UN Commission of Inquiry Gaza Report: What Its Findings Mean for Israel

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported on October 26, 2026 that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that it continues to commit genocide in Gaza. According to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), the report was submitted to the General Assembly in New York. Israel rejected the findings, and the panel’s conclusions are not binding on any state or court.

The UN Commission of Inquiry Gaza report is the latest in a series from a three-member body that the UN Human Rights Council established in 2021. Al Jazeera reported that the commission does not speak for the UN itself and that it first found genocide in Gaza in a September 2025 report, a conclusion Israel flatly rejects.

What does the UN Commission of Inquiry Gaza report say?

The commission concluded that Israel committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Its findings on Gaza are that Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the ceasefire agreement, with intent to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part, OHCHR said.

A crime against humanity is a serious offence, such as murder or torture, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population. The report applies that test to the West Bank, finding that Israeli military operations, reinforced by settler violence, formed such an attack, according to The National.

One figure stands out. The commission said six Palestinians were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank between 2008 and October 6, 2023, while 254 were killed by airstrikes between October 7, 2023 and September 30, 2026. Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said the killings and home demolitions, combined with Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility, form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians.

On Gaza, Muralidhar said Israel’s expansion of territorial control continues to result in the killing and harming of civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line, according to the report’s quoted summary.

How did Israel and the Palestinians respond?

Israel’s mission in Geneva called the report part of a “misinformation campaign to demonise the State of Israel”, according to The National, and demanded that the commission be dissolved. The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the document as a “detachment from reality and propaganda document”, as reported by SBS News. Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide in Gaza and of sexual violence by its forces.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN, told the General Assembly during the presentation that governments must move beyond statements and take concrete measures, SBS reported. The commission did not spare the Palestinian side. The Korea Times reported that the report also cites Palestinian Authority violence and repression of dissent, and says the Authority failed to investigate killings promptly and impartially.

Why does the timing and the Navi Pillay factor matter?

Al Jazeera noted that the report was issued the day before Israel’s general election. Readers following the vote can find the coalition arithmetic in this Intelligence Report analysis of Israel’s election day. The report also lands against a wider backdrop of UN scrutiny of Israeli operations, including the human rights chief’s concerns about the Hebron operation.

Navi Pillay, the former South African judge who led the commission until November 2025, won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, as The National noted. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the award, according to Newsweek, which links the dispute to her role chairing the commission. The Nobel decision has therefore sharpened the political argument over the panel’s legitimacy.

What does the report ask states to do?

The commission recommended that Israel comply with the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion and immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, removing all settlers and settlements, as the WAFA news agency reproduced from the commission’s recommendations. It also called for the return of confiscated land to Palestinian owners. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, was told to stop targeting human rights defenders and to investigate alleged violations.

Commission reports do not create legal liability by themselves. Their practical weight lies in the evidence they assemble for other bodies and in the pressure they place on governments to act, a point the Palestinian representative made directly to the Assembly.

What to watch

• General Assembly debate: which member states endorse the findings, and whether any table a resolution responding to the recommendations.
• Israel’s post-election government: whether the incoming coalition moves beyond the Geneva mission’s call for dissolution and acts against the commission’s mandate or funding.
• Human Rights Council: how the council handles the commission’s mandate at its next sessions.
• ICJ advisory opinion: whether states cite the July 2024 opinion when responding to the recommendation on ending the occupation.
• West Bank indicators: UN casualty and settler violence reporting, which will test the report’s description of a deteriorating situation.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amid continuing genocide in Gaza, UN Commission of Inquiry finds (OHCHR)
• Israel committing crimes against humanity in occupied West Bank: UN (Al Jazeera)
• Gaza ceasefire has not stopped Israeli 'genocidal acts', UN commission says (The National)
• UN probe accuses Israel of 'extermination' in West Bank (Korea Times)
• UN Inquiry Finds Israel Committed Crime of Extermination Against Palestinians in West Bank (SBS News)
• Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UN says (Yahoo News)
• Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine, UN Commission of Inquiry says (JOE)
• Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity (WAFA)
• Why Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize Win Is a Huge Blow to Israel (Newsweek)

Top image: Basil D Soufi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

This article was produced by the Intelligence Report Desk. Sources are linked below.