A UN-mandated commission accused Israeli authorities and forces of crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank, including extermination and torture. Its assessment concerns military operations and settler violence against civilians, extending beyond the recent Hebron operation. Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar linked civilian deaths, injuries and destruction of homes to a wider displacement strategy. Israel rejected the findings and demanded the commission’s dissolution. The inquiry also criticised abuses by Palestinian Authority security forces.
The independent commission created by the United Nations Human Rights Council accused Israeli authorities and forces of crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank. Its findings announced on 26 October include extermination, torture, rape, other sexual violence and persecution on discriminatory grounds. The investigators assessed military operations reinforced by settler violence as a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.[1], [2]
Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, rejected the findings, describing the inquiry as an attempt to deny Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. The Israeli mission called for the commission’s dissolution. The body was established in 2021 and does not speak for the United Nations as a whole. Its allegations are an investigative assessment rather than a court judgment.[1], [2]
The investigation examined killings and physical or mental harm from 7 October 2023 through September. Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar linked civilian deaths, injuries and destruction of homes to a wider displacement strategy. The inquiry also criticised Palestinian Authority security forces for violence against opponents and failures to investigate abuses promptly and impartially. It reiterated its earlier genocide assessment concerning Gaza, which Israel also rejects.[1], [2]
