9 June 2026
UN commission says Palestinian civilians ‘suffer on all sides’
A UN commission of inquiry released on Tuesday found that Palestinian civilians are “caught between” “mass atrocities” committed by Israeli security forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank and “Hamas’s fear-based rule” in Gaza.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said in a statement that Palestinians were “systematically and deliberately being subjected to serious violations of human rights law by all parties to the conflict in the territory.” Issuing its report.
The investigative team concluded last year that Israel committed “genocide” during its war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, in response to a Hamas attack.
Israel is “primarily responsible” for the actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital. The UN Commission said in a press release.
Violence has increased in the West Bank since October 2023. According to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, at least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers.
Israel says at least 46 Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed in that time either by Palestinian attacks or by Israeli military operations.
“Violence by settlers is a direct result of Israeli policies that support, enable and protect their actions,” the statement said.
The United Nations accused Israel of allowing settler violence “as a means of implementing Israeli state policy”, which seeks to consolidate Israeli settlements in the West Bank, annex Palestinian territory, and displace Palestinians from their lands.
Israel accused the UN commission of “systematic anti-Israel discrimination”.
What did the report say about Palestinian civilians in Gaza?
In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist militant group Hamas and its affiliated forces are “responsible for acts committed by Palestinian terrorists” in the war-torn territory.
The statement said civilians in Gaza “are being violently repressed and controlled by the same faction that claims to rule them.”
Commission Chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar said, “Hamas-affiliated forces have taken advantage of the vacuum created by continued Israeli attacks and the widespread destruction of Gaza.”
Muralidhar said, “What is worryingly similar is the deliberate infliction of suffering on Palestinian civilians. Although their origins and motivations are different, both operate in an environment engineered by Israel.”
More than 72,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza health officials and the United Nations.