UN Commission Finds Israeli Forces Killed 1,143 West Bank Civilians

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory declared on Monday that Israel committed crimes against humanity in the West Bank. The panel identified extermination, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence as part of a systematic assault on civilians.

Data compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shows 1,143 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem between October 7, 2023, and October 9, 2026. At least 250 of those deaths involved children. The report covers actions taken by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces during this three-year period.

The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, stated that Israeli authorities intended to collectively punish West Bank residents in response to the Hamas attack that began in October 2023. Navi Pillay, the former South African High Court judge who chaired the investigation until November 2025, received the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by characterizing the document as a misinformation campaign designed to demonize the state. The mission urged the international community to reject the findings and demand the immediate dissolution of the three-member investigative team.

The release of the report coincided with Israeli forces conducting a clampdown in Hebron, which included expulsions and demolitions following a gun attack the previous week. The panel’s findings arrived one day before the general election in Israel.

This is the second major assessment by the commission regarding the current conflict. In September 2025, the same body determined that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. The new report notes that the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated severely since October 2023, with military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence.