedom of speech and association rights, and the right to peaceful assembly.
In the illegally occupied West Bank, the PA exercises little to no authority over the three areas—A, B and C—with no governing authority over Israelis in either area. In Area A, which contains major Palestinian cities, for example, the PA exercises full civil and security control over Palestinians. The PA has no governing role in Area C.
The PA’s legally binding agreement to cooperate and collaborate on security measures with Israeli authorities, along with the PA’s abuses, has created distrust among Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, the report says.
U.S. observers hold out little hope for change coming from political leaders in the U.S. or Israel. Real hope lies in the current trend by civilians in the U.S. to curb military support for Israel.
A Palestinian man carries metal sheets past the ruins of buildings destroyed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Oct. 18. Photos: AP/Jehad Alshrafi
“These kinds of reports do not lead to change on their own,” said Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. “They’re important as tools for civil society in our mobilizations, challenging Israeli genocide, Israeli ethnic cleansing.”
“Those crimes are carried out with U.S. weapons, paid for by U.S. tax dollars, protected by U.S. vetoes at the UN Security Council. So, the U.S. government is complicit in those crimes. The question is, how are we as civil society, social movements going to use these important UN reports as further evidence of what many have been saying for a very long time?” she said.
The OHCHR made nine recommendations to the State of Israel, two recommendations to the State of Palestine, five to UN Member States and one recommendation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Recommendations to Israel included a demand for an immediate end to the commission of genocide in Gaza, an end to “unlawful occupation” of Palestinian territory, and to provide effective remedies, including compensation, restitution and rehabilitation, for families of persons killed or injured, including victims of sexual violence, and those who suffered destruction of property.
To Palestine, it called for independent investigations of human rights violations and to provide remedies for harm suffered and to cease targeting human rights activists.
The Israeli Government did not respond to two requests for information from the OHCHR.
