A commission of independent experts set up by the UN Human Rights Council said on Monday that Israel is "continuing to commit genocidal acts" in Gaza despite the ceasefire signed in October 2025. Israel rejected the report and called for the commission to be dissolved.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, created in 2021, released the report on October 26. It also accused Israeli soldiers and prison guards of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the West Bank, including extermination, torture, rape and persecution, the Associated Press reported. The three-member panel does not speak for the United Nations as a whole. It is chaired by Srinivasan Muralidhar, who succeeded Navi Pillay, according to Al Jazeera.
What the report alleges
On Gaza, the commission said Israel was acting "with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza." It tied much of the harm to Israel's expansion deeper into the territory during the truce, saying Israeli forces went from controlling 53% of Gaza to at least 60%. It said Israeli fire along the advancing line has killed at least 196 Palestinians since the ceasefire, including 18 women, 32 boys and 11 girls, according to the AP.
On the West Bank, the AP reported, the commission said deaths from airstrikes rose from six in the period from 2008 to October 6, 2023, to 254 from October 7, 2023, through September 30, 2026. It also documented six cases of sexual violence against male Gaza detainees at the Sde Teiman military facility. The AP said it could not independently corroborate multiple graphic accounts in the report. The commission also faulted the Palestinian Authority for targeting Palestinians who dissent.
Israel's response
Israel's mission in Geneva said on X that the report was part of the body's "misinformation campaign to demonize the state of Israel and portray its very existence as criminal." Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, said the commission was seeking "to undermine Israel's legitimacy and deny its fundamental right to exist and defend itself," The Times of Israel reported. Israel denies the genocide and sexual assault accusations and has long rejected the commission's work.
Israel's military, for its part, accuses Hamas of breaking the truce. On Wednesday it said it had killed three Hamas members in Gaza, including a man it said took part in the October 7 abductions, accusing them of acting "in systematic violation of the ceasefire."
The newsroom's analysis: what the finding actually is
A commission of inquiry is a fact-finding body. It is not a court, it cannot convict anyone, and its conclusions do not bind any state. That is the first thing to understand about any headline that says "the UN" found genocide.
The legal test it is applying comes from the 1948 Genocide Convention. Article II defines genocide as certain acts, such as killing members of a group or inflicting conditions of life meant to destroy it, "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part," a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The UN's own guidance calls that special intent, or dolus specialis, what "makes the crime of genocide so unique," as its genocide prevention office explains. Proving the acts is the easier part. Proving the intent is where genocide cases are usually won or lost.
That is why the wording matters. "Genocidal acts" with "genocidal intent" is the commission's conclusion on both elements. A court would demand that intent be shown by evidence, and in a case against a state, that it be the only reasonable inference from the facts.
Where it could actually matter
There are two courts that could use the material. The first is the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states. South Africa's case against Israel under the Genocide Convention, filed on December 29, 2023, is still in its written phase. The court issued provisional measures orders in January, March and May 2024 and in May 2026 set deadlines for further written pleadings. A string of states, including the United States, has filed declarations of intervention. A final judgment is likely years away.
The second is the International Criminal Court, which tries individuals. The AP noted that the commission's findings could be used by prosecutors there or in other jurisdictions. The ICC is itself under heavy pressure from Washington, as we covered when the U.S. sanctioned the court as an institution. We explained the difference between the two courts in our piece on the ICC or ICJ warrant debate.
The bottom line
The report adds to the record that courts may one day weigh, and it will shape the diplomatic fight at the UN. It does not decide anything. Israel disputes it in full, and the ICJ has not ruled on the merits. The war began with the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, the context we revisited in our report from the Gaza border three years on.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
