UN commission alleges continued genocidal acts as Gaza strikes persist

In its fifth report to the UN General Assembly, the Commission of Inquiry said Israeli authorities and forces continued genocidal acts in Gaza after the ceasefire and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory. It said Palestinians in the West Bank were targeted on discriminatory grounds, including nationality, race, ethnicity, gender and age; reported 254 Palestinians killed by West Bank airstrikes between October 7, 2023, and September 30, 2026; and said military operations since January 2025 had caused the largest displacement there since 1967, with 34,176 people still displaced as of August 2026. The commission urged Israel to end the unlawful occupation and remove settlements and settlers. It also criticized Palestinian Authority violence against rival armed groups and repression of civil and political opposition.

The commission said it had documented six cases of sexual violence by Israeli guards against male Gaza detainees at Sde Teiman, including a case it described as rape. Israel denies sexual-assault allegations against its forces. The Associated Press said it could not independently corroborate multiple graphic accounts described in the report.

Israel rejected the commission’s conclusions. Its Geneva mission called the report a disinformation campaign to demonize Israel and urged the international community to demand the commission’s dissolution. Ambassador Daniel Meron said the commission sought to undermine Israel’s legitimacy and its right to exist and defend itself; the Foreign Ministry called the report propaganda detached from reality and said it undermined Israel’s right to self-defense and legitimized jihadist terrorism.

The October 2025 ceasefire halted major fighting and enabled exchanges of hostages in Gaza for Palestinians held by Israel, but Israeli attacks continued. Israel says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of the truce; Hamas denies trying to attack or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the deal. Israel says it will not withdraw until Hamas’s disarmament is verified, while Hamas says it will not disarm until Israel withdraws and favors gradual disarmament rather than immediate unilateral surrender. Medical sources reported 1,559 deaths and 5,608 injuries in Gaza since the ceasefire by October 26.

Medical sources reported 74,243 deaths and 175,232 injuries as of October 5; Health Ministry figures cited in another report put deaths at at least 74,377 and injuries at 175,398 since October 2023. The UN considers the ministry’s figures reliable. The ministry’s reported totals do not distinguish civilian from combatant deaths; Israel says one-third of Palestinians killed in Gaza were Hamas combatants.

Reports describe extensive destruction and displacement in Gaza. An assessment cited by Okaz said about 82% of buildings had been damaged by June 16, including 134,422 completely destroyed; Hürriyet cited official reports describing 200,000 buildings as destroyed and about 1.9 million people displaced. Gaza’s Health Ministry said nearly the entire population had been displaced. Médecins Sans Frontières said its teams had treated more than 200,000 trauma cases and that the offensive had killed more than 74,000 people, including more than 20,000 children. OCHA and other sources reported severe food insecurity for more than 1.2 million residents and about 280,000 people living in flood-prone or overcrowded temporary shelters.

The World Food Programme said funding shortages forced it to cut monthly food assistance to 500,000 people, halve rations and reduce daily hot meals from 250,000 to 150,000. It said 1.4 million people faced crisis-level food insecurity or worse; COGAT said aid deliveries exceeded food demand and Gaza did not face acute food insecurity. Displaced residents quoted by the BBC called the cuts a disaster and said flour and food boxes were already insufficient. The WFP’s Palestine director said the cuts reflected finances, not falling needs or lack of access, and would compound families’ hardship.

Palestinian medical and local sources said an Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment on October 20 killed a man and his wife. Xinhua said the Israeli military had not commented; Clarín reported that the military said the strike targeted a Hamas operative.

A strike at Gaza City’s Islamic University killed three people and wounded eight, according to hospital sources. The Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas military-wing operative and diverted the munition to reduce harm to people it identified as uninvolved. Gaza’s Education Ministry said students were in class and called the strike part of continuing attacks on education.

Medical sources and first responders said Israeli attacks killed five Palestinians across Gaza on October 26, including a seven-year-old girl. Civil Defence reported three deaths at an al-Mawasi displacement camp and another person killed in a tent near Khan Younis; Al-Shifa Hospital said a strike in Al-Rimal killed one and injured three. Nasser Hospital attributed the al-Mawasi deaths to Israeli missile fragments, while the Israeli military said it was unaware of activity in the area that day. Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said alleged Israeli fire and airstrikes killed 13 people and wounded about 60 across Gaza in the preceding 24 hours.

