UN commission accuses Israel of 'extermination'; Israel slams 'misinformation campaign'

A United Nations Human Rights Council-appointed commission on Monday leveled new accusations against Israel, alleging that the Jewish state has committed crimes against humanity, including "extermination," in Judea and Samaria, while renewing its allegations of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel claimed that Israeli military operations in Judea and Samaria since Hamas' October 7, 2023, massacre constituted a "widespread and systematic attack" against Palestinian Arab civilians. The commission accused Israeli authorities and security forces of extermination, torture, rape, other forms of sexual violence, and persecution based on nationality, race, and ethnicity. It also alleged that Israeli authorities had deliberately incorporated violence by Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria into a broader policy of displacing Palestinian Arabs. The report further sought to link Israel's current security policies to the events surrounding its establishment in 1948, alleging that successive Israeli governments had pursued a continuing policy of territorial expansion and Palestinian Arab displacement. The Israeli Mission to the United Nations in Geneva strongly rejected the accusations, describing the report as part of a campaign to undermine Israel's legitimacy and distort the history of the Jewish state's establishment. "The latest report of the Commission of Inquiry is yet another manifestation of its misinformation campaign to demonize the State of Israel and portray its very existence as criminal," the mission stated. "Reflecting the institutional bias of this mechanism, the report fundamentally distorts history, recasting Israel's defensive war for survival following the invasion by five Arab armies in May 1948 as a colonial 'expulsion' policy," the statement continued. Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Daniel Meron stated: "The attempt to destroy the Jewish state did not end in 1948. It continues today through efforts by actors such as the UN Commission of Inquiry to undermine Israel's legitimacy and deny its fundamental right to exist and defend itself." The Israeli mission also accused the commission of squandering substantial UN resources on misinformation, historical revisionism, and extremist ideologies. "The international community must reject these distortions, repudiate the Commission's findings and demand its immediate dissolution," the mission concluded. The 19-page report was released on Monday, one day before Israel's general election. The three-member investigative commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 and does not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself. According to the report, the commission investigated seven cases and documented six additional cases involving Palestinian Arabs killed or injured between November 2023 and June 2026. The investigators claimed that Israeli security personnel had intentionally killed civilians who posed no immediate threat. The commission also challenged Israeli military explanations for several incidents and alleged that security forces were operating under increasingly permissive rules of engagement. The report specifically criticized Operation Iron Wall, the IDF counterterrorism operation launched in January 2025, claiming that military activity in Jenin, Tulkarm, and other areas of northern Samaria had resulted in widespread destruction and the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs. The commission claimed that Israeli military operations had shifted toward the extensive destruction of housing and infrastructure in Arab refugee camps. The report acknowledged that the IDF had explained the operations as efforts to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and restore operational freedom for Israeli forces. Turning to Gaza, the commission repeated its earlier accusation that Israel had committed genocide during the war triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack, an allegation Israel has consistently rejected. The commission first made that determination in September 2025. Its latest report alleged that Israeli military operations following the October 2025 ceasefire demonstrated the continuation of what it described as genocidal acts. The investigators examined Israeli airstrikes carried out in October 2025, as well as incidents involving Palestinian Arabs approaching or crossing the Yellow Line separating areas under Israeli military control from other parts of Gaza. The report acknowledged that Israel had identified sites struck during the October operations as terrorist targets and attributed additional military action to ceasefire violations. Nevertheless, the commission alleged that the strikes and the expansion of Israeli-controlled territory demonstrated a continuing intention to destroy Palestinian Arab communities. The commission also renewed allegations of sexual violence and mistreatment involving Palestinian Arab detainees and participants in the 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla. It called on Israel to end what it characterized as genocide in Gaza, withdraw from Palestinian territories, remove Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and provide compensation to Palestinian Arabs harmed during military operations. The commission additionally urged countries to investigate and prosecute suspected Israeli violations of international law and called on the International Criminal Court prosecutor to examine the allegations in connection with existing and potential arrest warrants. The report also examined the conduct of Palestinian Authority security forces, finding that the PA had violated the rights of Palestinian Arabs through killings, excessive force, arbitrary detention, and the suppression of political dissent. According to the commission, Palestinian security forces killed at least 14 Palestinian Arabs, including two minors, between October 2023 and October 2025. The investigators cited Operation Protect the Homeland, which Palestinian Authority security forces launched against armed groups in Jenin in December 2024, and documented cases in which security personnel allegedly killed or injured individuals who posed no immediate threat. The report also examined the killing of a female journalism student in Jenin in December 2024 who had reportedly published criticism of Palestinian security forces before her death. The commission accused the Palestinian Authority of suppressing journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents while failing to properly investigate killings attributed to its security personnel. It concluded that the PA had violated the right to life and personal security and had failed to provide effective remedies to victims and their families. The commission called on the Palestinian Authority to conduct independent investigations, prosecute those responsible for violations, and stop targeting journalists and human rights defenders. The commission is scheduled to present its report to the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.