The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel has concluded that Israeli authorities and forces have continued to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory even after the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
In its report, submitted to the United Nations General Assembly on October 14, 2026, the Commission examines killings and serious bodily and mental harm inflicted by Israeli and Palestinian security forces since October 2023.
The root cause
The commission sets out its findings regarding the drivers of Israeli and Palestinian state violence, in particular killings and bodily and mental harm, including sexual and gender-based violence. As part of a broader investigation into the root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of the conflict, this report also reviews policies and practices examining drivers of violence.
As part of its mandate to look into underlying root causes, the Commission also asked for information relating to incidents from the periods 1948-1949, the 1950s, and the years 2000-2005.
The analysis was against the backdrop of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 from 1947, which terminated the British Mandate on Palestine and adopted the partition plan, dividing the territory into three parts: two states, one Arab and one Jewish, and Jerusalem under International Control.
The report noted that the perception of Palestinians and a possible Palestinian state as “a threat to Israel and the desire to reduce Palestinian population” contributed to a permissive military culture where Israeli soldiers, with or without directives from commanders, directly target Palestinians whether or not they pose a real or immediate threat.
According to the report, from October 7, 2023 to October 9, 2025, more than 72,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 1,000 in the West Bank. From October 10, 2025 to September 30, 2026, 1,431 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 137 in the West Bank.
Findings similar to earlier findings
The commission has made findings in its previous reports on the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in addition to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
It also found that the killing and harming of children and sexual- and gender-based violence are included among elements that established specific intent of the Israeli authorities to commit genocide against the Palestinian group in Gaza.
The Commission had previously reported on the Israeli forces’ use of artificial intelligence tools and autonomous weapons systems in Gaza, expressing its concerns about these weapons’ compliance with International law.
There are permissive rules, said the report, which are interpreted and implemented in a discriminatory manner, applying exclusively to Palestinians based on their nationality, race, and ethnicity. Israeli security personnel are prohibited from using lethal force against Jewish Israelis in the West Bank. Israeli forces have been responsible for approximately 95% of killings and 82% of injuries caused to Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023.
The Commission investigated multiple cases and cited illustrative cases throughout the report and concluded that Israeli soldiers intentionally killed all the victims though they did not pose any threat. They also noted that Israeli authorities have repeatedly provided false justifications for the use of lethal force, intending to deflect responsibility. They also documented cases indicating a pattern of extra judicial executions of Palestinians by Israeli forces and noted continuous sexual and reproductive violence.
The Commission found that the patterns of unguided munitions have continued after the so-called ceasefire in October 2025. They noted that this contradicts the report by the Board of Peace to the Security Council in May this year, which claimed that the ceasefire has largely held, bringing “enormous relief to the civilian population”. Israeli officials allege that the attacks are in response to ceasefire breaches.
The report noted that on May 28, 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had instructed Israeli forces to seize 70% of Gaza, indicating that territorial expansion will continue.
Legal analysis
The Commission found violations of International law and analysed Chapeau elements which are the contextual requirements that must be proven to elevate ordinary crimes into crimes against humanity. These include widespread or systematic attacks directed against the civilian population, state policy, clear nexus between the acts committed and the attack, and the fact that the security forces knew the acts constituted part of an attack against the civilian population and so intended them (mens rea).
The Commission concluded that the Israeli authorities and security forces have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution against the civilian population, based principally on nationality, race, and ethnicity, intersecting with gender and age. The acts also amount to the war crimes of wilful killing and wilfully causing serious injury to body.
The Commission finds that Israel consistently, and unlawfully, applies the conduct of hostilities paradigm to law enforcement operations in the West Bank in violation of its obligation under international human rights law.
Israel’s conduct violates its obligations to protect Palestinians under international human rights law, including: (i) right to life; (ii) right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including sexual violence; (iii) right to liberty and security; (iv) right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family and home; (v) right to adequate standard of living, particularly housing; (vi) right to highest attainable standard of health; (vii) right to education; and (viii) right of children to engage in play and recreational activities. Israel further breached international human rights law by neglecting to prevent foreseeable harm to Palestinians, including women and children, to prosecute perpetrators and to provide remedies for victims.
The Commission has previously concluded that the Israeli authorities and forces have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The cases investigated for this report show that the Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza. Furthermore, the Commission found that much of the killing and harm caused to Palestinians is a direct result of Israel’s expansion of territorial control.
The intentional killing and harming of Palestinians have clear demographic and ethnic considerations that stem from Israel’s colonising policies, the report found, that is seizing maximum land while minimising the Palestinian population in relation to size, autonomy, and viability.
The report emphasised that the recurrence and widespread nature of attacks causing grave physical injuries and psychological harm demonstrate that the harm inflicted on children is not incidental or collateral to the broader violence affecting civilian population, but forms part of a pattern of intentional violence directed against Palestinian children.
Harm caused by Palestinian security forces.
The Palestinian Authority was established to assume interim governing responsibilities in parts of the West Bank and Gaza pursuant to the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements ( Oslo Accord) in September 1993 and the Gaza-Jericho Agreement in May 1994.
The Commission has previously made findings on the targeting of human rights defenders and civil society activists by the Palestinian Authority to silence dissenting opinions. The Commission also concluded that the Palestinian Authority resorted to widespread sexual and gender-based violence to silence women human rights defenders and deter them from activism online or in public places through violence, threats and the reinforcement of negative gender stereotypes.
According to OHCHR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), there has been an increase in Palestinian security forces’ unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in the West Bank, resulting in the killing of at least 14 Palestinians, including two boys, between October 7, 2023 and October 31, 2025.
According to reports, the Palestinian Authority has increased its repression of Palestinians who are perceived as critical of the Authority since October 2023, including intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment of journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders.
The Palestinian Authority responded harshly to criticism of Operation Protect the Homeland. According to reports, protests against the operation were dispersed with tear gas and by beating women and men demonstrators. Operation Protect the Homeland reportedly aimed at arresting members of Palestinian armed groups as part of the security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
The Commission concluded that the State of Palestine has violated the right to life and the right to security of the person. The Commission also found that acts against children further violated their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely the rights to life, survival and development and the right to be protected from all forms of physical violence, including violence committed by state actors.
Recommendations
The commission recommended that the State of Israel end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territory, end the commission of genocide, comply fully with international humanitarian and human rights law, cease the perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence and crimes against children, among others.
To the government of the state of Palestine, the Commission made recommendations including to conduct independent investigation into alleged violations of International human rights law and cease persecution and mistreatment of human rights defenders and journalists.
The Commission also called upon the member states to employ all means reasonably available to them and also investigate and prosecute suspects and to establish clear regulation and frameworks governing the use of artificial intelligence, including its use during armed conflicts and law enforcement operations.
It has also the asked the prosecutor of International Criminal Court to examine and continue its investigation on the situation in the State of Palestine, the crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for amendment to existing arrest warrants and addition to future application for arrest warrants.
