GENEVA - The war with Iran has eclipsed a surge in human rights violations against Palestinians, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, warned today. While the announcement of a temporary ceasefire may represent the first step in ending regional hostilities, all parties who have breached international law and targeted civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel must be held accountable.
The Commission, deeply distressed by the death toll in the region, underscores the urgency for the parties involved to cease all forms of violence and comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the protection of civilians.
While many areas in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory were hit by rockets, the Commission notes with particular concern the situation of Palestinian communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory who have no means for early warning or protection, Israelis living in towns located in proximity to military installations, and Palestinian citizens of Israel who have limited or no access to shelters, including in unrecognised Bedouin villages.
The Commission is appalled by the sharp deterioration in the human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the start of the regional hostilities on 28 February and is deeply concerned that the broader conflict is obscuring the plight and situation of the Palestinian people.
The Commission condemns the passing of a death penalty law by the Israeli Knesset, mandating penalty by hanging for Palestinian defendants convicted of murder on a terror-related basis. The Commission opposes capital punishment. This law discriminates against Palestinians as it applies only in the military courts in which Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are prosecuted, while Jewish Israelis in the same territory are subjected to a separate civilian legal system.
In Gaza, Israeli attacks - including air strikes, shelling and drone attacks and shelling, are continuing to cause civilian casualties resulting in at least 200 people killed since 28 February 2026, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. At the same time, Israeli authorities have also closed and reduced border crossings, suspended humanitarian movements in certain areas, almost completely suspended medical evacuations, and prevented Palestinians from returning to their homes.
The Commission highlights that the overall situation in Gaza has remained dire since the purported October 2025 ceasefire with Palestinians living with limited medical care, food security or adequate shelters, impacting in particular the most vulnerable segments of society, including children.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, 22 Palestinians, including children, were killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces since 28 February; these include at least six Palestinians killed by settlers according to OCHA. Israeli settlers have been carrying out daily attacks, often with Israeli military backing. According to reports, settlers have also established new outposts in Area A of the West Bank, leading to more violence, with little apparent opposition by Israeli authorities. The increasing use of sexual and gender-based violence by settlers to intimidate and expel Palestinians from their land continues with impunity, despite the Commission warning about this increasing trend in reports and oral hearings in 2025.
At the same time, Israeli authorities have continued measures aimed at seizing and controlling land in the West Bank, including increased military control over major refugee camps, removing the Palestinian residents, and persisted in evicting Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.
The Commission emphasises that Israel - as the occupying power - is obligated to protect Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as these areas remain under its effective control. The Commission notes the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice which determined that Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and found that its settlement policy, annexation measures and exploitation of natural resources breach international law and must promptly end.
The Commission already found that between October 2023 and July 2025, four categories of genocidal acts were carried out in Gaza by Israeli authorities and security forces with specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza. The Commission expresses its serious concern that Israel continues to perpetrate genocidal acts to date in Gaza.
The Commission's upcoming report to the 62nd Session of the Human Rights Council in June 2026 will focus on killing and injuring of civilians by non-State actors, including by Israeli settlers and Palestinian armed groups.
