UN commission says Israel kept committing genocide in Gaza after truce

A UN commission of inquiry said in a report published on Monday that Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza after last October's US-brokered ceasefire, and Israel rejected the report as part of a "misinformation campaign". Reuters reported from Geneva that the commission also found the situation in the occupied West Bank had continued to deteriorate.

What happened?

The commission said Israeli authorities had kept committing "genocidal acts with the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza", according to Reuters. Global News carried the same account.

The commission found that Israeli forces continued using heavy munitions, drones, quadcopters, artillery and sniper fire in densely populated areas during the ceasefire. It also said the "Yellow Line", presented as a temporary ceasefire demarcation, was encroaching increasingly into Gaza and becoming a de facto border. The report said this reflected Israel's expanding territorial control of Gaza, Reuters reported.

Who is involved?

The report was produced by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Reuters said it examined violations against Palestinian civilians, including children, from the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023, up to September this year. Cyprus Inform described the report's scope as violations against Palestinian children.

Reuters said the commission's earlier report, in September last year, found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts. Israel called those accusations scandalous.

Reuters added that Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza. Israel launched the assault after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

What has Israel said?

The Israeli mission in Geneva said the latest report was part of a misinformation campaign to demonize the State of Israel, according to Reuters. Ambassador Daniel Meron said in a statement: "The attempt to destroy the Jewish state ... 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 mission said the international community should reject what it described as distortions and "repudiate the Commission’s findings", Reuters reported.

What did the commission say about the West Bank?

In its report to the UN General Assembly, the commission said the number of Palestinians killed in airstrikes in the West Bank rose from six between 2008 and October 6, 2023, to 254 between October 7, 2023 and September 30, 2026, according to Reuters.

The report said military operations since January 2025 had led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026. Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said the intentional killing of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes formed part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians.

Reuters also quoted the report as saying the commission "concludes that the Israeli authorities and forces have committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the West Bank, as well as persecution based on intersecting discriminatory grounds, with nationality, race and ethnicity at its core." The commission also faulted the Palestinian Authority, saying it had targeted Palestinians who voice dissenting views and that journalists and human rights defenders had been killed and injured.

What did Qatar Standard report before?

Qatar Standard reported earlier in October that Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) had warned that Israel was "progressively asphyxiating" Gaza and continuing what the organisation describes as genocide, citing a Middle East Monitor report. That article said the Israeli government contests and rejects the genocide accusation, which has also been raised in proceedings before the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa.