UN Inquiry Commission Led by Justice Muralidhar Flags Continuing Atrocities in Gaza, West Bank; Calls on Israel to End War Crimes
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
28, October,2026-A report led by Commission Chair Dr. Srinivasan Muralidhar says Israeli forces continued committing international crimes after the ceasefire, while documenting alleged crimes against humanity in the West Bank.
Israel rejected the findings as part of a “misinformation campaign.”
A United Nations Commission of Inquiry has found that Israeli authorities and forces continued to commit genocidal acts in Gaza after the October 2025 ceasefire.
In a report submitted to the UN General Assembly, the Commission also concluded that Israeli forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.
The report, presented by Commission Chair Dr. Srinivasan Muralidhar, examined killings and bodily and mental harm by state actors since 7 October 2023.
On Gaza, the Commission said it had identified continuing genocidal acts and concluded that the acts were carried out with the intent to destroy Palestinians, in whole or in part. It also linked much of the killing and harm to Israel’s expanding control over territory in the enclave, including incidents involving civilians approaching or crossing the so-called Yellow Line.
In the West Bank, the Commission described a grave deterioration in conditions and alleged that military operations and settler violence formed part of a coordinated attack against Palestinians.
In his remarks, Dr. S. Muralidhar condemned the continued perpetration of such actions, calling it outrageous, and said:
“Israel continues to expand its territorial control in Gaza resulting in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians, including children, who approach or cross the Yellow Line. The Commission’s findings on continuous harm to civilians since the ceasefire stand in contrast to the Board of Peace’s report to the Security Council in May this year, which claimed that the ceasefire has largely held, bringing “enormous relief to the civilian populations”. Meanwhile the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since 7 October 2023 and the number of Palestinian fatalities has increased significantly.”
It said the conduct served common objectives, including entrenching settlements, annexing Palestinian territory and displacing Palestinians from their land.
The report recorded that 254 Palestinians were killed in West Bank airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026, compared with six between 2008 and 6 October 2023.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Dr. S. Muralidhar said: “ present to you the Commission’s report focusing on killings and bodily and mental harm by state actors in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023. This is the Commission’s third report to the General Assembly since the genocide in Gaza started in October 2023. Yet, little or no action is being taken by Israel or Member States to stop the atrocities against the Palestinian people highlighted by this Commission. Failure to act now is particularly egregious”
The Commission further found that Palestinians, including children, were targeted on discriminatory grounds and that sexual and gender-based violence was used to displace, subjugate and destabilise the population.
It also criticised Palestinian Authority security forces, finding that they had used unnecessary or disproportionate force, while the Authority had failed to ensure effective and impartial investigations into killings and adequate remedies for victims.
Among its recommendations, the Commission called on Israel to end what it described as the unlawful occupation, cease settlement activity, remove settlers and settlements, and remove barriers to Palestinians’ exercise of self-determination.
As part of a broader inquiry into the underlying causes of recurring tensions and the protracted conflict, Justice Muralidhar stated that the report identifies the principal factors driving Israel’s use of violence. The report concludes that, since the events of 1947–48, Israel has pursued territorial expansion and the displacement of Palestinians through the use of force. The Commission called on states not to provide assistance that would help maintain the occupation and settlements, and to use available means to prevent and punish genocide.
“Israel’s policy of seizing maximum land while minimizing the Palestinian population is rooted in historical practices and patterns of action, resulting in an excessive and discriminatory application of lethal force, displacement, and injuring and killing Palestinians over generations.”
In Gaza sexual violence continues to be a part of a pattern to destroy the Palestinians as a group, while in the West Bank it forms part of the widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population as a form of collective punishment. The victims are targeted on the basis of being Palestinian, as well as their perceived political affiliation, gender and sexual orientation.
Dr. Muralidhar submitted that Israel should immediately comply with the advisory opinion of July 2024 of the International Court of Justice and end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, evacuate all settlements, and remove obstructions to the full exercise of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Most urgently, Israel must also end the commission of international crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including genocide in Gaza.
It also urged Israel to end the commission of genocide in Gaza and comply with relevant International Court of Justice orders. Most urgently, Israel must also end the commission international crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including genocide in Gaza. Member States must also fulfil their obligations under international law.
Military operations since January 2025 have led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967;30 with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026.
Palestinians who have tried to return to their homes in refugee camps have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces, which declared these locations closed military areas.
In one incident, on 8 September 2025, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the chest and died near the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp.
The camp had been closed since the beginning of Operation Iron Wall in January 2025, but rumors had spread about the military withdrawing and some 50-60 Palestinian residents sought to return to the camp to check on their homes.
Israeli forces arrived by vehicle and without warning fired at the Palestinian residents, including the 14-year-old boy. According to reports, another 14-year-old boy was killed, and at least two others were injured in this incident. States must not render any form of political, military, economic or financial aid or assistance or cooperation in maintaining Israel’s unlawful occupation and its settlements. Member States must employ all means available to them to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.
“The Commission concludes that Israel has committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the West Bank. Israel has also committed the crime against humanity of persecution in the West Bank where the permissive rules of engagement are implemented in a discriminatory manner, applying exclusively to Palestinians. The conduct of the Israeli authorities and forces form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unlivable.”
Israel rejected the report. Its mission in Geneva described it as part of a “misinformation campaign” aimed at demonising the country and undermining its legitimacy, Reuters reported. This evidence confirms the commission’s prior determination: the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and explicit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