Gaza’s Public Works and Housing Ministry and local sources attributed the Shuja’iyya displacement-camp fire to Israeli quadcopter drones. OHCHR said it had received reports that a drone dropped munitions on tents near the Yellow Line on October 25 and that the resulting fire burned for five hours. The fire affected more than 200 families and left more than 800 Palestinians without homes. Palestinian authorities called it a violation of humanitarian law and part of a forced-displacement policy; human-rights advocates said it could amount to a war crime and crime against humanity and called for intervention and shelter.

On October 27, the Israeli military said it carried out strikes across northern, central and southern Gaza and killed four Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. A Gaza security source told AFP that Israeli vehicles and a bulldozer entered an area west of the Yellow Line in eastern Deir al-Balah on October 26, accompanied by intense gunfire. The commission said Israel’s expanding control continued to harm civilians near the Yellow Line; the IDF says it opens fire on people it deems a threat to troops.

The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack began with rockets from Gaza and armed groups crossing into southern Israel, where they attacked communities, military sites and the Nova festival. An AFP tally based on official Israeli figures counted 1,221 people killed; 251 were taken to Gaza, 44 of them already dead. Hamas cited grievances about Al-Aqsa, detention and occupation as reasons for the attack. Israel declared war the next day and began a campaign that included airstrikes and ground and naval operations.

An Israeli military investigative report said several outposts near Gaza had untrained soldiers and that troops lacked adequate weapons. Reports alleged Egypt and the UAE warned Netanyahu before October 7; an Egyptian intelligence official told the Associated Press that Israel ignored repeated warnings of a planned major Hamas action. Netanyahu denied receiving warnings from Egypt and the UAE, and Israeli security officials denied withholding critical information. The opposition blamed the government for the failures, Netanyahu blamed security chiefs, and Amichai Shikli said there had been no failures by Netanyahu or his government.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza; the warrant action also included Hamas’s then-military commander. Israel rejected the decision and charges, Netanyahu and Gallant denied wrongdoing, and the Trump administration criticized the warrants. The ICC maintains it can exercise jurisdiction over nationals of nonmember states for qualifying crimes in the territory of a state that accepted its jurisdiction.

Guterres described the suffering, displacement and destruction in Gaza and called for full ceasefire implementation, a permanent truce and aid at scale. Brazil’s President Lula and Turkey’s President Erdoğan called Israel’s conduct genocide, which Israel rejects. Jon Ossoff said Israeli forces violated the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law; Israel says its campaigns comply with the laws of war and cites evacuation warnings and humanitarian aid as civilian protections. Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin called the campaign absolutely disproportionate and said Ireland supports a two-state solution. The UAE denounced ongoing Israeli violations in Gaza.

Analyst Khaled Al-Jundi said Israeli attacks had killed more than 1,400 Palestinians since the truce and that Israeli control had expanded to nearly 65% of Gaza; he warned the status quo could cause further displacement or a return to full-scale war. Israeli opposition figures Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eisenkot and Avigdor Lieberman said troops should remain until Hamas is disarmed, Hamas rule should end within 18 months, or Hamas’s military power should be dismantled before a future arrangement. Gaza resident Walid Akram described death, destruction and bombing on a scale he had never seen, and the loss of schools and universities. Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Abdollahi described October 7 as a severe blow to Israel and a shift in the Resistance Front’s strategy. Mehr News Agency’s analysis said Israel had not achieved its political objectives and that Gaza’s governance and disarmament remained unresolved.

Masked settlers attacked a European diplomatic convoy, Palestinian olive pickers and a French mayor in Taybeh on October 17; witnesses described seven attackers and a Belgian consular car window being smashed. The Israeli military condemned the violence, said no soldiers were present and said the visit had not been coordinated. Netanyahu’s office urged caution, saying images did not establish the full sequence or individual responsibility and alleging the visit had not been coordinated; a European diplomat replied that the delegation had been attacked, that Israel was responsible for security in Area B and that the delegation was not at fault. Belgium linked the violence to settlement policy and said it would press for EU sanctions; France called for arrests and Poland said available information gave no indication its representatives were specifically targeted.