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Israel Accused of Crimes Against Humanity in West Bank by UN Probe — AI-generated representative image. The United Nations flag flies outside a UN building in Geneva, where a UN-mandated commission reported on the situation in th

Editorial Team

UN investigators cite extermination, torture and sexual violence as rights chief warns Hebron clampdown raises ethnic cleansing concerns

United Nations-mandated investigators have reported that Israel has committed crimes against humanity, including extermination, in the occupied West Bank. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Monday that the Israeli government and its forces are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territory, including torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The findings, issued the day before Israel's general election, are the latest escalation in international legal scrutiny of Israel's conduct in the Palestinian territories. The report arrives as Israeli forces carry out a wide-ranging clampdown on Hebron, including expulsions and demolitions, following a gun attack last week, deepening concerns about the humanitarian situation for Palestinian civilians.

Key Findings of the Inquiry

The commission found that Israeli military operations in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, reinforced by sustained settler violence, constitute a widespread and systematic attack against civilians. The report concluded that Israeli authorities intended to collectively punish West Bank civilians following Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack from Gaza.

The commission cited crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.
It also identified persecution based on intersecting discriminatory grounds, with nationality, race and ethnicity at its core.
Israel's mission in Geneva rejected the report as part of a misinformation campaign to demonise the State of Israel and demanded the commission's immediate dissolution.

Background of the Commission

The three-member investigative team was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021. Former South African High Court judge Navi Pillay, who chaired the investigation until November 2025, won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month. The commission does not speak for the UN itself.

In a September 2025 report, the commission first determined that Israel had committed genocide in its war on Gaza following Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack, a finding Israel flatly rejects. The new report focuses on killings and bodily and mental harm caused by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces since October 2023, finding that the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since the Hamas attack.

Casualty Figures and Official Statements

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, Israel's military offensive on Gaza has displaced nearly the entire population and killed more than 74,500 people. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that between October 7, 2023 and October 9, 2026, 1,143 Palestinians, at least 250 of them children, were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk condemned the ongoing operation in Hebron, saying threats to empty and erase neighbourhoods raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing. He noted that the lockdown has already forcibly displaced over 2,000 Palestinians, demolished homes and stopped residents from moving freely. Turk insisted that displaced people must be allowed to return home, and that Israel must ensure compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions and demolitions.

Current Status and Next Steps

Israeli forces imposed a lockdown across Hebron on Friday following the gun attack near the city, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to lockdown the entire West Bank. Turk said the sweeping steps raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, adding that collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Israeli officials have not indicated any change in course, and further developments remain to be confirmed.