UN inquiry says Israel continues genocide despite Gaza ceasefire

GENEVA

A U.N. commission of inquiry said on Oct. 26 that Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza despite a ceasefire and had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said the crimes included extermination, torture, rape, other sexual violence and persecution.

Its report said Israeli authorities and forces were “continuing to commit genocidal acts with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza.”

In the West Bank, military operations reinforced by settler violence formed part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians, the commission found.

Commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar said the killing and wounding of civilians, destruction of homes and Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility were part of “a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable.”

The report recorded 254 Palestinians killed in West Bank airstrikes between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2026, compared with six between 2008 and Oct. 6, 2023.

It said Israeli forces had deliberately killed children and caused serious physical and mental harm, amounting to persecution based on age. Sexual violence was used to displace, subjugate and destabilize Palestinians, it added.

Israeli operations since January 2025 had caused the largest displacement in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians displaced by August 2026, according to the report.

Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the findings, accusing the commission of conducting a misinformation campaign and calling for its dissolution.